Brother I've been hopping like a 3 legged cat on a hot tin roof. Brown matter has hit the fan at work, after knee surgery trying to get back into shape / running. I started on finishing up my Bachelor's degree in C.J. and bought a new 2014 Street Glide Peace Officer Special Edition. After converting my AR-10 Super SASS to a battle rifle, I am selling the parts and have converted it back to its original form. It felt like putting mudders on a Ferrari.I am about to drop coin on a Leupold Mk 4 with Illum Mil-Dot and M-1 Turrents.
To the Op about Shepard Scopes, I will say buy once cry once. Spend the money for the name brand scopes, Leupold, Night Force, Trijicon, SWFA, as examples. If you want to spend 2-4 grand then look into Premiere , Schmidt & Bender Ziess makes a nice precision rifle scope as well. Look into Vortex PST Models, Burris make some decent glass. On a scope you want it to hold zero, be able to pass a box test and return to zero as well as reset it. Unless your running a bullet weight / load combo that matches the BDC on some of these scopes, its a waste of money. Also stay away from anything with a catchy name like Counter Sniper that says they are government over runs.