I've been shooting AR's & pistols in tactical training for a very long time. I reload all my own ammo as well. I'm no beginner by any means. A few months ago I decided to investigate bolt guns and training on them with the idea what I learned from them would help my AR shooting. I've owned inexpensive guns and uber expensive ones and quickly learned it's easy to spend a lot of money on guns that you just don't bond with. Same with my guitars and amps. Lord I wish I had some of that money back!
I did a tremendous amount of research on bolt guns and settled on a Savage Axis II Precision. They have a very good reputation for accuracy and reliability. I installed a Vortex 5x25 scope, total investment less than $1500.00, and went shooting. I was pretty amazed at how much different this style of shooting is. So I started doing more research, and made the mistake of posting about my purchase on another site.
The responses were immediate and vicious. They made negative comments about how horrible the gun was, how I needed to spend $5k on a custom built gun or I wasn't serious. The list of their comments only got worse and more obscene. I'm not the kind of guy who takes shit and doesn't respond, and I did. A firefight ensued when the bottom feeding pieces of human debris came out of their momma's basements and chimed in. I'm no longer on that site, and to be honest, I've learned far more here than I ever did there.
My point is this as a newcomer. Don't talk over the heads of those showing an interest. Don't direct them to dream guns most can't afford, or are unwilling to spend as a newbie. Drop the "buy once, cry once" mentality. Only a fool parent would buy their child a $4K Gibson Les Paul and spend another $4K on an amp for a child showing an interest in playing guitar. The reason is simple, they may lose interest and you're out a boatload of money watching it gather dust in the corner.
Everybody here knows that there is far more to this style of shooting than just the gun. The cost of the gun is fixed, then you have the expenses of EVERYTHING else, and the learning curve that goes with it. With today's lasers and CNC machines, even low cost guns are pretty damn accurate. In the hands of a new person, they make excellent pieces as part of the learning curve.
The real expenses are on going and that's ammunition, range fees, (if applicable) and eventually reloading. Learning a witch's brew isn't going to be cost effective if you don't already know the intricacies of reloading. Those expenses never end. Hundreds, if not thousands of dollars can easily be spent chasing down that perfect load, and it always changes. The effects of wind, humidity have to be learned, and that means burning up ammunition to do so, lots of ammunition.
One has to learn to crawl before walking and then running. Don't direct them to running shoes when they aren't ready and for God's sake, LISTEN to what they have for a budget and stay within that budget because we all know that is only the beginning of the expenses.
I mean usually it's only at like 200yd but when most folks don't shoot past 50yd it's a cool experience . Also nice ha ing people understand an AR-15 is good for more then just mag dumping in to the 25yd berm 
my poor lil Gopher target though 
