Outstanding scope for very few moneys - Leupold Mark 3HD 3-9x40mm Rifle Scope, 30 mm Tube, Second Focal Plane (SFP)

This is going to be yet another Leupold 5* review. This is a short to mid-range scope with a mil-dot reticule and it seems to perform this role perfectly. The glass is outstanding. This replaced, for me, a marginally cheaper scope that had more features, but I would choose this everytime. There is a lot of bang for the buck. The 'corners' that may have been cut are just the windage adjustment is similar to the VX-freedom adjusters and are not as 'clicky' as the elevation. However, this [windage] is set-and-forget, with a cover.

Leupold, it seems, don't supply lens covers: this isn't a 'con' as it allows them to concentrate on the core of the scope (I'm not sure why people complain about this, or call it a negative: most people have different desires when it comes to covers; I personally use a ScopeCoat as it fits *my* needs).

While this scope at 9x *could* have an objective at the same 30mm tube diameter, they have a 40mm: this lets massive amounts of light in, coupled with the clarity makes it excellent at short to mid ranges (to clarify, the 300-400yd range - high end short range, low end mid range - YMMV). This does make the scope slightly longer and may not be as desirable for some.

Reticules are, of course, varied. This one is a simple cross of dots at 1mil distance. On an AR platform, I was able to just use holdover out to 400 yards.

As a new shooter on the AR platform, I'd recommend this scope as a starter scope when trying to start to go beyond 100 yards. There are a lot of alternatives, of course, but once sighted in at the distance of choice you can concentrate on the fundamentals of shooting, and not continually mess around with your gear.