What about the middle ground, the Nikon Monarch series is a great scope and theopticzone.com has the 3-9 x 40mm for $265 I think. Not to nock on the Simmons scopes but I don't care for them. The Nikon however, is a very good scope, it has great optics and good eye relief and will probably impress the heck out of you. In fact you may want to order 2 one for the 243 and one for your gun.

Gordon