Mt. Ascent
308
Performs as advertised. Very lightweight and solid shooter. Pencil thin barrel doesn‘t make it a range gun as you have to wait so long in between rounds. Excellent cold bore shooter. 175-310 yards has dropped multiple animals in their tracks. Likely as good, or better, value...
I have several Nightforce scopes from NX8 to SHVs of various sizes. Quite frankly I can tell very little, if any, difference in the quality of the SHV glass. Great quality, excellent tracking and holding zero.
Check out the Banded uninsulated. I've found that gives max flexibility for multilple seasons and temperature conditions. Not sure if Cabelas carries in store.
Blackdawg
I relocated to Nashville about 6 months ago and many things about your post are very interesting to me. Can you PM me your contact info or text me at 703.851.6340. Would be great to chat to see if we have a "match". Thanks.
gg