Appears there is a general consensus that the Ruger is a solid budget choice, and a surprising number (to me) of people using AR's as introduction guns. All good information.
I think if pretty much narrowed it down to one of those two or a used Tikka with the right twist. My overall familiarity with the Tikka as well as the large amount of aftermarket support for that platform keeps that one a contender.
Tikka 223 with 1/8” twist, fixed 6x SWFA SS MQ.
I’m not saying the below applies to you, it’s just so you understand why I say the Tikka-
Having been apart of getting several dozen children started shooting and hunting, there’s a pretty clear pattern that emerges based on the philosophy of teaching them. I can say that what I/we do now is vastly different than what I did in the beginning. The conventional wisdom of how most believe they should start a child/wife/girlfriend, i.e.- make it as easy and simple as possible, get them success as quickly as possible, all the way to the common scenario of the person sitting in a blind that they didn’t build, looking at an animal that they had little to no part in finding (often a “big” animal”), with a rifle rested that they don’t manipulate, they didn’t zero, didn’t really learn to use it themselves, talking for five minutes that they “can’t find the buck” through the scope, finally finding it after being frustrated, pulling the trigger on a rifle they’re usually scared of, walking up to the animal while someone else moves it, takes pictures of it, quarters/cleans it, packs it out, and someone else turns it into food.
Almost everyone that I see or talk to does some version of the above “to get them started”. When you read it and think critically it’s no wonder most children/wives have about as much excitement hunting or shooting as they do watching golf. 100% of the new hunters that I have seen that started like this are ambivalent about it at best, and more often then not quit doing it altogether very soon. It’s boring, it sucks, they’re not invested or a part of it. Imagine going on a hunt now and having someone do the above for you.
Now, I don’t do any of that. A new Hunter is involved in the whole thing. A good example is my significant other. Complete non Hunter, non shooter, said the first time I met her that she would never go hunting. 6 months later she’s on a two week backpack trip to Montana, kills her first deer, carries it out, cuts it up, and grills it that night. It was HER hunt from start to finish. We helped where she needed it, but we did not try to do everything for her. It started with her being around us and listening to how and what we talked about. Eating venison, seeing the pictures, and realizing that it’s an adventure not shooting a deer over a food plot. Taught her to shoot. Actually taught her to shoot. We made it fun, but she learned to do it correctly and then got turned loose on the range with a case of ammo and steel targets every time we went. The shooting range was game and we did all kinds of competitions, races, played HORSE, etc. She started to love shooting. Then came the invitation to join us on our trip. Didn’t have to hunt, didn’t have to carry a gun, “just come out we’ll have snowball fights”. She helped plan, study maps, go on hikes, etc.
By this time she was already “a part” of the whole process. SHE asked about getting a tag. After she thought about it and decided that she was going to try hunting- then came hunters safety, clothing, packs, etc. When it came to the “which rifle” conversation we didn’t tell her which one to use. We explained what bullets do in animals and how they do it, pointed her in the right direction and made her read and research which round to use. She had 223, 243, and 308’s available in lightweight rifles. She was getting a doe tag and a cow elk tag. After reading, thinking, and shooting each it came down to the 223 and 243. She came and asked point blank- “will the 223 kill an elk cleanly?”. I told her yes with the Barnes or Speer Gold Dots, but she would need to treat it like an arrow with regards to placement and truthfully I tried to gently nudge her to the 243. The decision for her was based on shooting both side by side, from field positions, under a time constraint after a little bit of moving. No contest- she got more hits, way less misses, and over all did significantly better with the 223. She came up with her own limit for distance (350 yards prone on the pack, 200 yards sitting or kneeling over the pack, and 100 yards standing with a hiking pole as a shooting stick.
She went on the hunt, had a blast and was hooked. This was a 30 year old women, but she got hooked on hunting because it was an adventure, and SHE did it. Every child/wife that we have introduced to it this way have become passionate about it themselves.
The point to all this is children need to be able to manipulate the gun without help. They need to be completely comfortable shooting and hitting with it even under less than ideal conditions. Let them zero it, let them load it, unload it, get it into position, etc. No one shoots more rounds through AR15’s than I, and it’s doubtful that anyone thinks more highly of the system as much as I do either. However; children tend to not be able to load it, unload it, clear it, etc very well. Lay every gun mentioned side by side with a can of ammo next to each, turn a group of kids loose, and very quickly they’ll be a line behind the Tikka with everyone wanting to shoot it. Things that adult males may not notice are very apparent to children and new shooters. How smooth the bolt is when chambering, whether it tends to bind, how easy the mags are to load, how light the trigger is, the weight, how easy the scope is to get behind, etc. And the big one- RECOIL. They perceive it (or are more honest with themselves about it) WAY more than we do. A 243 may not be anything to us, but the differnace to most kids and women is huge.
Tikka’s in 223’s generally win because the mags are easy to load, chambering is ridiculously easy with no binding, the trigger can be set light, the gun isn’t too heavy, there’s no recoil, and the bullets land behind the crosshairs almost by themselves.
Anyways, just some thoughts.