I agree that if your going to varmint hunt with it you will want more magnification than 3X9. I would go with something that will give you up to 14-16 power capabilities for varmint hunting. 3x9x40 or 42 is plenty for most deer hunting. If you want a 3x9x40 many times you can get the now discontinued Nikon Monarch UCC scopes NIB on ebay for $200 or even a little less. I have 2 of them and they are very nice scopes that will handle any high powered weapon recoil. I just bought a NIB Monarch UCC "Team Primos" 3x9x40 on ebay for $191.00. To the best of my knowledge they have discontinued the UCC series when they started makingall their new Monarchswith side focus.