For target shooting....I would suggest buying the best spotting scope that you can afford --- For hunting...buy the best binocular's that you can afford --- But for a riflescope? For certain scenario's: I don't think that you need to buy the best scope that you can afford, but I would say that around the $300 or $400 range is suitable.
For a 22 or 17 rimfire {unless it's a precision rimfire} --- where I would search for a scope where the parallax adjustment is down to 10 yards to infinity, for squirrel hunting, since they may be bought a tad cheaper.
Or...on a slew of my combat weapons --- {besides a couple of reflexes}, I prefer to buy the best riflescope that I can afford: 1-4x & 1-6x X 30 mm X 24's on a couple of my AR's for a part in three-gun fun or just casual target shooting; especially steel silhouette shooting. --- They're also good for hunting rifles.
I prefer to keep the original 4x Russian range finder scopes on my designated marksman, AK {Romanian PSL & Iraqi Tabuk} rifles --- Since other scopes might not fit so well on the mount...and the resale factor.
Of course....My Hi-Power target rifles, where I tend to by the best scope that I can afford.
For a 22 or 17 rimfire {unless it's a precision rimfire} --- where I would search for a scope where the parallax adjustment is down to 10 yards to infinity, for squirrel hunting, since they may be bought a tad cheaper.
Or...on a slew of my combat weapons --- {besides a couple of reflexes}, I prefer to buy the best riflescope that I can afford: 1-4x & 1-6x X 30 mm X 24's on a couple of my AR's for a part in three-gun fun or just casual target shooting; especially steel silhouette shooting. --- They're also good for hunting rifles.
I prefer to keep the original 4x Russian range finder scopes on my designated marksman, AK {Romanian PSL & Iraqi Tabuk} rifles --- Since other scopes might not fit so well on the mount...and the resale factor.
Of course....My Hi-Power target rifles, where I tend to by the best scope that I can afford.