Hi all, newbie to rifles here ... after much research I bought an Axis in .223 with the packaged Bushnell 3-9 scope. I do only target shooting from the bench at 50, 100, and 200 yards. (Mostly 100.) So far I'm really happy with the rifle, getting 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards.

Anyway, I'm thinking of getting a different scope for the rifle. I think I want something with target turrets to make it easier to move between 100 and 200 yards. I would also like a scope with a high enough magnification to be able to see my hits on a target at 200 yards. (I'd like to avoid having to carry and set up a spotting scope at the range.) I think an adjustable objective would be a good idea, though I'm not sure I fully understand what that's for ... I believe it's so that I can have a clear target AND reticle at various ranges. The scope I have now has no adjustment for the objective, so I assume it's only going to have no parallax error at a fixed range, such as 100 yards.

Finally, I'm not looking to spend a lot of money ... maybe $250 or less ... and I don't want the scope to outperform the rifle.

Does such a scope exist? I've read about Simmons 44 mag, and Vortex Crossfire ... they are available with 21x or even 32x magnification, with target turrets and AO, in my price range. Would they do the trick? Again, I just shoot at the range, not into hunting.

Thanks for any input!