I am about to setup a new Tikka in .223. This rifle will be a calling rifle. Now, I don't plan on doing any long range target work or lr field work for that matter. Yotes @ 250 yds max. maybe. Now, I know that a lot of guys will just put a 14-16x something on a .223. BUT, do I really all that power and cost? In the May issue of American Hunter they were touting the old 3x9 workhorse. In the article the author stated that the 3x9 was good for anything out to 300 yards. At 9x a target at 300 yards would appear just 33 yards away ( seems like enough mag. to me). The 3x was lighter and more compact than the 14-16x models and that the 3x models wouldn't suffer from loss of light that the higher mag. models would (at higher mag.). Besides all that there is the cost. Sure could upgrade to better optics in a lower power model. What ya think?