RE: Judging scope quality
Good question! It is hard to tell without trying them under hunting conditions. Without testing them at all 2 things do stick out though.
1. A cheap scope cannot possibly be as good as high cost/quality scopes!
The price of "cheap" cannot even pay for the quality materials and workmanship that goes into a better scope.
2. For practical purposes, you reach the point of "deminishing returns!"
I don't think that you can really notice much improvement from a 300-500 dollar scope and one costing 3 or 4 times as much! But, a bargain basement scope is much more likely to fail you than a decent one!