I've never shot a Ruger American, but both my Tikka .223 and .243 are sweet little guns. More up front expense for the Tikka, but unless that's going to take away from your scope budget, I'd don't thinks its prohibitively more expensive. Both my Tikkas are light, easy handling and very accurate. If you want to get crazy, there seems to be more aftermarket things you can get for the Tikka such as a stock or bolt shroud or whatever...I guess the Tikka is more of the known quantity. I have a 3-9x40 Burris FF2 on the .223 and a Leupold 3.5-10x40 VX3 on the .243. A good light scope really complements the Tikka
