If I were to purge my current 7mm-08 I'd get one of these. Seems a lot of people are very happy with these little rifles. Personally I would have gone with 21" version to balance things out a bit and to take advantage of the slight increase in velocity/powder efficiency. If he plans on putting a suppressor on it I think he'll be quite happy.
Reviews are good overall. Some favoring the long action due to barrel contour. I will probably end up with a 7mm08 with 21 barrel. My only hang up is the blind magazine. But only because I have no experience with them.
I have a 6.5CRM in the 18” fieldcraft and I love it. By fair my favorite rifle amongst my stable of Tikka’s, Sakos, and a Ruger. Super accurate, sub inch at 200 if I do my part. It’ll eventually be my NZ gun with a titanium suppressor.