Hey Loch,
Thanks for joining Rugertalk, young man,
It does my heart good to see a young man interested in shooting.
I do think the 18" with a threaded barrel is a good choice.
Stick around and let us know how it shoots for ya.
I'm going to move your first thread here , over to introductions, so all the folks here get to meet you.
If you want to get even more input on the rifle...heck, start another thread on it.
Even post us some pics of it.
Jim