What would be a good scope for my intentions?

I got to use a friend's rifle a few weeks ago. It had a Nikon Prostaff 4-12X on it. It's a fairly inexpensive scope, but the optics were very bright and clear. It seemed like a really high quality piece. Since you're just starting, and you're on a budget, it would be a good starting point. With that combination, it will take a lot of time before the rifle/scope combination is the limiting factor in your shooting. The next thing to do is work on load development. Reloading and precision shooting go hand-in-hand. Though most of my "precision" shooting is at 100 yards, it's still a lot of fun for me to work up a load and compare it to the performance of others I've tried. This weekend I tested a few combinations and out of the exact same gun the groups ranged from 2" down to just under .5". The right load makes a huge difference.

You need a mil dot scope like a fish needs a bicycle. The idea behind mil dot - you see where you bullet landed and it lets you take a quick 'guesstimate' shot.

Since 'guessing' and 'precision' are mutually exclusive - you dont want no fricken mil dot scope. Let your tacticool buddies buy them, and, having a nice normal scope with target turrets will let you shoot circles around them!!

Millet scopes are very nice - the 30mm tacticals are just as nice as the Leupolds - but they do weigh more. I have one of the nice $800 30mm 4-14.5x Leupolds and the Millet I bought for $320 or so that is 30mm and also 4-14.5 is just as nice.... but it is much heavier.

The idea behind target turrets - you keep a shooting log - and take notes on the different places you shoot, types of ammo you use, and wind, sun and other weather conditons. You make note of how much elevation and windage you dial in. This way when you show up with the same ammo on a day with similar weather - you can take your dope (data of personal expeience) and dial yourself in and be nearly on the money!

The PFI RR800 is probably the best scope I'd ever seen when shopping around, and which is why I jumped on one when they became available.

They stopped making them about a year ago, in favor of much more expensive models designed for the military, but you can still find them on ebay and other places come up.

The RR800 has a ballistic drop compensator out to 800 yds that is dead on with .308 168 gr.

The glass is easily superior to the Leupold Mk IV, and on par with Zeiss. See if you can find one in the 500$ range used. Incredible scope.

It's only 10 power, but 10 power is plenty for shooting out to 1kyds, which is all you'll get with a R700 SPS Tact.

Why do you need a mil-dot? And do you have any idea what "parallax" (yes, that's how you spell it) is and how it relates to shooting?

Once you know those two pieces of information, you may be better suited to go shopping for glass.