This one's really easy...
GET THE BEST SCOPE YOU CAN AFFORD!!!
Copy that?
The glass on top of the rifle is every bit as important as the rifle itself. People seem to forget this, as I can't tell you how many times I've seen a $1000 rifle wearing a $50 scope. The bottom line is that, where optics are concerned, you get what you pay for. Now, you don't have to spend $2K to get an acceptable scope, but to be blunt, anything under $100 isn't fit to be on a centerfire rifle, let alone a target/"tactical" rifle meant for precision shooting.
The fact is that the opposite of the above is better if you're on a tight budget. A $400 Savage with Accu-trigger will shoot inside 1 MOA easy once you find fodder that it likes. My Savage .30-06 with the cheap Winchester 150gr Power Points shoots 3/4 MOA all day long. That being said, if the glass sucks, the rifle sucks, and there isn't a darn thing you can do to remedy the crappy $100 scope other than throw it away and get a new one. Get a budget rifle, and then save and scrounge up every penny you can to but decent glass on it. Decent starts at about $250 and goes up from there. As for the rifle, you can always take steps to accurize it later as you can afford it (i.e. trigger job, pillar and/or glass bed, blueprint, etc...)
Why? Because you're desiring to get into precision shooting. To shoot precisely you need a precision instrument to aim with. Riflescopes are complicated pieces of equipment with lots of little parts that, to be worth a hoot, must be built to very precise tolerances, and they must be strong enough to tolerate a lot of punishment from handling and recoil. The mechanisms must be tightly constructed, and the adjustments must be precise and repeatable. Just holding a zero isn't quite good enough. On a long range/tactical/varmint/target rig you're probably going to want to adjust your dope for wind and range. I've had a dozen cheapy scopes that would hold a zero fine if you sighted them in and left them alone. But if you moved the turrets to adjust the zero, strange and erratic results often occured, sometimes taking several shots to "settle" the scope. Not good. For your application, you want turrets that say what they mean, and mean what they say. 1/4 MOA/click = 1/4 MOA, EVERY TIME.
Next time you have your $60 China special out to the range, try this one. Zero the scope and shoot a 5 shot group. Then take both turrets and run them through the entire range of adjustment. Then do it again for good measure. Now return the turrets to the previously established zero and shoot another group. If you're lucky, you'll be within a few inches. If you have a real quality scope target/tactical scope, you'll be within a few mm.
So my suggestion is to save up and look for a fixed power mil-dot scope (there are plenty out there these days with this whole tacticool craze) starting about $150, or a variable power starting about $200. Stick with brand name scopes. You can find Nikon scopes (the Buckmaster line is good, the Monarchs are very good) that are factory refurbished for under $300. The Bushnell Elite 3200 series are decent scopes that cost around the $200 mark. There are others as well. I used to do what you're planning. Spend 90% of my budget on the rifle, and less that 10% on the optics. A better ratio is starts at about 60/40 rifle/scope. But after having realized just how important good glass is, I've changed my thinking and budget about half for the optics. My latest aquisition was a Remington 700 LSS Limited, which I got a great deal on the internet for $759. It wears a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x50mm mil-dot that I also got a great deal on at $735. It's an awesome setup, and the scope is the best part. You don't necessarily have to spend that much to get a decent scope to get started, but it doesn't hurt.
Check out this dealer. He's the guy I bought my Zeiss from, and he's got some of the best prices you're ever going to find, and he's a heck of a nice guy to deal with.
http://www.elkhuntersports.com/
He's got a Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14x40mm mil-dot for $269, which is a good price for a good scope. He doesn't carry a big selection, but if you call him I'd bet he could get what you're looking for for a good price. His name is Mark Shannon.
In summary; spend wisely now, or spend twice later.
Mike
