Rifle Scopes Unreasonable scope expectations???

[RMS65]

OP, if you haven't picked up the Athlon or the Steiner yet, this might be worth checking out:

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) $699.99

I decided to go with with a Vortex Viper HS-T 6-24X50. Optics planet had them 14% off and then they threw in a $150 gift card. Made a $650 scope effectively $400 plus tax. I ordered two. One for me and one for a bull barrel 223 Howa 1500 I just got for my girlfriend. Ultimately it came down to practicality. I'm not a competitive shooter and for the most part I'm shooting my 223 @ 200 yards or less. It's my understanding that this is a decent glassed Viper made more economical with a simpler second plane reticle and no illumination. I can live with both since I might only be stretching the rifles legs out further once or twice a year. If I made a bad choice please don't blast me, they're already ordered. As long as the glass is better and the reticle finer than my Nikon Prostaff 5 I'll be happy. Thanks for your help.

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

Hi everyone, I'm brand new here. About 2 years ago I started shooting more regularly. I'm a type A person with a pretty extensive technical/mechanical background so anything precision and challenging appeals to me. So I'm looking to learn.
Anyway I was shooting my 223 Tikka Varmint at a local range at 100yds for 4 hours and then moved out to 200yds. At 200 I was using 2" florescent orange target stickers. I was having a hard time getting a sharp edge on the stickers and seeing my hits. Sometimes I could and sometimes I couldn't. It was like I was straining my eyes to focus on the target. My hundred yard target was stapled above it and I could see that clearer. Was the florescent orange messing with my head? Is expecting to see 22 caliber holes 200 yards away an unreasonable expectation?
The scope is a Nikon Prostaff 5 3.5-14x40 side focus. I tried adjusting both the side focus and ocular and never could get the reticle and orange target to stay in focus at the same time.
Ps please don't laugh at my targets.

I did not read all the posts

Color is different to everyone when shooting. What I see as clear may not be to you or anyone else. Florescent no matter the color is much harder to edge define over a gloss or flat. Most people can ret range a flat/subdued easier than anything else, but when you add bright colors an they do not know "Their Error Factor" is where most go wrong. The scope being used can add to the issue at hand as well. I have two scopes that per the mfg are twins an the tree rets due subtend the same, on subdued targets. However there is a 1-2 % difference between them when ret ranging bright colors, depending where the sun is at that time. A simple detail that gets lost on many.