Someone correct me if I am wrong but doesn't both millet and nikon have 1x-6 variable scopes for around $300?
Nikon does - http://swfa.com/Nikon-M-223-Riflescopes-C3036.aspx - but I really don't like the turrets. If I ground my rifle on a table or in a barrel with that scope, I'm just asking for one or both of those to take a turn I don't want. Let a lone it just sitting in the rack waiting to shoot, or in the bag, or ...
If you want magnified optics on the the cheap, you still have to go a long, long way to beat the Weaver 1-3x for build and glass quality. But it's not ATAS, so most folks will scoff at its usefulness.