Novice Hunter - 1st Rifle Purchace

308 is pretty versatile as far as weights and availability but 270 is great too. If ur planning on bigger than deer game a 7 rem mag is a good choice. 7-08 30-06 are also solid and easy to find. Good starter rifle is ruger American unless ur budget is higher than 400. If that's the case weatherby vanguards s2, tikka t3 lite, tc venture etc r all great options. A tikka in 308 would be my choice. With a vortex viper 3-10x50mm.

For a first accurate rifle look into the Savage 110 with accutrigger. 30-06 has bullets that range from 55gr to 220gr so you can pretty much hunt any animal that walks in North America.

What type of game? Difficult to move forward without knowing your target. I'm 30.06 fan, but usually just deer hunt. Ruger Mk 2.

It's hard not to recommend the old '06 for general North America hunting.
270, 7mm'08, and similar calibers could be used for elk or moose, but if I wanted a dedicated elk rifle, I'd go either '06 or 35 Whelen.
308 is also a good choice. It's basically a short action '06 with just slightly less range.

Eta: 7 rem mag is not really a big upgrade over the '06 to me.
It's a lot of boom and higher priced ammo for a little more range.

.308, .30/06, and .270 would be you best three choices for a new Hunter. The rifle I would pick would be a Tikka T3 and a Nikon Monarch scope for it. It a $550 dollar rifle is not in your budget than get the $379 dollar Remington 700 from Walmart or academy. Also if $350 to $450 is not in the budget for a scope then just get a Nikon prostaff for around $185 to $225 depending on power.

308 is a fine choice. My wife hunts with one and its bang flop. She has a Browning A-Bolt and is deadly with it.I hunt most of the time with a 7mm-08 and its the same story..bang flop