Just bare bones facts... The nikon has 95% light transmission, I don't think Leupold, Zeiss, Burris, etc. post their transmission ratings... This leads me to believe that they do not obtain 95%... Does anyone know their stats... I am not saying the nikon is a better all around scope, it just might be the best for low light.
Leupold posts their ratings and on the VX-III they are supposedly 98%(not sure I believe that)..The Vx-II is at 92%. Burris claims 95%. Bushnell elite 4200's are 95%. Sometimes you have to dig for this kind of data..Zeiss doesn't put out their ratings and they really don't need to, their lenses are that good neither does Swarovski and a few other Euro companies. Zeiss crosshairs are pretty darn good in low light the best I have seen and their customer service is the best around even better then Leupold. For Zeiss optics and the best prices checkout
www.europtics.com or
www.theopticzone.com both are great to deal with. Nikon customer service is another issue seems that half the people that own them and have to return them have some sort of horror story or in the best event a long wait to get said scope back. Sounds like you need a 3-9x40 conquest on that 270.