ruraldoc,
You're absolutely right, many if not most scope manufacturers tend to use their best glass in 30mm tubes. But that doesn't have anything to do with the possible brightness of 30mm scope tubes. Instead it has to do with European tradition--and that's exactly why so many shooters swallowed the advertising claim that 30mm scopes "allowed" more light to pass through a scope.
Not all the scope manufacturers who make 30mm-tube scope use the best glass, because their customers (who aren't European) are more concerned with elevation adjustment range.
Yes, some Euro-manufacturers now make illuminated reticles for their 30mm scopes, but that doesn't mean illuminated reticles don't dim the view slightly. Instead it means they're making for scopes for the American market, where illuminated reticles aren't outlawed in many states, as they are in some European countries.
And just because illuminated reticles dim the overall view slightly (an optical fact first pointed out to me by a European company, for the reasons I stated) doesn't mean they don't help aiming. Being able to put the bullet where we want to is due to several factors, and seeing every hair on a deer, or every point on its antlers, isn't necessary to aiming. Instead we just have to be able to see the outline of the deer AND the aiming point. If we can see every hair on the deer but the aiming point is vague, then scope "brightness" is useless.
