Just saw a report on tv about scopes....saying most scopes are damaged by being poorly mounted not that they can't handle the recoil.

You owe it to yourself to have the tools to mount it properly or to have it professionally mounted.

Lapping the rings helps.
having ring alignment blocks,

coursed as it's been said, put a quality scope on a junk rifle, not a junk scope on a quality rifle,

I'd buy a nice nikon monarch, leupold vx-iii, or swarovski