Which is better?

Mounting the scope (with brackets) directly to the firearm, not allowing for the use of iron sights, or mounting the scope on see-thru brackets, allowing for the use of iron sights.

I've notice that even though I have see-thru mounts, I've never used the iron sights on my Rem 700 BDL. I'm looking for more accuracy, and was wondering if lowering the scope might help with my posture and setup?

well all depnds is it a bolt action leaver or what.... and th hight of the scope wont matter was talking to the guy at the gun shop today my scope is on a high mount tpoo so i can use iron.... but i never have well if i had a deer 20 yds maybe

general rule of thumb is, to have your scope as close to the barrel as possible, but not close enough that it touches or can be touched if the barrel heats. I think most ballistic charts are set for a general standard of 1 1/2 " from the center of the scope to the center of the barrel.

See through mounts are also generally weaker and more easily knocked off zero than low mounts.

Go with the solid mounts like the Leupold or the Redfield. They are well worth the money.
The closer that you can get the scope to the barrel without touching, the better.

I have found that with the over and under mounts, that after a few hundred rounds the screws tend to loosen up .

just my two cents.
hunter338

Thanks for the input. I think I know what to do with my next paycheck.

Stubblejumper hit the nail on the head. I wouldn't have See Thru's on any of my rifles.If someone would make them out of steel instead of Aluminum extrusions they might be decent.I've never seen any made of steel.

Ruger Redhawk

If I may post one more related question; if I take off the see-thru rings, and mount the scope lower, what happens to the front iron sight and hood?

It's magic. Even though they are in the line of sight you will find they do not interfere with the scope "picture" --- you may or may not be able to see a "ghost" of them on a low power setting (assuming you have a variable scope). In rare cases, I have had to remove the rear sight to make room for a good size scope. Generally, you find once you go to a scope on a rifle you just won't go back to iron, even if available.

EKM

Another suggestion...

If you really want to have the option of using the iron sights, if, say, the scope were to fail in some way (fog over, broken, etc...), you might consider using quick detachible rings. Leupold makes their "QR" line of rings and bases, which allow the scope to be quickly dismounted by flipping two little levers. They also claim that they will return to zero when the scope it reattached. I've never used them as all every rifle I've scoped had either not have sights, or had them removed. Leupold is well know for making quality products, so I doubt you'd have any problems with their QR rings and bases.

Mike