Thanks, that's a very interesting site and scope!
ligonierbill did have a very good point, and when I went looking I found this Leupold site:
https://www.leupold.com/shop/riflescopes/series/fx-series-fixed-power-rifle-scopes#part-table
It has the 6X he recommended, but also shows a 2.5X that the 'details' page says weighs 6.5 ounces, while the 6X weighs 13.6 ounces.
I was looking for simple, light, and unobtrusive sight - not insisting on 4X, just wanted something akin to the 4X Leupold on my AR carbine. Simple and tough like an iron skillet, but lighter.
I think this 2.5X Leupold meets all my wishes; it is now just a matter of whether I'm willing to pay for it. In today's money, $300 is not that much - as much as it goes totally against my grain to even think such a thing, let alone write/say it!
The Timberwolf is fine at the range with the cheap Elvex safety readers (Amazon) I use for pistol shooting - it is just not usable at home with my regular bifocals. So I asked about two scopes I found, Swift and Hawke, and two people thought Swift was not junk. And this scope, sold under the Anshutz label
https://champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx?p=ItemDetailOptions&item=HK3026 is reputed to be a Hawke, but not anything like the one I was looking at.
So question answered - but many good alternatives presented!
I am not against LPVO scopes. I have a Vortex PST 1-4X on my Service Rifle for across-the-course, bought on the recommendation of people at the Range when scopes became "legal" for Highpower, and I could not see my front sight all that well, and everyone was going to scopes anyway.
It works great, dials 200-600 yard elevations and back, and I haven't broken it yet. It also throws the weight and balance of the rifle way off what I was used to (weighs about 16 ounces) and on the Timberwolf it would be like the horse riding the cowboy instead of the other way round.
So -thanks! This has been an informative exercise and I look forward to checking back to see if anyone has more to add.
I also need to ask a friend to let me look through his red dot sight to see if my astigmatism really makes it poor, because logic tells me that is the way to go, even if it does have a battery.