Depending on the kind of shots you will encounter... In my case, most shots a 50 yards or under. If I hunt a hay field section ... 100-150 yards tops.

When I wanted to scope my White Model 97. I went to a gun shop about 50 miles away. The owner and I are good friends (due to the business I do there). I told him I wanted a good hunting scope. I never mentioned money. I said it had to be tough, solid, with a good guarantee. Also the quality of the scope as very important. He suggested a Nikon Pro Staff 2-7x32mm. He told me the glass was excellent, they gather light better then a 40mm, for hunting, where I don't take running shots, I will never notice the difference between the 40mm. Also, he said he sells a lot of them and never gets them back in trade, or for repair. He was right on all counts.. the Pro Staff is under $150.00 and just a great scope.

A scope I put on my Black Diamond XR for fun (because we were not allowed scoped during muzzleloader season a few years back) was a Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn 1.5-4.5x32mm scope. I like to target shoots. BUT for the $69.00 I paid for that scope, it is just a great scope. Excellent clarity, easy to focus, gathers light better then my Simmons cheap Binoculars, has never lost its POA, and do far after hundreds of shots.. tough as nails. For a cheap scope, the Dusk to Dawn are hard to beat. This one has 4 inches of eye relief which is plenty.

I also have Simmons 4x32 Pro Diamond scopes on a number of rifles. These $39.99 scopes have taken a lot of abuse and still hold true. They have good glass, and personally I like them. If your shots are 100 yards and under, these scopes would do the job until you save money for a real expensive scope that will do no better job.