Welcome to the forum!

The reviews I have read on forums (take reviews in magazines with several grains of salt) is the Ruger American is accurate and well built.

Are you going to use iron sights or optics?

One piece of advice is to not shoot past your abilities. You want the bullet to hit your target. As you know, treat every firearm as if it is loaded. Be safe and follow all safety rules.

Do you a have a rifle in .22 Long Rifle that you can use to practice and work on your form? Ammo for the .22LR is much cheaper.

One thing you can do with no ammo in the chamber or magazine that costs you nothing is to practice shouldering your rifle and get your sights on target as quickly as possible. Be sure to keep the muzzle in a safe direction and keep the finger off the trigger until you are on target. Use the proper stance, grip, etc. when practicing. What you do in practice is what you will likely do when the time comes to shoot.