You know your stuff, Peter. I have put $300 scopes on $70 rifles. In any range beyond about 50 yds, the scope becomes at least as important as the rifle. I cringe when I see somebody buy a Weatherby and put a cheap TASCO on it, although some are not bad. As a rimfire shooter, shooting at small targets at closer ranges (40m to 100m) I learned a lot about the importance of a scope that would track well when changing power, elevation adjustments, or parallax adjustments. A new Remington 700 in .308, with the right ammo should be able to shoot 1 to 1.5 moa right out of the box. My last Reminton ADL in .223 shot .75" groups at 100m (.75 moa) without any changes but the trigger pull lightened. A good scope is worth the investment. I know a guy who buys and sells rifles all the time, but he keeps his Swarovsky and Leupold scopes.