Here are the results of this thread. After long consideration my son studied all his options and decided he still wanted to buy his own rifle. He bought a Remington 700 BDL in 308 cal. It was a collaborative effort. His options were limited by being left handed and by his pocket book.
I believe he choose wisely. It's a really nice gun and his choice of caliber (while his choice) seemed reasonable after many discussions. He's very excited and can't wait to start shooting it.
He did however decide that he would use and possibly keep my Weatherby Athena in 20 gauge. I guess he likes the look of it.