BIGFIVE , I will not presume to tell you what you should do, or shoot in your own defense, but it is my opinion, that you have the wrong idea of why a scope is installed in QD bases. These are not so you can yank the scope off durring a charge, where as you say "time is of the essence"! It is for those who hunt mostly with a scope, and if it is damaged, a spare scope, pre zeroed, is simply locked in place without any loss of hunting time, to rezero a scope! You see you are at home in the bush, but most of us must travel 15, or 20,000 miles from home to hunt there. I have plenty of extra scopes, and rifles at home, but that is a long jog to change a scope or rifle.

Let me tell you of a happening where this set up, paid off! It wasn't in Africa, but the same prenciple applies! I was hunting in the Saddelback Mountains of New Mexico. On foot, and 10 miles from my camp. I spotted the largest Muledeer I'd ever seen in my life. I started a stalk around the mountain side, to get with shooting range. I stepped on a slick rock, and the rifle being in my right hand, was about to over balance me and make me fall into the canyon below. I had only two choices, one was to drop the rifle, and the other was to fall. You may know I did not fall! When I retreved the rifle, the scope objective bell was looking down at the rear sight, and I colud see the deer was getting nervous, and about to go. Thanks to the QDs I simply slipped the scope off, and shot the deer at about 350 yds accross the canyon, with the iron sights. If I had not had the QDs , and Iron sights I would have had to leave, and I don't think he would have been there the next day.

In Africa, if I'm hunting with a bolt rifle,which isn't very often, I primeraly use a scope,my eyes not being as sharp as they were when I was fifty years old,that is 16 years ago, but have Irons on all my rifles. If I need to go into the thorn after a buff, I simply remove the scope and use the irons. This system works best for me, because I mostly hunt Buffalo, but I hunt the other species with the same rifle. The scope comes in handy when a long shot on something presents it'sself, or a shot taken on buffalo where a bullet needs to be threaded through a small hole in the bush, the scope lets me see the sticks that are in the way, but not seen with the naked eye. My plains game rifles are set up this way, and are all of legal chambering to take what ever I run across, I don't use small rifle in Africa. If I'm hunting Buffalo only, then I use a double rifle with IRONS, because I do not shoot unwounded Buffalo at long range. IMO, Dangerous game is only dangerous at close range, and to shoot one at 200 yds defeats the purpose of hunting dangerous game in the first place!

The way a rifle is set up, for any purpose, is a personal thing, and what you want is, what works for you, that, however may not be what works best for me!