Steve,

I guess things like chosing a scope are always a bit subjective, and I'm certainly no expert on optics. I used to buy cheap scopes and have come to regret being so stingy on something as important as hunting optics. Now I am buying the best I can possibly afford. That doesn't mean that I buy the most expensive. I looked at lots of different brands of scopes, talked to other guys about what they had, and did some reading. Try "Optics for the Hunter" by John Barsness, published by Safari Press, if you can get a copy. I concluded from all this that Leupold scopes ranked right up there with Zeiss and Swarovski, particularly in terms of brightness, but cost less, for reasons that had nothing to do with quality. In one respect I think Leupold beats all of the ones I know of, and that is in eye relief. I have a friend who mounted a Swarovski on his .375 and is constantly getting wacked in the eyebrow because there isn't enough eye relief. That ain't no fun. With the Leupold there is plenty of eye relief. Hope this helps.
Lefty