If you don't mind the synthetic stock, a Marlin 981T makes a good beginner's rifle. I bought one for my son when he was 14 or 15. A few months later we put a 4-12 AO scope on it and he had no trouble at all hitting shotgun hulls at 50 yards. (Tin cans hanging from a wire at that distance were too easy so he started shooting the wire instead.)
I like the lines of a tube fed .22 much better than I like the looks of one with the skinny magazine sticking out the bottom.