My wife won a Wildcat two weeks ago in a sportsmans club raffle. As our old eyes can't see either close or 18 inches away I put on a small 22 scope, so I can't say anything about the factory sights. We ran 250 rounds of two brands through the factory mag and two BX25 mags without a problem. Fit and finish was good for a polymer rifle. The strata camo looks good. As far as comfort, I'm 5'8" and she's 5'2" and we both were able to use it comfortably. Cleaning did require a polymer safe solvent for the action, but was not a problem. Cleaning the barrel was remarkably easy for a semiauto 22. Cleaning and lubing the bolt and recoil spring, I pushed the bolt back onto the recoil spring for lubricating and cleaning. Barrel is so free floated that there was no question about it. Will it last 20,000 rounds like an old Marlin 60? Time will tell. I'm gonna try.
I've put thousands of rounds through mine over the last two years and i love it. I had one magazine break, but it was my fault. Other than that I've had no issues with it aside from some malfunctions with the bx25 mag. BUT i think we all know those bx25 mags tend to malfunction untill they are broke in good.
Nice video. I purchased one approximately 1 month ago. In addition to a scope, I also added the Wildcat Length of Pull extension and the Wildcat compact Cheek riser to make mine more ergonomic as I feel the stock is a bit small in my opinion. It now feels great. For reloading the magazine quickly, I purchased the Maglula 10/22 LULA loader & unloader set. This allows me to reload twice as fast with no thumb soreness and works perfectly on the Wildcat magazine. Cheers.
I've just bought one ( Black Friday Sale) after viewing this review Chris, you've explained what I need to know on this Wildcat, thanks very much. I imagine, I'll soon see just what most folks are saying, that is, that this rifle is worth having a closer look and some shooting time.
I got mine and I love it. It is super easy to use and very accurate. I have the woodland camouflage version and I purchased two additional 25 round Ruger BX magazines. It is very easy to run through these rounds quickly. This is a fun rifle and once you have the iron sights zeroed don't forget too put loctite on the screws or you can lose the rear sight.
I burn through rounds fast because this thing will shoot incredibly fast. Idk if it's the polymer in the action or what. It'll fire as fast as I can pull the trigger.
You missed one clever feature for cleaning. With the action removed, there is a hole in the rear of the receiver that a cleaning rod can be inserted through so the barrel can be cleaned from the breech end.
@@chrisparkin431 If you ever have the time and a safe place to try , I believe you will find the ultra velocity .22lr very good at close range. The added velocity and engineering done to the bullets themselves mean they don't ricochet or splash nearly as much as standard velocity plinking loads. In my expert they totally flatten on impact looking more like a flat off round blob of solder than a projectile . It may be the old guns 24 inch barrel that allowed it, but I seriously doubt it. What sorts of results ,along those lines, do you typically get with the subsonic loadings? Speer put much effort into making rimfire projectiles that elevate ( as much as possible) The old ricochet issues . This was around the late 1990s. They started using pure lead that was copper plated and annealed so it would splatter and stick when the bullet hit the ground or backdrop. Do they have many .17 caliber offerings in rimfire these days? I am far out of the loop these days.
You must buy the Wildcat "SR" version of the 22lr rifle, If you want to install a suppressor. Not all versions of the Winchester Wildcat 22 semi-auto come Suppressor-Ready
I think the innovative design is good and that Winchester deserve a pat on the back in this respect. But... given that Chris is a good shot, (arguably above average), I think the accuracy is a bit of a let down. Personally, (I stress personally), I would rather spend the extra £75 and get a polymer CZ bolt that you know is going to be well engineered and circa 1/2" groups at 50 meters. I accept I may be missing the point here and also that £75 is more to some than to others. Eitherway, it's good to see a sensible review on a low cost entry rifle. This stuff is often overlooked.👍
It's not a target rifle by any means in my opinion. I use mine for squirrel hunting. I have the Strata SV model that I use for squirrel hunting. Accuracy is more than good enough at 25-50 yards (which is on the long side of the type of shots you'd take when squirrel hunting) using sub-sonic ammunition. For me, this is a perfect small game gun. Extremely light, durable, reliable, semi-auto, suppressor ready, and inexpensive.
Here in Brazil, ostead of saying "Bullseye!" we use to say "Na mosca!" ("On the horsefly!"). It would make a lot of sense for us to try for the fly! :D
Sweet. But it seems like a fair-weather firearm. Beautiful tool, but it seems to have lots of small parts to lose, & lots of plastic-on-metal spots to wear out. That said, I totally want one. "I have become Death, destroyer of gophers...") Nice video, man.
2:19 how ya not gonna take the fly shot? Also notice how quite and precise this gun is the fly didnt even scare off with rounds hitting right beside it.
you can’t purchase a complete trigger persay, i should have worded my comment differently. I bought the mcarbo trigger and spring kit then i polished the sear, result was just over two pounds.
Its not dusty ammo. Its because the powder doesn't burn completely and is generally more dirty because of this and if to much gets between the bolt face and barrel the rim fire firing pin wont be bale to set it off reliably
I say well...You can ABSOLUTELY use a .22LR for ANY kind of rat control. Also, the shooshiest .22 round?? Primer charged only. No practical atall, but super cool 😎
Pretty cool rifle. I bet it was fun to review. With a little more ammo testing you can tighten up those groups too. A couple there it did not like. And the Winchester being one of them. I’m sure it probably likes faster ammo.
The little clip on cover for the lug/rail? Might as well throw that shit out with the packing material, it's already gone. And I would like to see how tight it shot with supersonic ammo unsuppressed. If its not together it shouldn't be on the market. There's a hole in the market right now with Remington all blown up, it would be nice to see Winchester step up and be Winchester again. A lot of us would enjoy that.
I hope there customer service is good because my bolt just broke by pulling a gun sock off of my gun looks to be made of pot metal I hope they will fix or replace it
Soooo silence... is it really not an air rifle?.. its seems have no recoil at all.. i wish it can be sold in my country.. really can be used as a self protection weapon
I think this misses the mark for portability- it doesn’t break down like the 10/22 nor does it have the ability to store extra ammo or mini mags on/ in the rifle
What do you mean it doesn't break down? It absolutely does and it can be done very quickly with only the tools in the gun. The skeletonized stock would accept a stash bag. 2 strikes for you
@@monkeypaw4408 you are talking about field stripping numb nuts. I didn’t say field strip- I said break down. The 10/22 brakes down into a very compact configuration and can be stowed in a backpack- this can’t. Wish you knew something
@@ryanestes7331 Umm..... That doesn't sound right at all... .306 or if your talking pistols 9mm... I'm don't think I've ever seen military unit's using .22's...
@@WordoftheFree nobody used 30.06. .223 is 22 caliber (5.56) which is used by m16's, British bullpups use it, Steyr augs use it, so in conclusion .22 is the caliber, the cartridge determines how deadly it is. Although playing around with . 22 like it can't kill someone is for fools
How could you not stop everything to drill that fly? That fly was the range equivalent of seeing a $20 in the parking lot and just walking by.... Not sure I can trust a review that is so flippant with targets of opportunity. 😁
Im fully capable of understanding both metric and imperial measuring systems, it helps to aid others. All paperwork in accordance with UK law, check your own location's requirements
Just picked this gun up and it feels horribly cheap, I feel like I had toys in the 80s that were far more robust, it doesn't inspire confidence in the least. It was so bad I went out and bought a Marlin Model 60 that was less than half the price of the Wildcat and now I feel like I have a REAL .22 rifle. The polymer on the Wildcat needs to be improved because the stuff they made it with is trash.
