$4k on glass and mount is not necessary. Especially to get started. I know a lot of guys love the S&B scopes, but I don't actually care for them. The glass is amazingly clear, the reticle works, but there is something about looking through them that doesn't seem to work for me. My Steiners are noticeably more "comfortable" (bad word for it, but best I can come up with), and the time I have spent behind the Vortex scopes has also been very good.

For getting started, you can learn with a $300 Super Sniper fixed 10x. Quite a few guys I know have started there, and shot to 1k yds, and then upgraded. They also sold their super sniper for not much less than new price when they upgraded.

The Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5-27 is a phenomenal scope, and it with a Spurh mount, top of the line but not necessary, would be under $3k. The Vortex with good rings would be mid $2k.

The big thing with scopes, that I have found, is CALL the vendors for the scope you want. They all list the scope at the same price that is usually set by the manufacturer, but they all have ways of making the sale a little better.

Also, look used on here, ARFCOM, Snipershide, and the like. Not long ago Great Kazoo had a fantastic deal on a Steiner 5-25 on here. You could have had that with a good set of rings for quite a bit less than $2k. I've seen several Gen 1 Razors listed on here in the last few months. Also sub $2k.