Well, since you have a
RUGER Super Blackhawk (good choice, by the way - that was the first centerfire gun I bought, over 30 years ago), you obviously must get a
RUGER 96/44 Levergun...!
Unfortunately, they are not currently manufactured (like 'real' Winchesters, although others are making 'clones' of them), but you find them every once in awhile on GunBroker or GunsAmerica or locally. My first 96 was a .22 LR, then I got the Ruger 96 above, purchased from a member here on Leverguns) and it is my favorite.
Reasons - I like the detachable magazine most, like a giant 10/22 magazine, only it holds just four rounds. For me, that's perfect for hunting (
I don't do the ten-shots-at-running-deer thing 
), and I can have one magazine loaded with deer rounds and another loaded with plinking loads, if I want. Most importantly for me, I can instantly load/unload the gun if I'm climbing up into or down out of a deerstand, crossing a road, in/out of a vehicle, or coming in after hunting. In addition, if I get rained on or fall on my face in mud going up a steep hill (
I've been known to do that 
), the stock comes off way more easily than with a traditional two-piece stock, or should I say
goes back ON more easily (forends are really difficult on occasion, and I'm not alone if you browse the threads here). The lever-throw is also short enough I don't have to remove my hand from the stock. It's also light weight and compact. Nothing to dislike about it except it sort of looks like a Winchester 88 or a Marlin 62, and some folks just seem to get ill looking at those.
Finally, for most hunting of deer, I prefer a scope, to 'gather' the light, and help me see better. It only adds 10-15 minutes of useable time for me dawn and dusk, but that time is sometimes critical.
These picture below shows a Ruger 96, Marlin 1894 SS (stainless), and a Rossi 92 (Winchester clone). This particular Rossi, like the Henry (but much lighter weight and trim), uses a tube-loading magazine, like .22 LR's have, and is also fast to load/unload, but much more ungainly to do than the Ruger 96. Most Rossi's
don't tube-load, but I happened to see one that did, and snatched it up just because . . . well, it was
different . . . (
my wife says just because I call it a 'disease' doesn't mean she likes it 
I have to make sure that when I sell or trade ones like that off, she knows about that too, or all she sees is the buying.).
In 2009, these were the deer-rifles three of us took afield:
My Ruger 96/44 (my 'twilight hunting' gun)
My Ruger 77/44 (my 'rain hunting' gun)
My Marlin 1894 SS (my'normal hunting' gun)
My son's Marlin 1894 (and it is super-accurate)
My daughter's Rossi 92 (she likes the shorter barrel and with .44 Mag it is just fine)
The reason the 77/44 'side-lever' became my 'rain' gun was after a particular 'mud incident' which required total disassembly of my 1894 SS; the 77/44 is all stainless (except the sights) and synthetic, and stock comes off in one piece. It also uses a (different) 4-shot rotary magazine. I put a NECG 'peep' rear sight on it.
The reason I call the Marlin 1894 SS my 'normal' hunting gun, is just because I really prefer aperture sights to scopes during mid-day lighting, plus I just like the 'looks' of a traditional levergun. I never load the ten-round magazine full, so it isn't all that big an issue with unloading, plus the cross-bolt safety (
that many folks hate) gives a bit of extra security if cycling rounds through to empty the gun (
you can do it without them being chambered though, once you get the hang of it).
If you decide to mount a Williams FP (
the peep I usually use, 'ghost-ringed' by removing the aperture except if I'm shooting off the bench), the Marlin is a piece of cake for that, too. The Marlin 1894 SS shown above has a Williams FP '336' model mounted in the
front two scope-base holes (
most folks use the rear ones), and you can see how nice and compact it is, but is a click-adjustable and excellent sight. The blued Marlin 1894 in the picture
used to be mine, but the family deal was if a kid shot a whitetail with a gun borrowed from dad, they became owner of that gun. My son has had it since age 13 when he killed his first deer with it, and he prefers a Leupold on it (won at a 4-H Shooting-Sports benefit), but like the Rugers, it is pretty much ready-to-go scope-wise, already drilled and tapped.
The Rossi 92, on the other hand, requires that a scope be forward in the 'scout' position, or on a B-Square mount from the left side of the receiver (they work well, but you want a very compact scope on that kind of mount due to the torque). Some are set up or come with a 'scout' scope base and the barrel drilled and tapped accordingly. On the other hand, if you want metal sights, you pretty much have to drill & tap the receiver (it is actually an easy project if you don't mind buying $20-30 worth of drills/taps, and own a drill-press or are a very careful driller). The Marbles 'Bullseye' rear sight does fit in the rear sight dovetail, and is a good replacement sight for snap-shot hunting, but is not as easy to adjust as the Williams FP or similar receiver aperture sights.
If I'd known how easy the drill & tap process was to do, I might have had a Williams-FP-equipped Rossi 92 be my 'normal' hunting gun, as I think they are slick little guns, and I like the shorter barrel for maneuverability, with no practical loss of velocity the deer seem to notice.
The newer Rossi's have a bolt-mounted 'safety' that I do dislike; they seem to be easily knocked from 'safe' to 'fire' and vice-versa, and for a critical-use situation I can understand why some folks accidentally get a dab of epoxy on them so they stay in 'fire' position, or replace them with the flat 'rivet' or peep sight NKJ on this site offers.
Here's the links to the other stuff I mentioned:
By the way,
WELCOME and thanks for joining the 'Levergun' bunch - you'll likely find the site helpful and a friendly place. None of that puff-and-bluster stuff you see on some other sites, and no real dust-ups (other than we do have a 'politics' section
).
and Welcome to THE Forum.
