I'm waiting on a Savage Mk II TR to arrive and am in the process of selecting a scope. I've hunted deer with other rifles and spent some time plinking with a 22 rifle out to 50 yards. And so, the majority of my experience is with scopes in the 3-9x40 range.

Looking at the TR, I'm wanting to up things a bit. I am on a $200 budget and have been reading up on scopes. I've got it down to a Bushnell rimfire, Mueller or Primary Arms.

My real question is the magnification... having dealt with 3-9 power, I'm a noob at anything really any more powerful. With my 3-9, I could hit pretty well with my 22 rifle. But, time has moved on and I'm now looking for a bit more magnification... I do like being up close on the target. I had a spotting scope a while back and loved zooming in to read the manufacturer's name on the target. And so, this is where I'm at... which magnification to get? This will be primary a bench/plinking gun. I also don't want to get something ridiculous on this... I do realize it is a 22 but would like to take it out to 100 yards at least and stretch it maybe even farther.

Here's what I'm looking at...

Bushnell Rimfire Optics 6-18x40mm

Primary Arms 4-16X44mm

Mueller 4.5-14x 40

Mueller 8.5-25x 44mm - the concerns I have with this is that the minimum magnification is 8.5. I'm accustomed to a 3-9... so this starts at where I used to end in terms of magnification. Could this prove to be a problem. I also know that this scope uses 1/8 moa... and I don't know how much of a PITA that will be.

What scopes are you all putting on your Mark II TRs?