Wildcat Predator 8

[Baldrick]

I've taken on a new 500-acre permission, bordered by a lot of residential property. The issue of complaining neighbours, combined with MRY's tale about the unpleasant consequences of hearing loss, have prompted me to have my centrefires screw-cut. I have avoided mods until now, as I don't like the look/weight and the noise was never an issue. I am due to take delivery of a heavy-barrelled .243 in a few weeks.

 

The gunsmith doing the screw-cutting is steering me towards a Wildcat Predator 8. Thinking that it was cheap and strippable, I have asked him to order me a Predator 8. Having just read Jagerman's comments that the Wildcat is 'really loud and heavy', is the Wildcat really that useless?

 

Is there anything cheaper than an A-Tec or PES T12 that is effective and user-friendly?

Edited May 21, 2008 by Baldrick

[moses]

Personally, I would not buy a wildcat mod.

I think there are better products availible for around the same money.

 

I think the wildcat costs around £225, you could get a T12 for £230 from JMS. I have T12's on both my rifles as I like the way the weight is distributed and their slim diameter.

 

As I mentioned in another post the Atec range of mods is excellent, If I was buying a new mod tomorrow I would be seriously considering one.

[Baldrick]

Are your two T12s sitting on barrels with a standard contour?

[alexm]

I have a Predator 8 and I'm totally happy with it as are the 3 or 4 other owners I know personally. The workmanship is excellent, it's easy to strip and clean and it does the job as far as sound reduction is concerned. Maybe not *the* quietest but certainly on a par with the T8 soundwise in my opinion. It really is down to what your priorities are, i.e. budget, sound, weight, workmanship, size, aesthetics etc. Unfortunately no mod does ALL of them as far as I can see!

 

There has been a lot of bitching about the Wildcat on 'another forum' that I simply can't understand despite trying to get to the bottom of it. Suffice to say each and every complainer on that forum has been shown to have some kind of a personal gripe with the proprietor of Wildcat so it's tricky to view their comments about his product with any sort of objectivity.

 

 

Regarding complaining neighbours... unfortunately, in my experience, to the moaning minnies with their hearing trumpets stuck out the window a bang is bang. They don't seem to differentiate between a bang and a quieter bang, as long as they can hear it they will complain! I don't know what sort of range you are from the complainers... but if it's close enough for them to still hear a moderated rifle I bet they still complain. That said, if you are further away then I suppose it could be the difference between them hearing it and not?...

[Baldrick]

I've just been reading some of the anti-Predator 8 comments on the BBS. As you say, it's hardly objective opinion....

 

The mod is more for my own hearing protection than keeping the farmer's neighbours happy. I have already got tinnitus, and I need a mod. I don't particularly want a muzzle-mounted can on a 24" barrel. A friend of mine who stalks daily duing the season in Scotland uses only a T8, which he swears by. I only considered the Predator 8 as it is marketed as a direct competitor to the T8, but strippable.

[magman]

Have a predator 8 compact and more than two people of hear say its the quietest they've heard .

ps , on a .223

[Mungler]

The T8 on my .223 sounds like a super sonic round fired through a silenced .22 RF.

 

Without a dB meter that's the best I can describe.

 

You do not need ear defenders when using and behind the barrel.

[moses]

Are your two T12s sitting on barrels with a standard contour?

 

 

Yes, standard contour Sako barrels.

 

 

You can get them to fit a heavy barrel though.

[magman]

 

 

 

 

 

 

predator 8 compact only for me from now on best £215.00 ever spent

 

 

Ps, baldrick if you get one in 243 and don't like it i will buy it off you at the price you paid

as im going in for a 243 soon

Edited May 21, 2008 by magman

[casts_by_fly]

magman,

 

How far over the barrel does the compact sit? Does it com back over the barrel at all? It looks like either half over the barrel (smooth portion of outer tube) or none over the barrel from the pictures. How big is it overall?

 

I'm getting ready to start up a new one and that looks like it could be the mod for me, especially at that price.

 

Thanks

Rick

[henry d]

More than happy with my Wildcat, non-predator, mod.

 

On a 6.5x55 heavy barrel and I have forgotten to use ear defenders when zeroing and never even noticed until I saw them lying next to me.

[magman]

magman,

 

How far over the barrel does the compact sit? Does it com back over the barrel at all? It looks like either half over the barrel (smooth portion of outer tube) or none over the barrel from the pictures. How big is it overall?

 

I'm getting ready to start up a new one and that looks like it could be the mod for me, especially at that price.

 

Thanks

Rick

 

http://www.wildcatrifles.co.uk/full-specification.html

 

Hope this helps Rick

[njc110381]

I've also got a Predator 8 that fits both my 6.5x55 and .223. It does a fine job IMO, and if it ever wears out I'll buy another one. It's a lot lighter than most of the competition, which when mounted on the end of your gun is important! I can't fault it, and it can also be made to fit more than one gun very easily if that is ever an issue

[highseas]

i have one on my cz i have only used it on the ranges at the mo but i would recomend it over the reflex t8 or pes ( the only others i have tride on my rifle) as said it sounds like a rimmy so what else can i say go get one!!! i know its the best £230 i have ever spent

[casts_by_fly]

Some say it's bad luck to shoot hares - old tales of witches familiars (cats or hares etc).

 

Also, the big old ones are tough as old boots.

 

If you don't shoot one clean, the noise it makes is something to put you off doing it again.

 

 

 

magman,

 

Thanks for the link. Really good info. They advertise all of the combinations available. Are the moderators modular, i.e. can you change the different tube lengths yourself? For instance, if I started with a compact with 4 baffles, could I change it myself to 8 baffles later? If so then it sounds like the same moderator would be optimizable for any rifle in the rack.

 

Also took note of the wildcat cub. It is made for the hornet which is what I'm going to be dealing with. It is made from delrin, so it is light. And, it is half the price of the others. Might be worth looking at a little harder.

 

Thanks

Rick

[Jagerman]

Just read the thread on the BBS and interesting thing is (Dont no if its true) you need another set of baffles to make quiet as a T8 at £150...stuff that. It no longer makes the mod cheap if thats the case.

 

I used a Pred8 and it was noisy and heavy, as for baffles decaying...they all do you cant avoid it, consider the hot force of gas going through it, blimey thats hot!

Edited May 22, 2008 by Jagerman

[Baldrick]

I was as keen as mustard on the idea of a cheap and cheerful Predator 8, until I saw the statement on the BBS that that Predator 8 needs extra baffles to give the same sound attenuation as a T8.

[Dunkield]

I have a PES T12 short in stainless steel.

I have considered, and tried, to change it over the last few years as it is bit of overkill for a .223

After changing the stock / having the barrel chopped the rifle balances much better now.

Reading through the moderator posts on various forums (even taking it all with a huge pinch of salt) I am glad I never quite managed to sell it.

 

The only other mod that seems very good, but pricey is the ASE Utra, but again (IMHO) the rifle would benefit from a barrel chop before fitting.

[moses]

After changing the stock / having the barrel chopped the rifle balances much better now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stuart, Could you tell me how much you had the barrel shortened and what length it is now?

 

Did you notice any difference in accuracy?

 

I am thinking about having both my rifle barrels shortened so as the T12 fits almost flush to the stock.

 

Cheers

Moses

[Dunkield]

3" off + a decent recrown, if anything it is more accurate - possibly due to the recrown on a thicker part of the barrel, and possbly due to the stiffening of the barrel?

The rifle is a CZ527 lux which has a spaghetti thin barrel.

I have never shot it over a chrono, so can't comment on any change in velocity.

But I asked as many people as I could, and read through this before having it done:

 

http://www.accuratereloading.com/223sb.html

 

I have some before/after pictures somewhere I will dig them out later.

[Dunkield]

Here you go moses (appologies for the derailment Baldrick )

 

Before, original barrel length and factory stock

 

 

with mod

 

 

 

 

Now, chopped + new stock with mod

 

 

and without

 

[moses]

Here you go moses (appologies for the derailment Baldrick )

 

 

 

Thanks Stuart.

 

(appologies again for the derailment Baldrick B) )

 

The rifle looks so much better after the barrel chop, what lenght was it shortened from/to?

 

Also where did you have it done? I was going to have mine done by Nigel Teague for £105+vat.

 

Cheers

Moses

[Baldrick]

I've canned the idea of getting a Wildcat. I'm just going to have a T8 put on my .243, and I will stick a PES on my .30-06 (your T12 looks pretty swish, Stuart). The consensus seems to be that if you look after a T8 and prevent the build-up of condensation, it'll last several years.

[magman]

magman,

 

Thanks for the link. Really good info. They advertise all of the combinations available. Are the moderators modular, i.e. can you change the different tube lengths yourself? For instance, if I started with a compact with 4 baffles, could I change it myself to 8 baffles later? If so then it sounds like the same moderator would be optimizable for any rifle in the rack.

 

Yes you can add on to these give the guy a ring and he will talk you through it all

[Dunkield]

Moses,

Mine was done unproofed for £50.

It is 19" now so I guess it must have been 24" before.

 

Baldrick,

It's the mountain bike inner tube that makes it