I have one Lepould, and one Nikon, both are fine. The nikon 3-12 is on my .243 sure makes it fun to shoot. The 12x is a little hard to aquire targets, I find myself starting around 6x, finding the target, then zooming out to 12 for the shot. I could not shell out $300 for a scope on the new rifle, so I put a $29.99 Tasco 3x9 from Walmart on it until I could get a good scope.
I vote to either pay the $ to get a good one that looks clear, or just go to Walmart until you can save enough to get a good one. Last I was looking it was between Nikon, Burris, Leupold, they are all similar for the price ranges.
Also before you buy ask the sales guy to show you the $800 - $1000 scopes. Once you look through one of those and understand how clear and bright they really are it may help you pick a mid price one that looks the closest because you will know what to be looking for.
