I just left mine on...saves a lot of mess and fuss and dosen`t hurt the looks. I also left on the original front barrel guard. My rifle happenes to have some nicely figured walnut, so I refinished and checkered the piece. Did a peep on the reciever, soldered on a front after cutting the barrel down to 22 inches and recrowning. Killed a few deer with it. Easy carry, and very accurate with Sierra 150s`.
One of the nices bucks I`ve killed was with this rifle in an extended season here in Wi. I just had the good fortune to load some 200 grn RN bullets that day. Shot the deer at about 60-70 yrds feeding away from me. Bullet entered right under the pelvis bone and exited the front chest. Droped right there.
