Tikka Ranahan vs lite for young lady

[RockChukkar]

My 14yr old daughter loves to hunt and I’m looking for a rifle for her. She’s 5’-9” and still growing. I was between a Ruger ranch 5.56 and a Howa mini .223.

But now I see two tikka models that have caught my attention. I’ve never owned a tikka so I don’t know much about them. The two I see as possible options are The tikka t3x lite 223 with unthreaded 16” barrel & black stock and also the 20”ranahan. My initial thoughts are that I prefer a 16 or 18” barrel.. however the ranahan appears to have a better stock and the barrel is threaded. From what I’ve read there is a 5-8oz difference between the two. The plan would be to put a light 2-7x or lpvo on either rifle.

What would you get and what are the pros and cons between these rifles?

 

[Thinkingman]

I bought a Ranahan a few months ago.
I love the thing but had to remove the iron sights to get the scope I wanted in place.
Tikkas are about the closest to a sure thing in the hunting stick category.

 

[Castle Rock]

The tikka is a much nicer rifle than the other two.
Unless you are going to suppress it you are better off with the light with the 22 inch barrel, much more pleasant to shoot.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I would look hard at the T3X lite compact.

 

[RockAndSage]

I would look hard at the T3X lite compact.

^ this.

While there's nothing "wrong" in lightweight use for the Ruger or Howas, in general there just seems to be more that needs to be done to tune them up for a lot of guys, compared to what a Tikka does out of the box. And the more extreme the demands, the more the Tikkas seem to outpace the other guns.

 

[wesfromky]

To add one other Tikka model - I have this one and really like it.

https://www.eurooptic.com/tikka-t3x-roughtech-ranch-223-rem-16-1-8-5-8x24-bbl-roughtech-black-rifle-jrtxrt

 

[Sundodger]

5'9" is tall enough she can probably use a full size stock and not a compact, but I would fit her up to be sure.

Another thing I have noticed when fitting women to rifles, they often need an even higher comb than we do. So either get a stock with a comb riser, add one, put a pad and neoprene sleeve on it, etc.

 

[OneShot]

I agree with the above post. My wife is 5’7”and can shoot a full size stock. I added a cheek riser to the 223 for her and put a cheek riser on her new Howa mini. She has mentioned many times how much more comfortable it is now.

Here is a threaded 16”

https://www.eurooptic.com/tikka-t3x-lite-synthetic-223-rem-16in-16bbl-1-8-5-8in-x-24tpi-synthetic-blued-jrtxe31216mt?srsltid=AfmBOorzEsvJpxs6QNHyCLQtvuICKRbPSi9Iyq3pTYo8kkpPL4y2nvw3