boatbum covered it. Choices vs priorities vs what its worth to the the buyer.

A few eye facts. The amount of melanin in you iris impacts your ability to fight glare and level of contrast. Darker eyes see a wider field of peripheral vision. Dark eyed people perform better at reactive tasks (boxing, hitting a ball). So even if two people with 20/20 vision look through the same scope, what is actually viewed, perceived and recognized by the brain can widely vary.

Have not made a decision cause I have not found someone on here or a store with experience or instock side by side scopes from my list.
Pretty sure I have decided to stick to 2nd focal plane, with a side focus wheel at least 44mm.(will not take a scope starting at 6x zoom nor care how one performs)
I will be using it locally for powerline hunting deer which can vary from a 40 yard shot to 500yards in all lighting conditions, also its going on a nice Remington Sendero in 25-06 and will be setup beside my 50 BMG when shooting at the clay pit with my best friend and would like us to be able to view the shot placement at 500-600yards from 50 without a dedicated spotting scope. Pulling towards the Nikon Monach 5. 5x25-50mm at $850 as my current 1st choice with current info gathered compared to price for value.

And if it matters I have dark blue eye's LOL.

I did some training with the Nightforce and I was always very happy with my results. Used .308, 300 mag, and 338, I have personally moved to Vortex with great results from 50-700 yards. Good luck

I'd pass on the Nikon . Some have great glass & some are not so good . Their inconsistent lens quality & their BDC reticle leave me cold . Weaver Super Slam has as good or better glass as the Monarch 5 . Minox ZA5 5-25X56 will do what you want price is around $770 . Weaver Tactical have damn good glass as good as the Super Sniper & better than the Vortex Viper PST consider them equal to the Leupold VX3 . The 4-20X50 is around $860 . Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30X50 has very good glass & Rainguard coating , good eye relief . Leupold VX6 is very damn good . They finally got off their ass & made something really good . IMHO they are equal to the Swarovski Z3's or the Leica ER's . The Leica 4-20X50 ER5 is a great scope price around $1300 . Best glass in the price range is the Swarovski 3.5-18X44 Z5 . Bright , clear edge to edge & usable @ full power . Price around $1530 . Hope this helps .

Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30X50

boatbum101 said:

I'd pass on the Nikon . Some have great glass & some are not so good . Their inconsistent lens quality & their BDC reticle leave me cold . Weaver Super Slam has as good or better glass as the Monarch 5 . Minox ZA5 5-25X56 will do what you want price is around $770 . Weaver Tactical have damn good glass as good as the Super Sniper & better than the Vortex Viper PST consider them equal to the Leupold VX3 . The 4-20X50 is around $860 . Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30X50 has very good glass & Rainguard coating , good eye relief . Leupold VX6 is very damn good . They finally got off their ass & made something really good . IMHO they are equal to the Swarovski Z3's or the Leica ER's . The Leica 4-20X50 ER5 is a great scope price around $1300 . Best glass in the price range is the Swarovski 3.5-18X44 Z5 . Bright , clear edge to edge & usable @ full power . Price around $1530 . Hope this helps .

Click to expand...

It did help. Do you have personal experience outdoors on a gun with the Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30X50 that u briefly touched on?

Yes I do . Personally I rarely see the need to go more than 15-16X . The pluses are it's versitle in that it comfortably can do everything . 4" eye relief that's flexible . Settings are positive & repeatable .In bright light image is harsh with image whiteout at more than 18X it does decrease contrast , but not to the point of hindering aiming . In low light no objectional ghost image or flaring effect . Resolution does drop at the edges but not severely . Their duplex recticle is too fine for low light to the point that I'd opt for the mildot . For me it'd be a choice between the Leupold VX6 , Leica ER5 & the Swarovski Z5 . I know it's more money , but IMHO optical clarity with a usable recticle trumps all . I like being able to pick one out of the tree line especially in low light & for such the Leupold Heavy Duplex or the Euro German # 4 recticles are hard to beat . I also abhor having my optics not being able to see a shot clearly . I no longer take shots over say 300 unless I can't get closer or a wounded animal . When I was younger I killed more than a few Mulies @ 400+ with a 30-06 & an old Redfield 3-9X40 Widefield . In those days that was what I could afford , but I knew the gun & my load . I sincerely hope this helps , not trying to be ugly or pick a fight . Best I can tell you is look thru the scopes yourself. You very well might like something I don't care for . Scopes are like a handgun in that much of ones likes are subjective . Believe me with the price of things these days I swallow hard damn neigh every time I pick something up off the shelf .

Leupold VX3

Got the Leupold VX3 6.5x20-50mm in and out on the 308 Sendero went to the range today and it did well. Gotta work through some more ammo trials. Still looking for a scope that starts below 5x and goes above 25x.

Better group was with Federal Fusion 165gr. Other group with Hornady BTHP.

I run the same VX3's on a 300 Whby Accumark and Ruger VT 22-250. Both are fine cross hair, one has fixed target knobs and the other has removable target knobs. Great performance, no issues.

Happy Trails

Also some things I figured out from yesterdays Vx3 6.5x20-50mm range test. I bought this scope NOT because it was exactly what I was looking but because it was $450 for a scope I see selling for around $600-$900. I now am moving my "Must have's" to NO more than a 4x on low side and no less than 24x on high side. Also really want at least 30mm or higher tube and a Side Focus(not a must). Fun fact the Leupold 20x zoom was closer and more clear than my Barska spotting scopes 36x zoom lol

BOUGHT a SCOPE finally. Paid for it. Does not ship till Monday (3 days from now) Went with Bushnell Elite 6500 Riflescopes w/ RainGuard - 4.5-30x50mm. Was my gunsmiths recommendation from my list of choices I gave him. He is at the range every Sunday and said he had owned the majority or at least used the options from my list. Howard Said for the wide range of things I wanted to do with it, this fit the bill best. Retail MSRP is over $1200 and I paid $729 w/free shipping from Optics Planet. They emailed me a special price on it so I sucked it up since had just been told to go with it by smith.