I'm one of the ROs for 22PRL at Frontline (Rob Hardee) and I'm going on three years of shooting long range 22LR matches. I'm on my third optic setup. Here's some things I've learned.
Optics don't win these matches. Fundamentals of positional marksmanship, having solid DOPE from 25 - 400 yards factoring spin drift, above average quality ammo, and an understanding of the peculiarities of 22LR at long distances is what wins this stuff more often than not. There are plenty of non-optic related variables to address/overcome in 22LR long range so, it is prudent to rule out as many optic-related issues as you can with the highest quality optic setup that fits your budget.
A fixed 10x SWFA HD well mounted in at least a 30+ MOA with a properly setup bubble level will be as good or better off than optics costing three times as much poorly mounted on 20 MOA mounts without a bubble level. Specific challenges of that fixed 10x SWFA would be the standard non-Christmas tree reticle and having too much magnification for easily/quickly finding targets in the optic's FOV under 100 yards, especially so under 50 yards, and while I cannot confirm with direct personal experience, it may not have enough low-end parallax to focus properly under 50 yards. I can confirm that for me, the optically similar quality 5-20x50 SWFA HD did not as I had trouble focusing it at right about 50 yards and under.
I started out with the 3-9x42 SWFA on my 20 MOA rail with an Accuracy 1st bubble level. I thought incorrectly that is did not have enough magnification to spot my own hits/misses at distance. It wasn't the magnification range so much as it was the glass quality.
So, I switched it out for 5-20x50 SWFA HD keeping the Accuracy 1st bubble. That was quite an improvement for spotting my own hits/misses. It also had more adjustment range ...in a 20 MOA mount, depending on weather, I could dial to 325 yards with SK Standard Plus ammo. Meanwhile, I was running a Vortex 4.5-27x56 Gen2 Razor HD EBR-2C and switching that over their Razor HD AMG 6-24x50 EBR-7B on my centerfire match rifles. Over time, with the experience of using those higher-end optics, I began to realize the simple reticle in the SWFA, its elevation adjustment range & parallax adjust limitations, turrets setup, and the 20 MOA rail on my rifle were holding me back in 22LR. While the optical quality was there to spot hits, that simple Mil-Quad reticle was not as good at making quick corrections flow-up shots like the better tree-style reticles such as the EBR-2C and EBR-7B. The way SWFA (and similar mid-level competitors) turrets are setup, your zero POA/POI may be caught between clicks so, you could be a 1/3" off at 100 yards with 0.1 MRAD adjustments. Often, the clicks on the turrets on SWFA would not line up with hash marks on the turret caps - my elevation cap was good but this was not the case on my windage turret. This was a pain in rimfire as you often dial out the spin drift and have to remember is the zero half way between zero and 0.1 Right or between zero and 0.1 Left?!
I replaced that setup with a Vortex 3-18x50 Gen2 Razor HD EBR-2C mounted in a Spuhr mount with 31 MOA on top of my existing 20 MOA rail giving me a total 51 MOA of scope cant. Even though the Spuhr has an integrated bubble, I continue to use the Accuracy 1st bubble level - having seen many others, I'm convinced it the easiest to read while on glass and it settles the fastest since its "bubble" it actually a weighted bead. This setup that gives me 25 mils of usable dial above my 50 yard zero which takes me to 450 yards using Norma Match22 from my 16” barrel without holdovers on the reticle.
Someone mentioned above that the reason some of us run high-end stuff like Razors in the rimfire match is to mimic our centerfire match rifle that are equipped with he same/similar optics. While there is no doubt some benefit to that (same reticle/same turrets), that's not the real reason. It's worth it to me to run a Razor in rimfire matches for several reasons. Razor turrets are designed so that you can put the zero any where on the turrets rotation, you're not limited to putting it where the clicks are so, you won't get caught between clicks on your zero. Your zero will be absolute, exactly where the bullet goes. As previously stated, the tree-style reticles are just better for corrections. You will miss more often in 22LR due to things you can't control, making quick corrections is a much bigger deal here vs centerfire. Razors have tons of vertical adjustments ranges and the 3-18x50 specifically has a vast parallax range down to 25 yards. While I typically run centerfire PRS/NRL matches at 10-12x, I have found that for rimfire I'm staying somewhere 6-10x for most stages with this Vortex. The Razor's zero stop and elevation revolution indicator are both very useful in long range rimfire where you're often dialing well past your first revolution and sometimes past your second. Knowing what rev you are on at a glance and not losing your rev count is a distinct advantage. This rarely comes up in centerfire long range unless you're shooting .308WIN.
Here's a real example that puts the mid-level vs higher-end optic selection to the test.... I'm one of 4 shooters who cleaned that LYL plate rack and 1 of only 2 I know of that did it clean in 8 shots. In case you weren't there, it was a 8 plate rack at 50 yards. I think the largest plate was 2" and the smallest was 0.22" ...same size as the bullet. Standing start moving a few feet to prone shooting position. 90 second par time. Many folks in my squad struggled to even see the smallest plate in their optics having trouble finding the tiny lead colored circle against the loose clay berm background. I cleaned it in 8 for two reasons... 1. because it was at my zero distance (50 yards) which ruled out any DOPE issues, and 2. because I was shooting a Razor and was able to clearly see a 0.22" target 50 yards away and hit it because my zero wasn't 0.16" off for being caught between clicks on a mid-tier turret system. I would not have been able to do that with either of my old SWFAs.
As I said at the beginning, higher-end optics won't plug holes in your DOPE, or overcome bad wind calls on no berm targets, or remind you to check the bubble level on every shot, or fix your positional game. Overall, I had a pretty good match. I cleaned 3 of 8 stages got an 8 on another but, I also had a 1, a 4, and a couple of 5s. The factors or mistakes made on those bad stages would have happened no matter what optic I was running. Those errors made the difference between a top 5 finish and 10th place. That wasn't my optic's fault.
Good optics will work, great optics certainly help but, in the long range 22 LR rimfire realm you've got much bigger problems to solve than optics selection. That said, no reason to invite an optics handicap if you can afford not to. Get the best you can get so you can move on and focus on the real demons in rimfire that actually matter.
Before anyone asks... I'm not sponsored by Vortex. In fact, my sponsorship arrangement allows for me to shoot one of their competitors that has much better quality glass in terms of clarity and field of view. I choose to pay full street price out of my own pocket for Vortex Razor Gen2 and Razor AMGs because in my opinion, they have better reticles and turrets which make them more useful and advantageous for PRS/NRL and 22LR rimfire matches.