I personally like Nikon as a cheap alternative to Leupold scopes.
I have the Monarch 4-16x42SF Mildot. It was only like 450. What I really like about Nikon is the SPOT ON program.
http://www.nikonhunting.com/SpotOnRegistration/
Great tool. Don't need to buy a scope to register and check it out. Has all production ammo and calibers you could think off, option for handloads, ballistic charts ect.