This isn't primarily a matter of opinion. It's a matter of verifiable, scientific facts. If you compare analogous lever gun cartridges to their recoil-equivalent bolt gun counterparts, you'll keep seeing the same thing over and over again. The bolt guns outperform the lever guns at long range, but the levers outperform the bolts up close.
Take for example the .348 Winchester vs. the .35 Whelen. Same recoil, same muzzle velocity, same energy, 1/100th different diameter etc. They're interior ballistic twins. But the .348 can run a Woodleigh flatnose weldcore, whereas the hardest hitting you can do in the Whelen (assuming typical feed geometry) is a bonded spire point or maybe roundnose. Now, anyone who has any knowledge of those respective bullet options will tell you the same thing: the spire point will retain energy further, but the flat nose will give a bigger, straighter wound channel and handle an initial bone hit (eg. shoulder shot) better.
The .348 Winchester will also give you about twice as fast a follow-up shot.
The above is all science. Now, it's purely opinion if I say you should carry a lever gun because of that. You may not care. You may want to carry a bolt because it was your Granddad's gun or because it's Tuesday or you want the extra range or that's what the cool kids are shooting. Great. All perfectly valid reasons.
Take for example the .348 Winchester vs. the .35 Whelen. Same recoil, same muzzle velocity, same energy, 1/100th different diameter etc. They're interior ballistic twins. But the .348 can run a Woodleigh flatnose weldcore, whereas the hardest hitting you can do in the Whelen (assuming typical feed geometry) is a bonded spire point or maybe roundnose. Now, anyone who has any knowledge of those respective bullet options will tell you the same thing: the spire point will retain energy further, but the flat nose will give a bigger, straighter wound channel and handle an initial bone hit (eg. shoulder shot) better.
The .348 Winchester will also give you about twice as fast a follow-up shot.
The above is all science. Now, it's purely opinion if I say you should carry a lever gun because of that. You may not care. You may want to carry a bolt because it was your Granddad's gun or because it's Tuesday or you want the extra range or that's what the cool kids are shooting. Great. All perfectly valid reasons.