I see what you are saying (Formidilosus has found scopes possessing certain characteristics to be reliable and preferred), but seems the Ascent could be a viable candidate for testing. The SHV 3-10x42 and NX 2.5-10x42 seem to be regularly recommended as rugged, repeatable hunting scopes that are SFP and MOA reticles without the typical target turrets.
Trijicon calls it a "BDC Target Hold Reticle", but in looking at the reticle diagram, it seems that the reticle has standard MOA hash marks (evenly spaced). They also claim "long range performance" for what that's worth...A guy can dream....
Not sure how the erector system would stand up to repeated dialing, but the combination of 17.8 oz. lighter weight, decent reticle, reasonable price point, good glass, 12x magnification and supposed "rugged" reputation could make it attractive to some if tracking and maintaining zero stand up to testing.
That said...I have SWFA 3-9x, LRTS 3-12x, LRHS 4.5-18x, DMR 3.5-21x, Accupoint 3-9x on my rifles, and love Tikkas!
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I look forward to the testing results. Carry on with the beatin' gentleman!