Hi there

After about a month's research, I decided on and ordered the Weatherby Mark V Special Varmint Rifle yesterday in 22-250 caliber. My next "research" project is the scope. The recommendation that I've had so far is to at least look at 16x + magnification for long range hunting. The brands I'm looking at is Swarovski, Zeiss, Schmidt & Bender and Bushnell Elite 4200. The budget is not a problem, but value for money is very important.

Through your own experience, what scope would you fit? And should one go for the illuminated reticle option or not?

Thanks

My 22-250 has a Nikon Monarch UCC 6.5-20x44AO scope on it, and it is every bit as much scope optics wise as the scope brands you mentioned, with the Bushnell Elite 4200 being a close competitor value wise. This is not to say that the Swarovski, Zeiss and S&B scopes aren't great scopes, but they are MUCH more expensive and don't really offer that much more in the way of performance. They have a lot of "bling" value, but not much more, IMHO. My Nikon transmits more light (rated at 95%) to my eye than it can use, the optics are bright and crystal clear all the way up to 20X, and it cost me about $400.

If you were to consider only the scope brands that you mentioned, then I, personally, would buy the Elite 4200 even if I could afford the more expensive alternatives, and use the money I saved to buy reloading components and equipment for it.

Mike