Rifle is a .308 20" barrel, used for long range targets, police style sniper tournaments, and mountain hunting up to about 300 yards.
I want something that is Durable (*reliability is most important to me), with FFP reticle, and preferably with illumination. I'm willing to spend about $1500. Scope should also be under 27 oz (closer to 20 is ideal).
Of your list I voted for the Bushnell, based on weight, optical quality, apparent construction quality, and reticle.
If you want illumination your options are much more limited.
I currently own the Bushnell and Weaver from your list, and briefly had and returned the Viper PST 4-16x50 as well. The Viper PST I had was clearly below the Bushnell and Weaver in optical quality - more so vs. the Bushnell than the Weaver, but below both. Even when comparing the PST at 12x, well below its max, with the Bushnell at its 12x max the Bushnell was still well ahead. The PST also had an extremely picky eye position at higher magnification. The PST tries hard to offer every possible feature in one scope and I can only guess that glass had to be sacrificed to keep the price within its category.
Bushnell Elite 3-12x44mm - I consider this a great scope. Turret feel could be better, but I don't find anything else to complain about. This is my favorite sub-$1k scope I've tried so far.
Weaver Tactical 3-15x50mm - this is pretty good. I'm not thrilled with the pop-up turrets, either for feel or reports of durability issues. Glass is very good but not as good as the Bushnell. IMHO a great value at the $700 or less typical selling price. It is big and heavy, like most 50mm objective scopes.
Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 3.5-10x40mm. I owned one of these for a couple months. Glass quality was very good, and turret feel was decent. I sold it for about what I had paid (used) after deciding it just didn't offer much for the price, with the low-aspirations 3x zoom range, 40mm objective, MOA based adjustments (I prefer mil), and second focal plane. I also own a Burris MTAC 3.5-10x42mm that costs less than half as much, and would rate it at least as good as the Mark 4 in every daily use category, though obviously durability may not (or may!) be as good. I don't consider the SFP Mark 4 a serious contender at the $1099 retail price I've seen (I paid $730 used, and didn't think it a good value even at that price).
I have no experience with the Kahles or the 4.5-14x50mm Leupold.
You might want to add the SWFA SS 5-20x50mm to your list. It comes in both $1299 non-illuminated and $1499 illuminated versions. I'll know a lot more about it when the UPS guy brings mine later this afternoon.
