I recently came back into the hobby after many years, and bought a secondhand HW77K which came with a "free" scope which was a lttle "loose" and the reticle would move if you put any pressure on the eyepiece.
So I was looking for a low cost 3-9x40 to put into the existing mounts and it had not got to be too long so it did not obstruct the loading chamber on the 77K.
I chose a Hawke Sport HD 3-9x40, it is only 12.5 inches long, just the job, and it only cost £39:95, not the cheapest price but I bought it from The Countrystore which is only about 15 miles from me so I cut out the postage, and I did get to see and handle the scope before I bought it.
I am amazed at the quality and accuracy of this scope for the money.
I am not a competition shooter, but I do like to hit the targets I shoot at and this scope seems to do the business up to fifty yards, once you get used to the reticle.
I would also recommend downloading the free Hawke ballistic software, all very interesting and informative.

HinckleyPlinker