RE: Best Light Gathering Scopes
SUpposedly, The Bushnell Elite 4200 is among the brightest scopes in the world. Os so says the product brocure. It is indeed a bright scope. It is tough and fully multicoated, waterproof and has rainguard. Rainguard causes water to gather in very small dropletts on the lense so if it rains, you get a cleared sight picture when the outside is wet.
One of the weaknesses is that eye relief is not very forgiving and is eye position sensitive. For this reason, it is no longer on any of my rifles.
BTW Scopes can't gather light. Gathering would intimate that the would be more light inside the scope (and transmitted to your eye) than there is outside the scope. What scopes do is TRANSMIT light. I believe the Bushnell 4200 transmits 94% of available light which is pretty high.