There are a lot of good scopes out there. The Leupold is one of them. I have a straight 6X leupold I bought well over 30 years ago. And it is as good today as it was then. Spend the little extra now, and he will have a scope that will undoubtedly last his life time. And have a warranty that is backed by a USA company as well.

I do not think too much about their bases and rings. Get a good one piece steel base, and steel rings. Just my opinion. However I have not had a lot of luck with the cheaper aluminum stuff. Tom.

How about the Nikon ProStaff 4x32. I just put one on my 10/22 and love it.
http://theopticzone.com/detail.aspx?ID=2317

Thanks for all the good replies. My son is buying the scope and rings with money he worked for so I think it will be a lot more meaningful for him. Sounds like I can't really go wrong with any of the the 4x scopes listed. I wish a shop around here had some so we could look before we buy but I guess fixed power scopes just aren't popular enough for them to keep in stock.