I couldn't say for sure, Ken but it does seem that way. I've wandered far off the Leupold reservation the last five years or so but I have not seen or tried everything out there. It does seem to me that once you get beyond about 12x or so lower quality glass begins to reveal itself more readily to the unpracticed eye. For higher magnification (like 18x-24x) on a budget I like the Optika5 line (I have several 4-20Xs and a 3-15x) which I believe is still readily available and with good reticle choices. They seem to be very good scopes even if they may be a little less than aesthetically pleasing. The old Super Slams and redesigned Grand Slams are very nice, too but are very hard to find.
I have a Tract Response, the 4-16x with .223 BDC reticle. It has very good glass and seems to track quite well...I just don't care for the reticle all that much and the knobs are much larger than they need to be IMO. If I could have that one with a simpler varmint-style reticle or just a plain duplex reticle I'd be more apt to hang onto it. I likely will not.
I'm not too sure what you're looking for but you did say "a little extra power might be nice for load development (getting older)..." so I would assume you're looking at the Tract 2-10x. Both of the reticles look useable to me but I hate the dots on the holdovers just as I hate the Weaver EB-X, and as far as I am concerned the T-Plex is like so many others having the lower segment thick when it should be the upper segment thick, and the lower segment thin. YMMV. I do think you'd be very satisfied with the optical quality either way based on my casual evaluation of the Response 4-16x.
