I just found out I qualify for Burris' military discount. I have been looking for a 4.5-14 to initially go on a .223 varmint rifle (it could end up on my 20" BCM if things go to hell). Budget is up to $500 or so.

I was looking at the Leupold VX3 and the Burris Fullfield II E1 30mm (I think I really like the reticule on it), the Burris C4 30mm and the Burris MTAC 4.5-14x50mm (I wouldn't mind trying out a mildot). With the discount the Burris offerings are all $200 to $300 cheaper than the Leupold. (Lots more ammo.)
One thing I don't like about the Leupold is no parallax adjustment.

What is the current feeling on the price/performance ratio on Leupold vs Fullfield II/MTAC?

Feel free to point me at other scopes I should consider (S&B and Swarovsky need not apply.)

I am not too interested in "save your money for..." since I am getting ready to retire and paying off the mortgage is the priority.

Not sure the type of shooting you plan on doing but I think the Burris would be fine. I prefer a holdover type reticle like a mildot or VHR from Leupold. You might also want to look at Vortex scopes. They would fall into your price range.

Dave

If your military discount includes Zeiss, look at the 4.5-14x44 Conquest. Excellent glass, side parallax adjustment and choice of reticles.

I think the Burris would be a excellent choice for a varmint rifle.

With a 30mm scope, make sure you budget for the rings.

Buy leupold I use to be a huge burris fan still have 10 or so of them even a couple of the ones you are talking about.

After it took be about 2 years to get them to warrenty scope with at least 6 back and forth trips to the factory.

Then they tried to tell me it was my fault and get me to pay for it.

They sent me a new scope only after I sent a letter with all the paper work to president of the company.

I buy at least leoupld VXII if not higher.

Parallax adjustment is a important for distances beyond a couple hundred yards, staring at slightly blurry little critters at even 10x can cause eyestrain for the shooter and it also can decrease your number of hits, and hitting the target is what it is all about. No one would consider shooting 200-300 yard targets in a match with a scope without PA and the only difference between targets and critters is that with critters it is one shot groups.