Long range realistic magnification power?

[mebiuspower]

What's the highest magnification power do you really need for say 1000 meters shooting? I understand that there's the problem with seeing mirage with high power scopes... but is there really a point to get something crazy like 40x power optic which you will probably spend more time stablizing than a good 15 or 20x which is lighter, sits closer to the barrel and will most likely be good for shooting most things out there?

 

[Dmay]

Depends what you want to do. For 1000 competition, where you shoot out there all the time, the more power the merrier.
If you just want to play out there sometimes, and do most shooting inside 300 or so (ie varmint shooting) 20-24x is lots.