Buy a good Savage rifle on sale at Cabels/Basspro in whatever Cal he can buy ammo for.
How much is he going to shoot a rifle, no matter what it is?
Put on a Burris 3X9 scope that is cheap and let him start there.
With that he can only go UP. and he hasn't much into it, yet it is a servicable hunting rifle providing he figgered out how to Zero it.
He will have a huntin gun.
Many hunting rifles are in the closet and only shoot less than 100 rds, a year, if that.
If he gets onto that by himself, and wants to shoot, he will soon be here with us and buying Big Bucks shit. He may be that person or he may be the one with 6 boxes of ammo and good for the rest of his life if he is young.
I have 2 6.5 Creedmoors BA and the Savage shoots best. Both have 5x25 Burris XTR II .