If I go and read thru all the posts, I may doze off, so I'll ask knowing the answer is probably in past posts...
Will this primarily be for hunting? or more geared towards target shooting, or half and half? Do you want a Variable or Fixed?
If fixed and you want to try Mildots, try the Bushnell Elite 3200 10X for 185.00 from a few websites. Comes with tactical turrets for quick elevation/windage changes.That price is low but it's performance is worth 5 times that. Reviews glorify it and mine arrives tomorrow so I'm kinda bouncing of the walls here. Another excellent fixed is the Super Sniper @ $300.00 even. Have a couple and love them, I wanted to try something new so I'm trying this Bushnel. If I don't like it, I get 12 months to return it to Bushnell for FULL price paid, can't beat that!
For about $330.00, you can get the Bushnell Elite 3200 Tactical Variable w/MIldots, 5-15x with A/O.
Ignore the above if you want a more standard hunting scope, but you mentioned Mildots and the types they come in are limited so......
I got sick of trying high end Nikons and Leupolds(Not saying they aren't nice, they are, but less can be spent to achieve the same quality if you do research) and realized that most of the time, I could have gotten something that would have been 3 times cheaper and gotten another rifle with the $$ saved
I demand clarity and repeatability when I return to zero after moving the turrets. The Bushys have the Rainguard and from what a friend in Montana told me, it works and ya can't put a price on it, it works that good.
**Those little Bushnell 185.00 10X is Barretts 2nd choice when outfitting their .50 cal rifles when they run out of Leupolds. No lie. I looked thru one side by side with my Uncles 700.00 Leupold. Boy was he pissed when he thought the target at 350 yards had better contrast when looking thru the $185.00 Bushnell
Personally, I didn't notice a difference, but that's saying something good about the Bushy. How it would perform when it's getting dark compared to a better scope I do not know, time will tell......