To the OP, First of all you have to decide what you want to do WITH the scope. How will it be used (hunting, paper, steel, tac matches, F-class, etc)? What is the likely max range it will be used? Will you do much unknown range work? Do you expect the rifle/scope to get beat up and abused?
A 5-25x is never too much unless you will not shoot past 100 yds, ever. And even then I still don't think its too much.
Personally, if I had to choose - I would ALWAYS take an FFP over an SFP. There is just no reason not to. The FFP gives you far more flexibility to do things with it that you can do with an SFP. And the price gaps are narrowing to the point that it just doesn't make sense not to get an FFP. Nothing wrong with SFPs - they work and you can make hits as far as you can see the target and the gun will get there. The FFP just does more for you.
No matter what you do - make sure the reticle matches the turrets. i.e. Mil reticle = mil turrets. Or MOA and MOA. DO NOT mix and match! NF and Leupold used to be notorious for this and whoever came up with those abominations needs a boot in the nutsack, IMHO.
Whether you go Mil or MOA is personal choice and they work equally well. Just be aware that mil is the world standard and the US military standard, so MOA is becoming less and less common. Not quite anachronistic yet, but soon......
I can't speak to the ATACR, but I was underwhelmed with the several NXS I shot. Nice scopes, glass is decent. In that price range ($2000+) I expect the internals mechanics to work - so for me the optical quality is the discriminator. If you can afford it and can afford to wait a LONG time - the BEAST should be nice by all accounts.
I have shot the 1st Gen Vortex RAZOR and they were really nice. The only thing that bugs me about them is they stop at 20x. I like more personally. Also call Sportoptic and ask about the Steiner Military 5-25x. They hooked me up with a NEW one for not much more that what you're talking about <$3K). Tell them you're a SH member and see what they can do.
The bottom line is don't go by scope reviews. Something may be a fantastic scope with rave reviews, yet still not meet your requirements. Decide first what you NEED, and then find those scope that match those requirements. Don't get something just because its shiny and people like it.
