As long as he don't mind the weight, he would be fine. Before I had the firearm addiction and knew anything about guns really, my wife and I both used to kill elk with 303 British and Winchester power points. All died as dead as dead gets. So 6.5 or 308 either one have more juice than that, so really it's all about them feeling good with the gun. I prefer my Tikka in 30-06, by a mile, but if he likes an AR, then sure.