I had both the M1 and M2. The glass is very nice, I have to say that. The eye relief on the .223 model is adequate...there could be more, but even with glasses, I could shoot without any trouble. The .308 version is just too short, imho.
The IOR are big and clunky, but they appear to be built like a tank.
Leatherwoods don't have a very good rep around here, but I have no personal experience.
For $300, though, there are some good scopes out there. You could get a Leupold 1x4 for less than $200 that would be better than the Leathwood, I'm pretty sure. I can tell you without a doubt that a Weaver Grand Slam would blow that Leatherwood away, and cost less than what BM wants for the Leatherwood.
You could try a Bushnell 3200 Elite 3x9 in that price range as well.
Like I said, for $300, there are some good choices.