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I was looking for a left hand compact for one Granddaughter now the other one wants one. Caliber of preference is 7mm-08. Daughter number two has a Tikka compact in 7mm08 and it is a tac driver. Buying two rifles for Granddaughters is now becoming a budget item. I always put Leupolds on all our rifles so am again considering a Ruger American. Called Ruger and a compact stock to replace the standard is now 99 dollars. I am some what concerned with the 18 inch barrel due to velocity loss over the twenty inch and muzzle blast. Has anybody tried the 18"s in 7mm08?

I've got a Ruger compact 7mm-08 with the 18" barrel. I've shot less than a full box out of it. It didn't bother me any, although you and the young'un might feel differently.
(Know that I also have a ported Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun and a ported Marlin 444 Outfitter, so muzzle blast is not new to me.)

I'm not sure that 2" of barrel is going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. At the range you wear ear muffs, and hunting you/she prolly won't even notice the muzzle blast. If budget is an issue, I'd get the Ruger.

I don't know what Davidson's price is to your local gunshop, but even if you bought the 22" barrel one and then dropped $100 for a compact stock, that's prolly still several hundred cheaper than another Tikka. And if you just went with a 18" barreled compact, that would prolly be about half the price of a Tikka, leaving you some wiggle room to get decent optics on it.

While I don't have any 7mm-08s, I do have a Ruger Scout with the 16.1" barrel in .308W. Velocity loss compared to a 22" barrel is about 170fps using factory 150g ammo. That works out to a little under 29fps per inch.

If the same relationships hold, which is not in any way guaranteed, that would mean about a 58fps difference between a 20" and 18" barrel.

............Here is a direct link to an article pertaining to the ballistic performance by the 7/08 from a shorter barrel.

www.shootingtimes.com/long-guns/longgun_reviews_scout_102606/

Scroll down to the heading "Short Barrel Long Reach" and read on from there. A 4.5% velocity reduction from a barrel 7.5" shorter.

You need not have any concerns whatsoever about any velocity loss when going from a 20" barrel down to an 18" barrel.

I set up a youth rifle for my cousin. It was a RAR compact in 308 with a nikon monarch 2-7. I had a hard time letting go of that little jewel. I was light weight with great balance, I was surprised by the low felt recoil, trigger could be better and accuracy showed promise. I hope his son enjoys it!

Could start G-Daughter out with "managed recoil" loads.

just saying.