Lever gun beginner

Generally speaking most pistol caliber leverguns are quite tame to shoot, from the shoulders standpoint. Of course hearing protection should be worn, but muzzle blast is mild compared to most centerfire rifles. They are very unlikely to chain fire.That would only be likely with spitzer/ pointed bullets, unlikely to be found in .44 or .38 rounds. Round nose should be totally safe to shoot. Most 30-30 rounds have a rounded nose. Of course this problem is solved by only buyinig safely designed bullets. If you are concerned for safety, of course a single shot rifle or a bolt action is a great way to go, and by no means just a beginners gun. Although I have 4 lever guns, I have ...considerably more bolt guns.

A beginner/absent-minded teenager might forget and use the wrong type of bullet like round nose instead of flat nose.

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I have a Browning B-92 in .44 magnum. It has a fairly solid kick but nothing a teenage boy who's built normally shouldn't be able to handle. I really have not ever seen any .44 mag rounds available commercially that I'd worry about sticking in a tubular magazine.
If you reload, it might be possible, I suppose, to load up some that wouldn't be advisable to stick in the mag.
When I first got a .30-30, Remington made an "accelerator" round which had a .222 sized (IIRC) spire bullet in a sabot. That was pointed, and I always treated the Win. 94 as a single shot rifle, opening the lever and inserting the round by hand into the breech.
I have no idea if these types of rounds are still made.

Alot of the old, Authentic lever guns have little to no recoil and shoot all types of 'cowboy' pistol cartridges. I've got a Winchester 1873 in 44-40 that I've shot (once) and there is hardly any recoil. Getting one of these old levers and they're ammo can be quite expensive though.

I have a Henry Big Boy .44mag. My 12 year old--oops he just tuned 13 last month Grandson shoots it with no problem. You could always start off with .44 specials in that gun and work up to the magnums.

id go with .357. i enjoy the kick of the .44 mag 94 winchester but it wasnt expected teh first time i shot it. i find the .357 more enjoyable for a long day at the range.

RECOIL!? RECOIL!? We don't got no stinkin' recoil!

Howdy.
My old Marlin 1894 carbine, in 44-40 cal., can be fired with one hand, like a pistol. (I'm not John Wayne, am 67 yrs old and weigh 165#).
Of course it's not as accurate that way, but the recoil is very mild.
Most lever actioned firearms have recoil that is easily managable by slightly built folks. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, which are generally in the larger calibers and loads. I would think it unwise to start someone out on a 45-70 or 450 Marlin carbine, but a 30-30 is no problem, even in carbine lengths.
Acually, the most objectionable part (to me) of shooting short barreled carbines is the increased muzzle blast (NOISE!!).
Thanks for your time.

+1 on a 357 instead of a 44mag. more pleasant, cheaper. still plenty punchy. and you can run 38's through them for even less recoil and cost.

I really like a slick marlin, but winchester clones and the like are all fine. I've never seen anything that would set off a chainfire outside of some type of armor piercing round. don't worry about it. 30/30's are cheaper, but have quite a bit of kick.

.44 mag would be awesome, but the .357 would be more affordable which may be important to a low income teenager.

Also, the .357 mag gets pretty fast out of a carbine/rifle barrel.
http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/357mag.html

Yeah, it seems like a lot of the magnum loads really gain a lot in a long rifle barrel, especially when loaded with that in mind (slower burning powder, full house load). There was a guy on YouTube who showed the differences between plain ol' .38spl FMJ range ammo when fired from a 2" snub revolver versus a 20" lever action rifle. The penetration was noticeably more with the rifle - he put a small dent in a frying pan with the revolver, yet the same round fired from a rifle blew a hole right through it.

A friend of mine has that Ruger semi-auto carbine in .44 magnum (deerfield or something, I can't remember the name) that I shot. It had noticeable recoil, but my .30-30 rifles kick a lock more.

None of the pistol calibers will have enough recoil to hurt/scare the kid. Heck, I was shooting 8mm Mauser at 13 years old and about 100 pounds, and I'm still here.

I really like my Rossi 1892 in .357 magnum. shooting .38 specials is like shooting a glorified .22, and handloaded magnums can really hit hard.

+1 for the .357 carbine. Everybody likes to shoot it. Its just a fun gun.

Load a 158 grain, semi jacketed over some H110 out to about 1800fps and kill deer out to 125 yards all day long.

The Marlin is fast. I can get 3-4 empties in the air at a time shooting cowboy action. And those are aimed shots. The Winchester is a touch faster but it puts the empties on top of my hat.

The Marlin ought to be good for hogs too. If I ran into a 400lb mean dangerous charging hogzilla, I am comforted by the thought I can unload 9 rounds of hot 357 Magnum about as fast as an autoloader could. 9 rounds of 158 grain bullets are about a quarter pound of lead going at 1800 fps. I would think that would discourage almost anything that was intent on hurting me.

My Rossi stainless '92 in .357mag is my favorite range rifle. Loaded to true magnum velocities, it's comparable to the infamous 30-30. Loaded down it's like shootin' a 22 mag. Even with my old tired eyes I can consistently hit a bowlin' pin hangin' @ 100 yards using stock irons. I also have a newer All-Weather 77/.44 with a Nikon 2-7 on it. I know they had accuracy problems with the old models, but it seems they got it fixed with the new ones. Groups @ 100 yards are generally 2'' or less. Probably gonna end up being my grand-daughters first deer rifle. Loading with the rotary clip is much easier and safer than loading and unloading a lever, especially for small, young and inexperienced hands. It bucks a little more with magnum rounds than the .357, but still can be loaded down for all-day plinkin'. Both guns are light, compact and fit smaller hands well, and bein' stainless, no worry about huntin' in the rain with 'em.