Andy, a lot of ammo makers like federal and remington are now making reduced recoil rounds. If you hand load you can tame a cartridge down also, and have a lot better chance to find a load the rifle will shoot. So a 30-06 can have the fps and recoil of a 30-30 for a few years till he grows into it. Remember, the lighter the rifle, the heavier the recoil. Hodgdon has a whole page of reduced loads for various calibers. I like the .260 over the 7-08, but if you can reduce the load, even a 7 wsm might work. My kids like to shoot my .308 baer, (weatherby) it weighs 18 lbs., i carry it out to the field, put it on the bags and they do the rest, even the 6 yr. old shoots it well. Got them a rossi .410 for deer, it weighs about 2 lbs but has amazingly stiff recoil, and although they can carry it, not one of the 3, ages 6, 10 and 13 want to shoot it. They would much rather shoot the muzzle loader. If you know someone with a rifle he likes, have him shoot it and find out his tolerence for recoil. If you watch someone shoot a gun that is to much for them, they will often squint or tense up their facial muscles as they squeeze the trigger because they know it`s gonna hurt. Every ones different, make sure you pick one he likes to shoot, and you will have a hunting partner for the rest of your life
