Depends on what you consider "long range", but in my experience; long range is beyond 400 yds with most modern centerfire rifles. Saying this because I've seen alot of guys that claim to be "long range" shooters that cant hit a paper dinner plate at 400 yds the first shot.
For my eyes, Leupold has great glass and always has. I'd go with something in the VX3 series. I believe it's the best class of Leupold you can get for under $1000. The mark 4 I have is really great, but it's over the price you mentioned.
Sightron SIII has a good following, and I recently bought one of them. Haven't played with it much yet, but color and contrast seemed really good while holding it freehand on 16X. They're "claim to fame" is positive and accurate tracking in the adjustments. Too early to tell how impressed I'll be with it yet, but my initial impression was good.
Alot of people I know have used the top tier Bushnell (used to be Baush and Lomb....sp?) and have no complaints on them. I never owned one personally. Some have said they are brighter than Leupolds....?? Likewise, some I know really like the Nikon Monarch's.
I have owned and used Burris optics. I believe they are a very good contender in the under $1000 range, but again; their top tier stuff is the only thing I'd personally look at for true LR.
Regardless of the brand name, there's alot more to long range optics than clarity, brightness, resolution and contrast. Other important things are the tracking accuracy and repeatability of the adjustments. The adjustments need to be firm enough to withstand accidental movement, but light enough that you aren't moving the whole gun while trying to dial the elevation knob. Or, they need to be covered, especially if not truely waterproofed.
Parallax and Focus adjustment is a must have IMO and it needs to work well. No one wants to have the parallax at infinity for use at 300 or 400 yds, or have it a the lowest setting for use at 100 yds, but I've seen some scopes that are like that. We shouldn't run out of focus ability before the parallax is eliminated and visa versa.
When we change powers, the poi should not move. Alot of older variable powers did that, especially the cheaper ones. I think some sort of reticle with mil or moa marks/ticks/dots is a very nice addition for a LR scope, as is a BDC type of reticle in some cases.
IMO, there are alot of low dollar scopes sneaking into the LR market. Most may have one or two features that work well.....hard to find one that has all the features working well and has good glass/good reticles too.