Before you buy, go to
www.theopticzone.com or
www.swfa.com and look at prices. The optic zone is usually the cheapest, but once in a while swfa will surprise me. For around 275.00 , you can get some great glass. You can get stuff in the 4 - 12 X 50 Buckmasters or a 4.5 - 14 X 40 Buckmasters, and the both are great. I own about 9 Nikon scopes , and a few other brands, and I have found the Nikon to be one of the best values in scopes. I own some Monarchs too, but they are too much above your price goal. Both of the listed sites are great places to do business with. They are the only places I buy my scopes now. I bought the4 - 12 for 285.00 , I believe , and I believe I got my last 4.5 - 14 for about 260.00.
I just went and looked and the 4 - 12 is 309.00 BUT the 4.5 - 14 is only 269.00 in matte / nikoplex and 275.00 in matte / BDC.
Hope this helps.
Good luck and God bless
MET