I have .270 used primarily for hunting and 100 yard bench shooting. I'd like to stretch the legs out to 400-500 yards just for fun, but it's primarily a hunting rifle.

The rifle came with a cheap 3-9x40 Bushnell. I don't remember the model, but it's cheap. I recently came into possession of $200 Amazon gift card, so I'm ready to upgrade the scope.

I've been in scope hell the past couple days, poring over all the options and lusting over $1000 scope that are way out of my price range. After creating a spreadsheet to better keep up with the viable options, I've narrowed it down. But first, here's my preferences:
  • Must be less than $400 on Amazon (since that's where I have a gift card). I know other places might be cheaper, but I have $200 of free money.
  • Higher magnification than 9x, prefer at least 12x or more
  • Illuminated reticle is a very nice to have for low light.
  • Glass MUST be clear because a lot of hunting is at dusk and dawn, or with the case of hogs, at night with a hog light.
  • Prefer objective larger than 40mm. Not sure, just want it.


All that being said, I've narrowed this down to the following:
  • Nikon Prostaff 7 3-12x42
  • Nikon Prostaff 7 4-16x42
  • Sig Sauer Whiskey 3 4-12x40 or 4-12x50 - can't find a lot of reviews, but the Whiskey 5 seems to be very good.
  • Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44 - 6.5x is probably too much for hunting
  • Sightron S-Tac 4-20x50


I feel confident in the reputation of Nikon's glass to just go with that. But Sightron and Sig Sauer Whiskey 3 are very intriguing, the Sig especially because of the lighted reticle. While I couldn't find many reviews of the Whiskey 3, they were all very positive. The 6.5x of the Vortex Viper at the low end might be too much for hunting applications.

Thoughts? Opinions? I don't need to reach out to 1000 yards. Most of my hunting is probably 275 yards max.