First if he is a new hunter I would not have him take 300 yard shots.
If you can have him shoot several different calibers before buying, that would be great. Just because he is a good size young man does not mean he can handle hard recoil. Different people have different tolerances to recoil!
For normal shooting distances the .308, .270 will do fine for elk with the proper bullets and good shot placement!
As I've said before, if you listen to some people, it is a wonder the "old timers" did not starve to death, they didn't have "magnum power"! I do agree with Boltman though, to me there is not much difference in the reoil of the .308 and the 7MM magnum. They are my two favorite calibers! But that's just me! Good luck!

Edited by - Frank on 01/15/2002 15:14:48