Scope Suggestion

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Looking to spend $400-600 bucks.

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2.5-8x36 vx 3 is my universal rifle scope recommendation. They are probably the cheapest vx3 in the lineup and IMO the best general purpose non-dialing hunting scope made.
I have two of them and until i started dabbling in long range stuff, I never wanted for more.

For dialing, SWFA is my go-to on a budget, and nightforce if no budget.

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2.5-8x36 vx 3

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How does it do in low light?

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The new .308 will just be for whitetail & hogs in Texas and Louisiana. Looking to spend $400-600 bucks.

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My two nicer scopes are a Razor and a $500-ish Trijicon Huron. If you just put me in the woods with one there's no way in hell I could tell you which one it was. It's pretty difficult to do looking at them side-by-side. For comparison purposes the Razor is in the Leupold VX-6 class in terms of optical quality.

I'm guessing you're not looking at dialing in; that's a entirely different matter than optical clarity.

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2.5-8x36 vx 3 is my universal rifle scope recommendation

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I don’t know if they make that model anymore. The new model might be a 3.5-10x40 model VX-3.

How does that compare to the cheaper VX-Freedom 3-9x40 you think for shooting under 250 yards? VX-3 worth the extra $200?

They do. It's called something else now, but you can still get the same 2.5-8x36. I thinj they just all come with the cds dial now.

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How does that compare to the cheaper VX-Freedom 3-9x40

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It's twice the scope and worth the extra IMO. Especially the 2.5-8, which is generally $100 cheaper than the other VX3 models. No comparison to my old rifleman scopes. The two VX3i that I have actually track properly and they hold zero through bangs and bumps. My riflemans do neither one, but they are serviceable for their price. The rifleman/freedom/whatever they call it now are good scopes for their price.

My son bought a Maven 4x16 for his Tikka .300 Win Mag and has been very pleased.

I really like my 4-16x44 Vortex Viper HST.

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it probably can't make a perfect box

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It probably can. SWFA's cheaper models can be had a little over $200 and they aren't known for anything but reliable tracking and holding zero. Trijicon scopes supposedly track and hold just as well from what I've read.

I really like the prevailing mentality those guys have that a scopes only job is to hold zero and adjust correctly. Its a sight, not an observation tool. I always thought having to adjust a little bit every year, adjustments not being perfect, having to adjust after I bumped the Scope etc was all normal. It isn't, and we don't have to accept that. If the scope can't tell you where the bullet is going to go, it's useless. As long as you can place shots at last shooting time, glass quality is irrelevant or at best, a bonus.

I'm at the point now that I don't even care about glass quality anymore. They are all good enough IMO. I want to know that if I drop my rifle getting out of the truck I can still trust it to be on that hunt.

Reliability is WAY more important than anything else. A great warranty does you no good when you're 4 miles from the truck and you miss an elk on your once in a lifetime hunt.

When I started viewing my scope as a sight (which is what it is) and not as an optic, my whole outlook shifted drastically.

I still keep my 2.5-8 leupolds because those have both held up to some abuse and they're on deer rifles that I don't use to shoot far. My long range / traveling rifle wears an SWFA 3-15 now. As much as I detest the giant turrets and the weight, I KNOW that I can trust this one should it take a tumble during a hunt.

I didn't even realize that my zero was constantly wandering between shots with the leupold I had on the 338 until I put on a scope that wasn't.