LAST EDITED ON Feb-15-04 AT 06:16PM (MST)[p]Casey,
Is it worth not knowing where your rifle and bullet combination impact down range at different magnifications? Why not be sure by setting up a target and working through the various "powers" of your scope so you'll know and not just take it for fact without verifying? All it's going to cost you is a bit of time and ammunition.
It's true that the majority of currently manufactured variable scopes should shoot to the same point of impact within the scope's full magnification range, but what if YOURS doesn't? I can tell you about a Redfield 3x9 scope that didn't in Utah and cost me the best mule deer buck I've ever had in my crosshairs. In that case the scope's POI was 6" high and 5" left on any power above 6X. Redfield corrected the problem free of charge and quickly; however, it didn't help with that fateful day in southern Utah. The bottomline, just check your scope for yourself and eliminate the worry.
For what it's worth, my experience so jadded me that all my serious hunting rifles carry only one scope: a Leupold 6X42MM with multi-coated lenses. Fixed scopes are generally lighter, smaller, and with no moving internal parts, far less susceptable to any point of impact shift.
Good Luck with you scope and your 2004 hunting plans.