Parker - I'd stay away from mounting the scope on see through mounts. What happens is the mounts are high enough to cause you to "stretch" to access the occular lense. This tends to cause you to lift your cheek off of the stock which is not a good way to shoot.

Carry an allen wrench with you in the field and yank the scope off it causes you any trouble. Wiht the right scope you shouldn't have to remove the rear sight.

If you want open sights, go with open sights. If you want a scope, go with a scope. Having it both ways just doesn't work very well.

As far as calibers.....don't forget the .35 Remington.


Elk