by Stix » 21 Sep 2017, 9:11 am
I bought a Bushnell Elite 4500 4-16x40.
Cost me about $650. Lifetime w'tee.
Its on my 7-08 tikka lite that i use for the exact same purpose you require.
I absolutely love it...!!!
Ive downed goats in the very last glimmers of daylight comfortably at 60 yds on 4x while shooting into the sunset, & a bunch out to 200yds (so far) in daylight without going over 8 power.
The only time it hits 16x is load testing at the range.
The clicks on turrets are clear & unmistakable..!...even when a quick adjustment is needed under pressure (assuming turret caps are off)
Reticle is not too heavy, nor too fine-easy too see in ALL goat hunting light.
Its light enough in weight & im really happy with the balance of the rifle/scope outfit & its quick 'pointability', which is important when a successful stalk from downwind ends up in a flurry of fire on a mob of 15 goats @ 20 yds.
It has great edge to edge sharpness throughout the zoom range, little to no chromatic aberration nothing obvious) & does not suffer from bad flare-although i believe a lens hood doesnt go astray on a hunting rifle.
Optically it craps all over my $1500 Zeiss...!!!
I had this scope on my .222 prior to this rifle & also found it great shooting under spotlight out to atleast 200yds (my farthest kill with it)
Ive not tried a heap of other scopes that directly compete it, but others that i have hunted with have expressed nothing but how good the outfit feels in balance, pointability & quick target aquisition & bright clear optics in the field.
I am in the market for a .243 for goats to save a bit of powder (atleast thats my excuse for the next rifle), & i too am seriously pushed for cash, but if i can get one for the same money, ill get another one without hesitation.
Apart from a mates .270 with a Swarovski 3-18, its the best sub $1000 light weight scope ive personally held to my shoulder.
I call it my poor mans Swarza...
The man who knows everything, doesnt really know everything...he's just stopped learning...