It seems to me that the importance of shooting a lot of rounds when evaluating the durability of scopes would depend considerably on what cartridges are being used. I shoot thousands of rounds every year from rifles but the vast majority are rim fire and .223. These are not going to tax scopes very much. On the other hand, if someone is shooting a lot of rounds of .300 WM and up then that experience should be more of a test of scope durability. Obviously big magnums would have the most potential impact on scopes but few people shoot them in great volume.
I've had good luck with variable scopes, mostly Leupold's, over the last 30 years but I don't generally shoot hard recoiling cartridges in volume, even though I sometimes hunt with them.
