It's hard to tell the difference in scopes while in the store. You can pick them up and look through them all day and you really won't learn a thing. Sure some will be slightly brighter and clearer but the REAL test of a scope is how it performs in the field. Now I'm not talking about taking the rifle out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to shoot. I'm talking about cold temps foggy/ice mornings, blistering hot days, crawling through the brush. That scope must perform day in and day out in all kinds of weather on all different types of guns. It has to hold zero no matter how many times you touch off that .300win mag, 444 Marlin, 375 H&H Mag or even that .223. Parallax must hold true at the distance its set at no matter what the magnification isor hold true at any distance the adjustable ones are set to.

To be honest some of the brightest scopes you can look through in the shop are the lower end Bushnell scopes......but take them out and put them through their paces and they fail more often than not.

No I'm not saying you HAVE to go out an buy a Zeiss VM/Vor Swarovski PH or Kahles or any of the other "high line" scopes out there. It would be nice but this is the real world and that kind of money for a scope is not always readily available for John Q Hunter. You can however get a very good quality scope in a price range that won't break the bank in the Leupold, Nikon or Burris lines. They are hunter tested and will withstand the daily life of a hunting scope. These scopes can be purchased used for an additional savings, I see them at gun shows all the time. I've purchased many a rifle scope at gun shows and some of them are on my "go to" hunting rifles because I know they won't let me down at the worst possible moment, come rain or shine they will work.

Spend a little more money......you won't regret it!

That's my take on it.......