Finished my build and haven’t put glass on it yet. Looked around and found this:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1320139659/nikon-m-308-rifle-scope-4-16x-42mm-side-focus
I like that it is designed specifically for 168gr rounds and the 308AR platform. Reviews seem pretty strong overall for the money. I have the same scope for one of my 5.56 builds and it does the job. Can I do better at that price point? Budget is between $500-$700.
For your budget, that might be as good as you’re going to get.
I own one and am not very impressed with the clarity of the glass or eye relief, especially at 16x. I have hunting oriented Nikon glass that is far superior to this scope, all of my leupy’s are better as well.
For price and focal range, it might be tough to beat, especially given it is within your budget. Just don’t expect great optical clarity.
I’d try to stretch your budget a bit if I were in your shoes. I’m looking to replace mine with something better. I honestly expected better from Nikon and have been a bit disappointed.
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexviperpst2-10x32
Smidge out of your budget, unless you take the MOA demo model, but if I were on your budget I think I’d go this route.
Used vortex 2-10x32 should be around $650. It’s not perfect but for the money you can’t beat it.
I have a couple of these, http://http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-3-15x42-Tactical-Rifle-Scope-P62238.aspx one of them on a 308 bolt action. For the price range they are real hard to beat for glass quality. Right at the top of your budget at $699, but they have an occasional sale (april 15 is a traditional sale date for them) and I got it around $600.
The bolt gun has been dropped a couple of times on the scope from bench height (winds in Colorado can be brutal). It fell onto earth, not concrete, but the zero and knob functions have all continued to work properly since so I am happy with it’s toughness so far.
The SWFA or Vortex PST would be my suggestions in the price range. Sample List (SWFA’s used site) has some pretty good deals on occasion and if you could pick up a PST second-hand, I think those would be your best bets. The SWFA SS scopes seem to be a great value for the money and the Vortex PST is on 2 of my rifles right now (1-4 for a 16" AR, 2.5-10x32 FFP for a SPR-ish build) and I’ve been impressed with the bang for the buck. Thinking that a 4-16 PST FFPs will be going on a couple Rem 700’s that got put in the safe recently.
As much as I would love to be able to spend some coin on a bunch Leupold Mark VI/VIII scopes, Vortex PST and SWFA seems to be my go-to for right now.
Trijicon just released a new battery powered line called the AccuPower. The 3-9x40mm is $590 at optics planet and the 2.5-10x56mm is $680 at optics planet. Sounds hard to beat for what you get.
Take a look at the leupold vx-r patrol 3-9. I feel they have the best cost/value of low end scopes. Can be had for around $500 with a good sale.
I was going to suggest the SWFA as well. I would much rather have a standard measurement system over a calibrated BDC, as it lets you tailor a favored load for the rifle and then apply that load’s ballistic data to the reticle.