@OmSigDAVID,
There has been a great deal of improvement in ammo recently. A notable one is Hornady's Leverevolution, which allows tubular magazine guns, such as lever actions, to safely accept a pointed bullet without fear of a chain reaction explosion right under your chin.
I just bought two boxes of the fourth from the left, and am planning on doing some long range shooting with my old Winchester 32 Specials. This should make them deer death capable out to about 300 yards.