I like shooting with both. I have been shooting with irons the last few months with a Savage Model 5 and M&P15 w/ flip up magpul rear sight. I recently put the vintage optic back on the Savage and put a NCStar Mark III 3-9x42 compact on my M&P this past week and really enjoyed it. I am so far very happy with the NCStar for the cost, it works well for punching paper. One of the reasons I bought it was for the quick release on the mount. Whether at the range or in a real world situation I can have the scope off and my rear sight flipped up in a few seconds. I definitely think it is good to shoot and become proficient at both, but I also think it's what ever you enjoy the most. I recently got my old man into shooting, but he can't see or hit anything without a optic past 50 yards, so he just put one on his M&P15-22 and he is having a blast.