I kind of moved backward- started out with a 3 x 9, then last year bought a 4X fixed Simmons ProDiamond on clearance. I really like that scope a lot and used it to take a deer this year. I didn't see any major difference in my 100 yard groups sizes either. If you're only shooting out to 175 yards or so (like 90% of us), 4X is all you really need.