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You should spend as much on a riflescope as you can comfortably afford. Ultimately you get what you pay for. However, here is where I think the sweetspots are for different applications (same table as I used for the section on applications, with a sweetspot price added in an additional column):
| Application | Typical usage | Riflescope configuration suggestions |
Sweetspot Pricing (as of late 2010) and a typical scope model |
| Allround big game hunting rifle | shooting at deer-size game at close to moderate ranges (50 to 300 yards) |
3-9×40 2.5-10×40 6×36 or 6×42 |
$300 to $400 Sightron S2 Big Sky Zeiss Conquest Minox ZA-3 Leupold FX-3 |
| High altitude hunting/light rifle applications | same as above except you are more winded when you take the shot |
2-7×32 2-8×32 6×36 or 4×32 |
$300 to $500 Leupold VX-3 2.5-8×36 Minox ZA-5 1.5-8×32 |
| Brush Hunting | mostly close range shots in wooded areas |
1.75-5×32 2-7×32 4×32 or 2.5×20 Aimpoint Red Dot Sight |
~$300 Leupold VX-3 and FX-2 IOR Hunting Aimpoint 9000 |
| DGR (Dangerous Game Rifle) | you are after the largest and most dangerous game that might try to go after you |
1.25-4×24 1-4×24 2.5×20 |
$400 – $800 Trijicon Accupoint Burris Euro Diamond |
| Open Plains Hunting | sometimes you just can’t get any closer, so you may have to take a 400 yard shot, while anything less than 100 yards is not likely |
3-12×42 4-16×42 3-15×42 4-16×50 |
$400 – $700 Hawke SW 30 Tac Sightron S2 Big Sky Zeiss Conquest |
| Ultra-low Light Hunting |
Most of your shots will not be particularly long, but visibility is likely to be atrocious |
2.5-10×56 3-12×56 7×56 or 8×56 |
$600 – $1000 Meopta Meostar Trijicon Accupoint |
| Tactical Carbine/SHTF (typically AR-15 with 16″ barrel) | Anything from clearing buildings to mid-range engagement |
1-4×24 Trijicon ACOG Red Dot Sight w/magnifier |
$600 – $1000 Trijicon Accupoint Eotech GRSC CRS |
| Walking Varminter/predator hunting | You plan to mount this scope onto a rifle that you need to be able to carry with you. You mostly plan to shoot at coyote-size targets that might be pretty far away |
4-16×40 2.5-16×42 4.5-14×40 3-15×42 |
$400 – $600 Sightron S2 Big Sky Zeiss Conquest Minox ZA-5 Bushnell Elite 6500 |
| Long-range Varminter | This scope is likely to be mounted on a heavy-barrel rifle to shoot at prairie dogs or similarly small targets |
6.5-20×50 6-24×50 8-32×56 |
$500 – $1000 Vortex Viper Sightron S3 |
| Target Shooting | You are trying to print the smallest possible groups out on the range with a dedicated heavy barrel rifle |
6-24×50 8-32×56 10-60×60 20×42 or 24×42 or 36×42 |
$800 – $1200 Sightron S2 Big Sky Sightron S3 Leupold Competition |
| Mid to Long Range Tactical | You plan to shoot WAAAAAY out there at human-sized targets and you might do it in some very adverse lighting conditions |
3-15×50 4-16×56 5-20×50 10×42 |
$1000 – $2000 Vortex Razor HD Nightforce NXS IOR Tactical Super Sniper 10x42HD |
Before I wrap up, it is worthwhile to note that the price there are some very well-made scopes available at prices lower than what I designated as the sweetspot of each category. They are very serviceable and perfectly adequate for most uses. Usually, these are designs that enjoy the economies of scale (i.e. common configurations) and have been made for some time, so the manufacturing yields are likely very high and construction is not very complicated.