Actually, Jon is right about the Nightforce being heavy, and thus not a great choice for hunting. My Nightforce weighs somthing like 32 or 33 oz. :eek: These scopes are used for 1,000 yd. and 2,000 yd. competitions with the 50 BMGs. :eek:
I have the Nightforce on my Remington Sendero SF in .300 Win. Mag. With the heavy duty rings and bases, the dang thing weighs close to 11 pounds. However, I don't do much of stalking and walking with that gun when hunting. Rather, I just sit in a tower blind and take shots as I see fit. As such, the heavy weight, under these situations, is not a factor. But I would never use such a gun and scope on a stalking hunt.
Now, I was not advocating putting a Nightforce on your Sako, but I just wanted to let you know that I have experience with Illuminated reticles (which the Nightforce scopes have standard).
Yes, the Zeiss and Swarovski scopes have illuminated reticles too. And if you can afford to spend about $1,500 then I would get it. However, for about half the price, you can get the Leupolds. They are light, have easy 1" tubes, and they have great glass (at least in the Vari-X III models). Leupold does not put illuminated reticles on their lower lines, just on their higher lines.
I may end up getting an Illuminated Zeiss or Swarovski within the next year or two. But, in the meantime, the Leupolds are just awesome!
Zachary