Just for anyone else looking, here's some prices I found from reputable sources. You'll see lower prices out there but I'm wary of eBay with less than 98% ratings and of unknown retailers.

$200 - Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40mm
$180 - Nikon Buckmaster (BDC) 3-9x40 (price shipped)
$180 - Burris Fullfield II Scope 3-9x40mm (not the package)
$150 - Redfield Revolution 3-9x40mm
$145 - Nikon prostaff (BDC) 3-9x40
$230 - Leupold VX 1 3-9x40
$225 - Leupold Rifleman 3-9x40
$265 - Leupold VXII 3-9x40 56780
(Prices rounded off)

I've read a lot on these and it seems they are all pretty equal, with personal opinion being the deciding factor most often, or a bad exp with a manufacturer. For every opinion on one forum you'll find the exact opposite on another. Reports of issues held more weight with me over statemtns like, "I've always been an [brand] man" or even "I looked through both at the store and preferred [brand]". You can find examples like that for just about every one compared against another.

I'm leaning toward the Buckmaster. It's $180 shipped and you have to search hard to find a bad word about any Nikon scopes. The Bushnell 3200 is well reviewed but it's quite a bit more than a Prostaff. The Bushnell XLT had reports of it drifting. The lower end Leopolds seem to have a rep that they are riding the coat tails of the higher quality models and for the money you can get better. The Nikon Prostaff is by all accounts a good scope which would probably do me just fine, but most said the Buckmaster was worth the extra and it's only $35 more.

I'll hang on a little before making the purchase but I can't imagine anyone is going to think I've made a terrible error paying $180 for Buckmaster. If you do please shout up soon. I'm going to pull the trigger this afternoon.

Thanks again for all the opinion and ideas. I have given them all great consideration.

I agree with the fact that I'm weary of the Redfield. If it's at all like the 2 VX-I's I've used I think you'd be way better off with a Prostaff. Plus I've read more than one review of the Redfield that say the POI has shifted with magnification changes. That scares me too. Anyway, they did a review on Opticstalk.com that was great. It compared the scopes in the $200 price range. The Vortex Diamondback came out on top followed by the Burris Fullfield II. I know the Pentax Pioneer is also supposed to be a re branded Burris FFII so it might be a good bet too. I've personally used the VX-I in that price range and the Burris FFII and the Burris blew the VX-I out of the water both in clarity in daylight, low light performance, and holding it's zero through abuse. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyway.

I don't think the Prostaff is a bad scope, but I think you can get a lot better scope for not much more money.

BTW here is the optics talk read. It's a great article to read.
http://opticstalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=21176

I just went to Sportsman's Warehouse and the had a Bushnell 3200 Firefly on sale for $180 (+7.4 tax). $20 cheaper htna the non firefly. I didn't know what it was so wanted to come back and look it up. It's the illuminated reticule. That sounds like a bargain, should I be high tailing it back, instead of writing this. lol.

I would rather have the regular 3200 than the Firefly. Look through both of them and compare the reticule when looking at a small target.

do yourself a big favor and buy a tasco scope its half the money and just as good..plus tasco stands behind thier stuff,,,i would never,,,never pay for a brand name,,just because they got a big price tag dont mean they're any good. a 3x9x40 tasco will run you around 60 bucks and i think you can get rings with em on some deals,,dont forget to put alittle bit of fingernail polish or thred lock on those screws before you tighten them up! they wont loosen that way...

Sorry I'm a little confused, Tasco is a brand name . It's just not the brand people associate with quality. No offense intended to you and I'm sure there are lots of happy Tasco users but you don't have to look too far to see people talking about how they failed them.

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/opti...co-scopes.html

I'm going with the Buckmaster. I decided the firefly reticule is of little use in a state where you can't shoot after official sundown time.

Thanks for the help.

I'll start another thread for my next question.

You may want to consider this scope:
http://swfa.com/Bushnell-3-9x40-Trop...pe-P45014.aspx

Also while checking this scope out, this company will price match it by 110%, look for their 110% price match and click on it. I did last week and they did it on a Leupold VX-II