i would invest in a quality scope such as Leupold or other name brand scopes. hope your wife is going to be sitting with a varmit special rifle as they tend to be a little on the hefty side. i have a Remington VS and i wont carry it around as far as distance. what caliber is the rifle? mines is 243 with a heavy barrel just for groundhogs. good luck with getting the rifle up and shooting.