Agreed. I've seen the same thing all too often. I recall a Marlin 30/30 one time on one of the gun auction websites that was topped off with a 4-12x scope. Looked absolutely ridiculous. If you're going to go with a carbine style of rifle or a lightweight (ex: Rem. Model 7 or Ruger Ultra-Lite) then it seems to sort of defeat the purpose to top it off with
a scope that's half the size of the gun, and weighs near 3/4 to a full pound or more.
Better to get a smaller, lower powered fixed or variable power scope, or at least one of
the compact models.
Too many go for too much magnification. Seldom ever a NEED for more than 6x for big game hunting. More often much less is needed, and at the lower power there's less chance on a close encounter of just seeing hide/hair.
My personal preference is for the 1-4x or 1.5-5x variables, and at most a 2-7x for big game hunting. I like the better fields of view with these, and generally better eye relief too.