@Sniffler CONGRATS!!!!
I currently only have one lever gun, which I bought this summer. It's a Henry Steel .44 Magnum. Trigger pull straight out of the box is 3.84-lbs and the action is pretty slick.
Actually, the lack of a side loading gate is not an issue for me. Unloading and loading is actually faster. And I don't "top off" so that argument is unimportant.