Several parts help us to take down the target with ease. But when it comes to Scope it plays a vital role in getting long range accurate shooting experience. There are a-lot of Scopes available out there in the market like Nikon, Vortex, Leupold but which is the cheap and best for long range hunting and how to build a gun with the best scope to have a better hunting experience.
Welcome Gary,
If your looking for an optic that won't break the bank, and has an awesome warranty, you should consider Vortex
Ken
First off, how far is "long range" to you?
Caliber and intended use are factors, too. I wouldn't necessarily put the same scope on my 22-250 as I would on my 300winmag. Lots of time to fiddle with adjustments shooting prairie dogs at 400yds. Less time if a deer walks out at 80yds when you expected him at 350yds, or vice versa.
FWIW, I have a Swift 6-18x on my 22-250 that has target turrets, is parallax adjustable and very bright. Mine is a couple decades old, but if they've kept their quality up, that's another option. It holds it's zero through the entire zoom range very well. Most of my deer hunting is with a very old Leupold 3-9x VariXII. It's been dropped, rear bell chipped, and it still works like the day I got it. Well worth the money.
Give Athlon a look. I have one of their Argos BTR 6-24x50 and it has always been spot on accurate and is very reasonably priced. They also have as good of a warranty as Vortex.
My choice for 7mag/.308 has always been a used Burris 1.5-6 with I think the larger 40mm objective. One has the lit reticle. Read years ago where the higher magnification scopes usually require a high level of marksmanship to prevent jerking the trigger as the crosshairs pass through the intended target especially using field positions. Also some types of open receiver shooters produce amazing long range groups. I also did not shoot once on an Elk at 25 yards with scope on 3X crossing a narrow roadway as all I could see was hair! For pistols I use the Burris 1.5-4 as there is a bunch of wiggle even using shooting sticks on the higher power. If your game is off the bench go as high as you want. The Burris warranty like others is the best out there.
For 22-250 etc normally using a rest 6-24 or even 5-15 mil dot works great. If you are needing extreme distance you might need a 20MOA mount to get scope adjustment.