Silent,

$300 is a reasonable allocation of funds for a scope for your rifle.

If you are just shooting at the range or deer in the local patch, then probably any of the ones listed thus far will do and do so for far less than $300.

If you plan to leave home and go for the big time, now or in the future, then I' d recommend a Leupold VX-I or VX-II with a good set of mounts.

They all look shiny in the glass display case and they all have one bragging point or another where they' ll claim to be " better" . But when you check among hunters that are going for the out of state hunt, with lost wages, significant costs, and preference points used all on the line -- you will find Leupold comes in commonly as the minimum allowable AND as the most commonly used. We have these threads before and when it all shakes out Leupold carries the day 3 to 1.

When we get threads that involve sitting around the campfire bemoaning having to borrow a gun because the scope went bad it is almost always followed up with " should have went for a better scope" and that is commonly followed up with " leupold" with Zeiss being right in the running. I' ll leave out the Swar...... scope since it breaks the $300 mark.

Go to gunbroker.com and search under scopes -- you can do mighty fine and come in under $300. If the gun is the problem, then I assume you will replace it with another. Then keep the scope and put it on the next one.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM