Well aren't you a feisty little rascal!
It's all good friend. I would expect that if my mediocre scope possesses sufficient optical qualities for 1K yd shooting, it will probably do at 600 as well. No argument Swaro is really great glass, but for my use I need more than just really great glass. I have lived in western Colorado almost my entire life and have been fortunate to hunt everything that walks or flies here for the past 40 years. Over a long career as a guide and outfitter I had opportunity to look through just about every scope brand I've ever heard of, and there are a lot of good scopes out there, until you start stretching the range and actually have to use your turrets for more than a one time sight in. At that point most don't look so good anymore.
I do a lot of paper punching... and rock shooting in the field, and varmint shooting, and most years shoot a couple of elk and a few other big critters. The elk are easy; big, usually fairly close. I have found that a good eye and skill in spotting game, especially something as big as deer or elk, was of more benefit than a top end scope anyway. You have to learn what to look for, and what it looks like when you see it.
When I was a kid I used an old Weaver K4. Shot a lot of game with that scope, big and small, timber and open ground, poor light or good. I expect that scope would still be all a man would need for most hunting.
Zero stop is just a small and useful feature found on top end scopes intended for long range shooting. It doesn't make you shoot any better or improve your optics, but I believe you already know that.
Obviously you are not shooting to any great distances so there are many features beyond optical quality that you don't need anyway. For those of us that do shoot longer distances, these features are very important, and this is a long range hunting site where most of us actually do shoot far enough to appreciate zero stop and reliable turrets.
Your point about quality glass is quite valid though, and that is why my long range scope is a Schmidt Bender, and my medium range scope, say 6 or 700 yards, is just a 2.5-10 Nightforce...
and both have zero stop and kick *** solid turret function.
