in order to do my load development better, meaning to develop loads at extended range, i decided i needed a scope that could handle it... also needed a warranty, sufficient clarity, resolution, decent tracking and good repeatability. since the scope would not be hunted, i was not concerned w/ weight/size. decided on the cabela's alaskan guide 6.5-20x44 (all my rifles have medium or shorter rings, so the 44 objective is the absolute largest i could have)- partly because as a 'development' scope, it made more financial sense than a leupold, and partly because when it breaks, cabela's is close by, and i'll walk out w/ a new one that day...

so... the scope... it is quite large and heavy - but that should be expected w/ all higher magnification scopes. it comes w/ a form of turrets that make adjusting the scope w/ just fingers easy, and the turrets are marked off so that the scope can be returned to zero. i really like this feature, and for the money, was pleasantly surprised to see it. each click is .25 moa. the x-hairs (duplex), are a little heavier than i like on a varminter scope, but they aren't that bad.

tracking... the scope has been pretty close in tracking, but at ranges beyond 100 yards, each click is not truly .25 moa, so it is necessary to re-check zeroes. repeatability... as long as the turrets don't get spun, where the scope was shooting today is where it will be shooting tomorrow. unfortunately, once you start spinning the turrets, this may or may not be true. overall, i am satisfied w/ repeatability, and a little disappointed in tracking, but not appalled by it.

optical quality... i think it is pretty good. it is not on par w/ a vari-x3, but it is at least the equal of a vari-x2. the cabela's scope is a touch brighter than a vari-x2, but with 8mm or so more on the objective, you'd expect that. resolution was surprisingly good. i did not expect the scope to be able to resolve 308 holes at 300 yards, but, on most surfaces it was able to. i am satisfied w/ the optical quality.

my only bitch about this scope is the eye-relief. it sucks. i would rate cartridges like the 30-06, 308, 7 rem mag, 300 wsm, and similiar as having 'moderate' recoil... i would also think that the majority of hunters shoot cartridges producing 'moderate' recoil. there were several instances where the scope hit my safety-glasses. nothing hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough that you knew you'd just been hit, and getting over that mental block for subsequent shots took a lot of effort.

based on eye-relief, if someone wanted to buy a scope for their 243 or bigger, i would reccomend they not do it. because the eye-relief is as short as it is, it can be a little uncomfortable getting the rifle/scope/shooter into a shooting position - and it probably isn't going to happen at all (comfortably) from prone.

for your 223 or 22-250, this scope is a good value for the money, if you don't mind crawling up the stock to make the shot, but outside of that, more eye-relief would sure be nice.

Dakota,

    Try this one, draw circles on a target from .25 inch increments up to 3".

Put it at 300yd's and see where you can by eye (through scope) divide the circle into 4 parts with the cross hair. 

  Use all yer scopes and give us your ability to resolve portions of the dot.

Spot