Help with deciding on a scope.?

There are lots of good options for you, though I'm only willing to suggest scopes I've shot or owned:

SWFA SS 12x42mm - $300, great tracking for long range shooting, very durable, great reticle, good glass. It does everything that the $1000 scopes do and with competitive glass, but is cheaper because it is a fixed power scope and is therefore simpler to build.

Vortex Viper HS 4-15x44mm - $500, great tracking, decent glass, variable power.

The Nikon M-308 would have been a pick from me, but as you said, they are hard to come by right now. Fortunately, you can still buy them from Amazon sellers in the $480 new w/ prime shipping range: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00M85OUCY/...

A little bit more on the fence, you can buy a Sightron SII 6-24x42mm in the $390 range. Sightron is well known in the scope industry for having excellent tracking. I own a Sightron SIII 10-50x60mm, and can attest to its precision and fine glass (I would recommend an SIII over a Nightforce any day of the week), but the SIII is at a much higher price point and I'm less familiar with their SII line (though they still have great reviews).

Nikon Monarch 4-16x42mm for around $430 - I don't trust Monarch's tracking as much as some of the others, because that isn't what the scope is designed to do and the older ones I handled had kinda squishy adjustments like a hunting scope would, but Nikon's glass is some of the best at its price point. One thing to be aware of is that their BDC crosshairs are super thick and can obscure what you're shooting at. Good for fast shooting, less so for punching paper.

Those are the options I would start with. Leupold makes some good scopes, but personally, I don't trust their tracking on scopes less than the Mark IV ($850-1500 range), mostly because the scopes at the $400 range that I've owned have not tracked at all.

308 win is heavy enough for most any hog, deer,etc . This Leupold has a red dot and heavy cross hairs for dim light and is good for bright day light also . I am a Leopold fan .

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