Ok- I have to admit upfront that I got a little obsessed with lever guns at one point. I've got three henrys- brass -framed .22, .38/.357 and .44 special/.44 mag, a marlin (jm stamped) 30/30, and a .22 mag winchester takedown (actually on loan). The henrys are by far the smoothest, and even after I polished it and put in a wild west trigger the marlin isn't quite as good. The henry .22 is perfectly balanced for me, as is the .44, while the .357 is definitely nose-heavy to the point of annoying for me. The two big boys are heavy, but they make all of them (even 30-30 and 45-70) now in steel (I've never held/shot one and they are made in Wisconsin rather than in New Jersey (or wherever the other ones are made now). I'm not fond of the marlin loading gate- it actually peels brass off of the cases sometimes- but it was almost new when I got it and it still doesn't have many rounds through it. I hate the henry back sights and put Skinner peep sights on them- which are awesome no matter what model you get (or even if you keep yours). The winchester .22 mag is beautiful wood-wise but "meh" other than that- I don't really know why they cost so much comparably (but I've never shot one that's in a more powerful caliber). If you do have to sell/replace, I think I might try the henry steel ones or find an older marlin (depending on the whole loading gate/tube loading preference). and then get a skinner sight
And with reloading, I think the .357/.44 price difference is minimal, so if you go for a brass-framed henry I would go for a .44 or .45- they just feel better (of course I'm also kind of partial to big bangs-lol).
I'm actually trying to sell the .357 now, because that .45/70 henry is a siren that keeps calling to me.