RE: NEF rifle choice
My little 243 nef is very accurate but the only issue I had at first was spent brass not ejecting on occasion. Other than being a little unbalanced when compared to a bolt rifle, no complaints. I will be taking it to oklahoma for whitetail this year. Took a doe with it last year, it did fine.
My advice? Get him a little larger caliber and get it in that stevens 200. It will cost 40 bucks more, but your getting a better long term setup. EJ