For my brother-in-law's Remington 700 SPC Varmit in 22-250 which will be used primarily for Prairie Dogs. He wants 1/4" Click Target/Turret Knobs, and something like 6-25 Power as well.

What would you fellas recommend in the $400-$500 range?

Twenty-five power sounds good, but is more than is practical for prairie dogs. The field of view is too restricted with that much magnification and the little boogers run around enough that they'll run out of the sight picture of a 25X, often before you can get off a shot. Believe me, years ago I tried a high-quality straight 24X and it was so frustrating that I quickly swapped it out for a more appropriate scope.

These days I mostly use a 4-12X, but a 4.5-14X or similar range is also fine, and a couple of my PD rifles wear a 6-18X, which is reaching the practical limit. A few weeks ago I took a number of dogs at 400 yards with the 12X and didn't really want for more magnification. The most magnification I have on any rifle is on an HB 6mm which I only use on shots of more than 400 yards and it is a 6.5-20.

Another problem with very high magnification is that it amplifies the distortion of mirage, which is almost always present when PD hunting.

Remember, resolution is much more important than magnification. Seeing something smaller clearly is much better than seeing it larger but fuzzy.

In the price range you're looking at you can probably find a near-new Leupold VX-II in 6-18X or VX-III 4.5-14X. You can get a brand new VX-II 4-12 for even less than your max. Any will be equipped with click adjustments. But, DON'T fall victim to the notion that you should attempt to raise and lower your scope adjustments to compensate for range. You'll rarely get a shot off. Instead, get a "ballistic reticle" like the Leupold B&C or Varmint reticle. Your shot opportunities may vary by a couple of hundred yards within seconds. Instead of fiddling with turret adjustments simply use the proper reticle hash mark and shoot!

Another suggestion: Buy a good used scope if you have to in order to get it within your price range rather than buying a lesser new scope. High magnification amplifies the shortcomings in cheap scopes, as does variable power. A fixed 4X or 6X from Whizbang Scopes of Peking may be fully serviceable, but the same company's 6-24X will be blurry, require impossibly tight eye positioning, and the zero wander all over creation as the power ring is turned.

Stonecreeks response sure makes sense to me. Sounds like he has been there done that. I'd say he nailed it.

As with economics, it's easy for one generation to ignore what their fathers knew - to their cost. High magnification scopes are not only hard to find the target with but magnify any shake to a point where it works against us psychologically. In warm weather they also magnify the mirage. An expert can read it and use it to advantage, but that's not most people.

Then there's the size and the necessity for constant parallax adjustment, which might be OK for varmint sniping but is a pain in the butt with any other kind of hunting. I guess with a 22/250 you will not be worrying about grizzlies at 20 yards, but I would still feel uneasy with a scope that only came down to 6x.

I agree with Stonecreek that twiddling knobs for long shots is a dodgy proposition. Not only might you forget to wind it back but, unless you have a top-class scope, I wouldn't trust it to come back.

Since the 22/250 is a 300 yard rifle unless you get plenty of sighters, I'd settle for the best 3-9 you can afford and make do with that.