Off the shelf help

[overinfinite]

Savage Precision or Ruger Precision for factory chassis rifles
Springfield waypoint, Bergara HMR, Browning X Bolt or Xbolt2 for factory stocks the brownings have flimsyness though. Also, the standard 307's seem like they have quite a bit of flex in the stock, fine for a bipod though.
I started this journey with a Ruger predator in 6.5CM over a decade ago and have built it in 5 different configurations since owning and have lent that thing out to so many people with different stocks/ chassis'. Shoots in the .7-.9 consistently with any berger or nosler bullet.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Go for the Weatherby and you should be good with factory ammo offerings on the 7PRC. I'd consider the 65 PRC as well for lighter recoiling if he's a novice but you could run the 7PRC with lighter projectiles if available to keep recoil down. Both have good support of factory ammo. 500 is pretty easy to attain with a good amount of practice by the shooter and the understanding of using it in the field wisely. There are so many well made factory rifles now you should have multiple offerings to look at. Without knowing his game animal desire to hunt the question is a little open ended to choices.

 

[CMRHG]

I've put together a handful of Tikka T3 Lite 300WM. Shooting hornady 180 gr SST ammo around 3100 fps, all 1/2 moa. Burris Fullfield 3x12x56. They kick so I put Witt machine clamp on muzzle brakes on them. Nice lightweight 500 yd rigs for about $1700

 

[skipglo]

For just a Fun gun and some hunting why not just a Vanguard or Howa....sub moa guarantees on both....save him a pile of money and get him where he wants to be.... anything more and he wouldn't be able to appreciate the difference. I'm a big fan of both guns...drop it into an MDT FIELD STOCK .....just me

 

[grizlywinkleman]

My 2 cents is to pick a caliber with lots of factory ammo options regardless of the platform chosen.

 

[HandgunHTR]

Since you (the OP) didn't specifically say it was for hunting, and the fact that your friend isn't much of a rifleman (your words), I am going to go completely away from most here and say he should start with a .223. I would honestly recommend this even if the goal was hunting, but with the caveat that until he becomes a decent rifleman, he shouldn't be making shots past 300. I say this because you have to be a decent rifleman to be able to accurately call wind and maintain your fundamentals to make good shots past there. The headstamp on your brass isn't going to help you much at all until you get those things down.

Get a Tikka with a 1:8 twist or a decent AR with a 1:7 twist quality barrel, buy a bunch of Black Hills or ACC ammo with the 77 grain TMK, a good scope (the SHV would work great) and he will become a decent rifleman with practice. The .223 is perfectly capable to shoot targets or steel to 500 and depending on barrel length will be a fine medium to large game rifle at 300-400 yards, which is more than far enough until he becomes a better rifleman and will want to expand his range anyway. At that point, he can get a new rifle.

If you just cannot stomach shooting a .223, then the Howa Mini in 6ARC, or one of the various 6mm or 6.5 Creedmoor offerings is where I would start.

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

A new shooter out to 500yds.
6.5 PRC, 280Ai and a 270 or 30-06.
Take him to a sporting goods store and have him handle a few different models.
What will you be hunting?

 

[SecretSquirrel38]

I shoot 500 yards with my CVA Cascade XT 308 Win topped with a Redfield 4.5-14x42 scope (not the Academy ones) with hand loads no problem. That said my longest deer was at 353. You don't need to spend a lot of money to shoot that far.

 

[Straight Shooter]

3200 fps I think puts him in the shoulder thumping category.