You'll a ton of advice here ... all good I expect. Here's mine. Probably wirth all of $.02 !! I am big fan of 30 cal. center fire. My personal preference is the 308 Win. Using 165 gr. bullets, such as the Nosler Partition or Sierra Game King or Hornady SSt, and many others in this weight .... this is a potent short action round out to distances as far as most of us are marksmen enough to manage. Recoil is moderate. As for a rifle ? I'd stay with a quality bolt action. Usually a bolt action is going to be more accurate and more reliable in the field than auto loaders or pumps. In most cases, one and maybe two "quality" shots is all that you'll get anyway. About any new model from any maker is going to be a good choice. I am partial to Styer and Ruger. If your buddy is going to put a scope on the rifle ... for sure steer him/her away for a mistake I made in the past and have seen over and over and over since .... cheap scopes. Doesn't take a $2000 Ziess or Swarovski to have a "good" scope, but in my book it is darn near sinful to drop a low end scope on a good shooting rifle. Bushnell Elite 4200, Ziess Conquest, and Leupold Vari-X III scope are all very good values for the $$$. I am not a fan of "busy" reticules, such as the so called ballistic reticules. Just too much "junk" to think about and honestly for shots out to 200-250 yards or so, not really necessary with a little work at the range. For me a simple, clean German #4 or other heavy plex is ideal for quickly picking up moving game, and for managing low light shots.