I don't know if you guys use them but Stoney Point do a very useful 3 legged tripod set of shooting sticks....I like the small ones which can fit on my webbing...great for shooting over obstacles...but when buying a scope I take these along with a bean bag to plonk in the centre and cushion and steady the scope...steady is the main thing....then I ask to take the scope outside the shop and I can anchor the scope without mounting it or marking it on the sticks....I sit up against a wall for this...and track the scope up and down to check for sticking reticles and also to see how it comes back to zero. On a zoom I move up and down the power band very steadily to see if the POA changes on different powers. This is hard to tell but even on top end Nightforce scopes when the power band goes from 12 to 42 power you do get some that move...get one that does'nt and "bingo" you have a great scope.

On 4-16x power bands this is a lot less likely to be an issue...especially if you have a first focal plane reticle which increases in thickness as you increase power...like on a S&B scope...but on second focal plane scopes where the reticle remains a constant size...you want to check for this.

You can also check for paralax as well when going through the power bands at different distances...again not easy to do...but if you get the book I recommended for Recionseed..."The Ultimate Sniper" by Maj John Plaster he has charts in the book designed to be photocopied which can assist in checking out a scope. I take these with me...and because I buy good high end scopes I sometimes get laughed at and told that "these will be perfect"...then when I come back and they are...OK...but I have encountered problems on some Nightforce scopes and I have got to send one March 10-60 x 50 scope back to Japan which has a reticle sticking.

These March scopes are VERY expensive precision custom scopes...but I have to buy them "unseen" from Kelby's in the USA as they are the only people who sell them in the "West". They sell them but don't fix them...you have to send them to Dion in Japan who make them for repairs...and cost the thick end of £2000 by the time I get them here through duty and taxes...so don't let the "name" fool you...any scope can be "off" and need fixing.