I have wondered about these scopes myself and it seems like like people either luv em or hate em.
If your only planning to shoot out to 500 yards Cabela's has a Alaskan Guide scope with the same type of rangefinding circles as well. I read a review on them and the author was impressed with them to say the least...They are also alot cheaper than the Shepherd as well and I don't think you would have a problem with repair work as they have the Cabela's name on them.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...712&hasJS=true