Looking at buying my first scope for a precision rifle, and I'm looking at the Primary Arms Plx 6-30×56 with the Athena reticle.  At $1500, this is pretty much the top of my budget.  The features look good and I know PA is a solid company. I want to buy once, cry once if possible in th$500-1500 price range.  It will be going on a .308 to start and might end up on a 6.5 Creedmoor when ammunition and components become more available so I can add that caliber to the inventory.

Are there other scopes in this price vicinity which would be better?  I might be able to add a few hundred to the budget for something that is far and away better.

For $1700 you can get a 3-18 Gen 2 Razor and for $2000 a 4.5-27 from EuroOptic.

Those are some of the finest scopes made today.

https://www.milehighshooting.com/rifle/optics/riflescopes/

Check these guys for "demo" scopes. You may have to call. Real deal folks and a BIG NightForce dealer.

Thoughts on magnification and reticles?  I was thinking higher mag for reaching out to 1000+ and, in theory, I like the flexibility a Christmas tree brings to the table.  

Should have added in my original post that I want mil reticles and adjustment.

You don’t need super wazoo magnification for field shooting, and in most cases it’s a handicap since it cuts into your field of view.

I’ve shot routinely and effectively past 1k with 16x scopes.

Thanks, I'll check with them. Looked at ATACR scopes, but seemed way out of the budget.  Initially I was thinking around $1000, but pushed that to $1500 after looking around.

Could you go into the handicap aspect?  With a variable power FFP can't you just dial in to the magnification and FOV you need?

If I was going to drop the money on a “buy once, cry once” scope, PA is not my idea of a company I’d do that with.  PA has been a lower tier optics company for quite a while, and it’s only recently that they’ve started delving into the upper optics tier with their Platinum/PLx series.  Keep in mind that it’s an OEM scope, meaning that PA is having the scope made by LOW of Japan.  From my experience, the PLx is optically similar to the SigSauer Tango6 scopes.  Not a bad scope by any means, but I feel like it’s a generation behind the Vortex Razors in terms of optical quality.  The one PLx (1-8x) and every Tango6 I’ve looked through felt like a Gen1 Razor.  At that point, just go buy an actual Gen 2 Razor for a few bucks more.  The Vortex is a proven performer, so when you say “buy once, cry once”, the only reason you’d have to get rid of a Gen2 Razor is because there’s new, better Gen3 Razor, or because you’re upgrading to an Alpha tier scope like NF ATACR, S&B or ZCO.  

Otherwise, look into options like the Leupold Mark5 or Burris XTR-III.  The new Burris XTR-III 5.5-30x56 is $1529 over on SportOptics, and it’s a new generation of scope that Burris has been perfecting.  Something with a better track record than PA.  I had a chance to look through a new XTR-III, and it looked a lot better than the Sig Tango6 scopes I’ve looked through.  I looked through a Gen3 Razor 1-10x at the same time as the XTR-III, but it was too much apples-to-oranges with the scopes to make a fair comparison.  I didn’t have a Gen2 Razor to compare, but the XTR-III looked pretty close or similar to the Gen2 Razors I’ve looked through.  

But this is all subjective to the user at the end of the day.

Magnification is something you have to be careful of.  As you increase top magnification, you need to increase the optical quality of the scope.  Getting past 25x really starts demanding high end glass, and fortunately the quality of glass we’re seeing now is allowing 25x or higher to be more viable.  Still, you are going to see major differences in something like a PLx versus the Gen2 Razor, and from those there’ll be another step in quality when you go up to the higher tier scopes like NF, S&B, ZCO, Kahles, etc.

When these companies source optics from overseas, there is still a lot of design work to get what they wanted to sell.

Good and Experienced: Vortex, Athlon, Bushnell

Inexperienced: Primary Arms (in this type of optic)

Probably good: Tract

If I was looking at a Gen 2 Razor, which MRAD reticle is better?  EBR 2C or EBR 7C?

Reticles are very subjective based on preference. I like the ebr-2c, but I prefer the ebr-7c for shooting groups. Both work for tactical match scenarios, but the ebr-7c has finer graduations for wind holds.

I can verify that Tract is legit.  Their quality is pretty exceptional, especially for the price.  
I have Hensoldt, Kahles, Swarovski, NightForce and Leupold Mark6 in my stable, and when I tested a Tract Toric, I was impressed.  It’s everything it’s advertised to be.  So much so in fact that I am ordering one in lieu of a Zero Compromise ZC527.

Thanks for the advice.  Ended up getting a Vortex Razor GII 4.5x27x56 with an EBR 7C reticle.  Now I need a mount.  For the first part of it's life this scope will be on an AR15/AR10.  When it moves to my future 6.5 I plan to repurpose the mount for a LPVO if possible. Will any 34mm mount do?  Or will I need a certain height for this scope?