I started out my first son (at 12) with a 30-30 Marlin. Great gun to learn with. Shoulders well and the lever action is easy to use.One benefit of the 30-30 is that it is inexpensice to shoot. I load all of our rounds so he has been able to do a lot of practise at very little cost (and as we know how important it is to practise). The cost of reloading the30-30 is about one third the cost of loading a .270 and even less of the 7mm mag. Buying rounds is also a lot less expensive. The 30-30 also performs as well as any cal. 150 yards and in with a well placed shot.