Hi Mattraff
I am like you, I like my scopes with a bit of magnification, perhaps a bit too much.
Everyone says 'You don't NEED that much magnification on that gun'.
But guess what, I WANT that magnification on that gun.
So go out and buy the scope that you want AND with the magnification you want.
I personally like lots of magnification because, when I am at the range I can see the holes at 200 meters on the targets. (yes I am aging
)
I have several branded scopes, Leupold, Meopta, Swarovski etc etc.
They are all good scope with clear glass. For my field guns, hunting stalking etc, I favor Leuplod scopes. My reasoning for this is: I once damaged a scope and returned it to NIOA in QLD to get fixed. The turnaround time wasn't that long. If it was one of my swaros or S&B, I understand it would have to go overseas to get fixed and that could take forever.
The only bit of advice I can give you that may assist you is, try and get a scope with a low starting magnification like 4x or 3.5 x, so you don't lose too much field of view up close. I find in my experiences, I tend not to shoot my 22LR more than 100 meters and I prefer scopes that have a 4x starting magnification.
A good quality scope is like an investment, it will pay you back in the long term, when you need it to work out in the field, chances are it will be doing what it was designed to do.
Just my 2c