A hypothetical situation to ponder for lever addicts; you have $400 burning a hole in your pocket from your income tax return, the itch to emulate John Wayne kicks in and you peruse your options for a rimfire lever action. Do you a) buy a new Henry b) try to convince someone on the EE that their 94/22, BL 22 or silverboy is only worth four hundred bucks or c) pick up a good used Winchester 150/250, Erma Werke or Norinco?
This isn't actually THAT hypothetical of a question, my tax return finally popped up, and aside from stashing some cash, theres a bit to burn up too. The stipulation is that only 22 LR's or 22 S, L, LR need apply.
Sean
^^^Cant go wrong with a Henry, Ithaca, or a Winchester. All are great .22 leaver rifles and fun to shoot. I found the Henry to be the heaviest and the Win AND the Henry being at the higher end of your budget while (if you look and are patience) you could find something around $300 for that type of rifle.
I got lucky and picked up an old (1979ish) Ithica Mdl 76 saddle gun with a factory mounted fixed power (3x I think?) scope , Made in West Germany, covered in more than 20 years of grime for $80! It looked like a rusted piece of crap. I Took it home, stripped it down, cleaned it, oiled it, refinished the walnut furniture and 'bingo' a beauty of a leaver gun! Total cost of restoration: $8 + 5 beer! Dead on at 25-50-100yrds. My 10 year old daughter loves it, I watched her drop 3 rounds of 8 into a 6" target the other day at the range...@175yrds!

(proud Dad has video, it was the moment I watched her get a grasp on windage and holdover

). She officially laid claim to it that day, its become "Her" rifle. I have noticed when compared side by side, that Model 76 is a direct copy of the Henry sans the octo barrel. Hence why its lighter.
Be patient, and you will find what you are looking for.
(BtW: Kind of off topic but Can I tell you how much pride I get out of knowing that because of the last 2 years of her exposure to Archery and shooting sports (and safety/discipline there in)? My Daughter is know in her class (grade 4!) as not only being more mature and level headed than most her age, but also having already developed a certain skill level with "said sporting equipment" that most in her school (boy or girl) do not have. However its a double edge sword as these skills she has are not lost on the boys of her age!!
All of her teachers are also aware as she is proud of her advancements and achievements with these skills and tells them about it (ie:175yrd shot with a .22!) and to date all have commended her. I have to admit though, knowing that there are a few Anti's in the crowd of parents and such, my 10 year old little girl is a shining example of all that is wrong with most of their arguments and all that is right about our hobby/pastime as sport shooters.
Good luck and happy shooting!