Asklemmy

The nice thing about lever guns is that a lot of them can share cartridges with revolvers, such as a 357 mag, 44 mag, 45 colt, etc.

But they're not actually as reliable compared to a modern semi-auto as people think, and when they do jam, they jam BAD.

Unlike a semi-auto, user error is also likely to cause a malfunction. If you change directions on that lever at the exact wrong time, you can end up having a double-feed that requires you to dismantle the receiver to clear it.

That being said, I do love them. I would probably look at a Winchester or one of the newer Marlins, though. Marlin (among others) was terrible for a while when they were bought out by a investment group that made awful guns, but they went into bankruptcy and more Ruger is taking over Marlin, and Ruger has an excellent reputation for affordable quality.

But if you're looking for the shared pistol/long gun commination, I'm actually a bigger fan of a modern pistol caliber carbine like a Ruger PC Charger, Sig MPX, Kel Tec Sub2000, or CZ Scorpion Evo.

There's also the newer Henry Homesteader, which has a more traditional look but is a semi-auto 9mm.

For repairability, nothing beats the AR platform. They can also be a fun project. You can buy a lower receiver (the frame that is legally the gun) through a firearms dealer, and get the rest of the parts online and build yourself a reliable, affordable custom firearm set up evacuate how you want it in whatever caliber you'd like fairly easily. There's only a few tools needed, like punches, screwdrivers, and pliers. A castle nut wrench is helpful but not entirely necessary.

And then you'd know exactly how to fix everything.

To go that route, I'd recommend starting by buying a pre-made upper receiver from Palmetto State Armory in whatever caliber, style, and barrel length you want. Longer is typically more powerful and accurate with a longer sight radius if you aren't using optics, but it is heavier and harder to maneuver in a tight space. Then, get a matching lower (different ranges of calibers use different-sized lowers) from a dealer and a Lower Parts Kit (trigger, assembly pins, etc, all bundled together), bolt, and stock. It takes about 30 minutes to assemble for a beginner if you watch a YouTube video first.

Don't go under 16 inches, though, unless you really understand the laws regarding the differences between hand braces and stocks as well as the difference between an AR pistol and a Short-barreled rifle. A short-barreled rifle (designed to fire from the shoulder with a barrel under 16 inches) a controlled weapon like a machine gun, silencer, or grenade and requires special permitting that takes like a year to get as well as a $200 tax stamp, and unless you buy it under a special trust only you can have posession of it.

Anyway, I'm rambling. In short, for an effective firearm for defense from 2-legged threats, I don't recommend a lever gun. They're super fun, and I love all of mine, but they aren't what I keep in my quick-access safes in the bedroom or the hidden sage in my car.

My personal defensive guns are a pump shotgun for the house, and automatic pistols (a little pocket-carry 380 for concealed carry when I can't hide a hoslter and a 9mm for when I can) and a braced AR pistol in a hidden safe in my van for if things go really south. Braced pisyltols are in a legal limbo right now since they were essentially banned by the Biden administration, but the Courts have frozen the rule, so I don't super recommend building one right now.

I have more guns (like 60 of them, lol) in the home safe, but most of them are range toys or hunting guns. My precision rifle that'll take off a gnat's wings at 300 yards is fun, but a $7,000, 20lb bolt-action rifle with a $3500 scope (the industry used to give me a bunch of freebies - do not ever spend that kind of money on a single gun) isn't a practical weapon.

Finally - whatever you go with, you need to shoot it. A lot. If you have a $1,000 budget for the whole thing, buy a $200 pistol and $800 of ammo to train with. You can train with cheap shit, but make sure to buy defensive ammo to keep for emergency use. Defensive ammo is really, really expensive (often several dollars a round), but you want the bullet to do it's job, and (more importantly) stop moving when it hits something. If you have to use a gun defensively, you don't want to shoot through 4 walls and kill the neighbor.