Winchester Wildcat

[Mulby]

It took me quite a while to commit to purchasing this little guy, but a current sale and decent reviews got me to shell over the dough today. The take down of the thing is pretty neat and makes for simple cleaning. Last shot bolt hold open is a bonus. After initial cleaning and a touch of lube, I topped it with a Bushnell TRS and headed out to the range with 200 rounds of Federal blue box bulk.

All went off without a single hickup. No failures of any kind. The wind was gusting in what seemed like every direction so accuracy testing wasn’t in the cards today. I will say that I was able to make hits fairly consistently with the dot so I might toss a scope on next time I’m out and shoot from a table and see how it groups with a few ammo types.

Biggest downside is the trigger though it did drop from 5.5# to 4# from initial test to post 200 rounds test.

So far so good.

 

[Ruger 308]

I like mine for a plinker or 50y small game rifle. I use mine with a 3-9 Weaver and the kids love it too. I have close to 5000 rounds through it. No issues so far.

Mine hates that blue box stuff though.

 

[Suther]

One of these will probably be my next purchase. I bought two magazines in January with the intention to buy one of these rifles shortly thereafter but life got in the way.

For me the big selling feature is the reversible safety and lightweight. I shoot left due to eye dominance, and my daughter is also left eye dominant but my boys are not. I've already got a Marlin 795 so this one will get set up left handed for me and my little girl.

 

[Mulby]

I like mine for a plinker or 50y small game rifle. I use mine with a 3-9 Weaver and the kids love it too. I have close to 5000 rounds through it. No issues so far.

Mine hates that blue box stuff though.

Glad to hear you’re having fun with it and have had that much use without any issues. I hope mine continues trouble free.

 

[Mulby]

One of these will probably be my next purchase. I bought two magazines in January with the intention to buy one of these rifles shortly thereafter but life got in the way.

For me the big selling feature is the reversible safety and lightweight. I shoot left due to eye dominance, and my daughter is also left eye dominant but my boys are not. I've already got a Marlin 795 so this one will get set up left handed for me and my little girl.

Once there are mags for sale local to me again I’ll be grabbing a couple of spares myself. This gun was mostly purchased for me but I’m sure my nephews will have fun with it this summer.

 

[Mulby]

Took the wildcat out again this evening. Still a bit of a breeze blowing, but much less than the first time I had it out. Brought 50 CCI SV, 50 CCI Quiet 710, and 100 Federal bulk. I got out my table this time and set up at 50 yards. I sighted in with the fed bulk since it is what I want to burn through first. Surprisingly it does really well with that load accuracy wise. I could quickly and consistently nail 2 inch spinners with only the Bushnell TRS. Again no failures of any kind. Next I shot the standard velocity rounds and while likely more accurate I really only wanted to test for function with subs. No failures of any kind. Finally I tried the Quiets, and while they didn’t consistently have enough jam to lock the bolt back when the mag was empty, they all cycled the action well enough to get through the whole box of 50 without any issue. I think once the gun is a bit more worn in it will have no issues cycling the bolt far enough to lock open on an empty mag regularly rather than half the time.
So 400 rounds in and no jams, stove pipes or any other type of FTF. Again no pics so you’ll have to use your imagination.
One more thing to mention, the firing pin strike on spent rounds is just inside the rim. Likely explains a lack of failure to fire on cheap bulk ammo.