I agree with Lloyd, you won't need anything over 14x for your 223. And if it's going to be a true varmint gun, you will likely want lower than 8x for shooting low light or at night. I put a Bushnell 4200 4-14x50 on mine along with a light mounted on the scope. Just tried it out on a yote on Saturday night at 250 yds. With the full moon I was able to pick him up crossing the field and found him in the scope, hit him with the light and his eyes lit up and silhouette jumped out. Dead yote...