The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I bought a Wildcat for my varmint barrel 223 a few years ago. The reason I bought it was to take away some of the crack from shooting it at the range, as we are boxed into our lanes which amplifies the sound. In that respect, the moderator is absolutely superb, I reckon I could shoot it without ear protection as its that quiet. The moderator breaks down very easily for cleaning and only requires a small amount of grease or copper slip on the threads. You can clean these ultrasonically but I'd be a bit hesitant of stripping the exterior surface.

The rear end of the moderator has a small plastic(?) bushing which needs to be machined to fit your barrel, so if you don't have a lathe you can either make a measurement of your barrel and send to Wildcat or you can have a local gunshop to do that for you (I did the latter when I bought my moderator and took my rifle, it has a slight taper so wanted to confirm the fit right there and then).

The only downside I can think about is due to the design of a reflex moderator. Because the moderator covers a proportion of the barrel the heat dissipation isn't the greatest. I found that after 5 shots being fired over a period of 5 mins causes some heat mirage to come off the moderator. This isn't a problem for varmint shooting where you don't expect to fire a large amount of shots over a short period of time but can be an issue if on the shooting range especially during summer when it's already warm enough.

Is this the same experience you've had previously? It might be worth getting some experience from other 6.5 Creedmoor users to confirm if this is an issue or not. If so, I'd reccomend looking at other moderator designs such as the ASE utra S series where heat dissipation and mirage aren't so bad.

WelshShooter wrote:I bought a Wildcat for my varmint barrel 223 a few years ago. The reason I bought it was to take away some of the crack from shooting it at the range, as we are boxed into our lanes which amplifies the sound. In that respect, the moderator is absolutely superb, I reckon I could shoot it without ear protection as its that quiet. The moderator breaks down very easily for cleaning and only requires a small amount of grease or copper slip on the threads. You can clean these ultrasonically but I'd be a bit hesitant of stripping the exterior surface.

The rear end of the moderator has a small plastic(?) bushing which needs to be machined to fit your barrel, so if you don't have a lathe you can either make a measurement of your barrel and send to Wildcat or you can have a local gunshop to do that for you (I did the latter when I bought my moderator and took my rifle, it has a slight taper so wanted to confirm the fit right there and then).

The only downside I can think about is due to the design of a reflex moderator. Because the moderator covers a proportion of the barrel the heat dissipation isn't the greatest. I found that after 5 shots being fired over a period of 5 mins causes some heat mirage to come off the moderator. This isn't a problem for varmint shooting where you don't expect to fire a large amount of shots over a short period of time but can be an issue if on the shooting range especially during summer when it's already warm enough.

Is this the same experience you've had previously? It might be worth getting some experience from other 6.5 Creedmoor users to confirm if this is an issue or not. If so, I'd reccomend looking at other moderator designs such as the ASE utra S series where heat dissipation and mirage aren't so bad.

if you are getting heat build up on the barrel just leave the brushing out, the reflex part of the mod isnt open like the older designs where the brushing formed part of the chamber, I never use the bushings on mine and they get dragged out in the wild and occasionally dropped/fallen on, I also dont use ear pro with them when hunting, so yes they are that effective

Wildcat have excellent service, I spoke to them before ordering mine through Dauntsey Guns to check some things.
As it was an over barrel mod it wants a bushing to help support it (I think) and it was miss measured when being ordered.

Dauntsey contacted Wildcat and Wildcat sent me out the a new one by next post.

Mine is on a 6.5CM and brings the noise down significantly, someone with me said that they would be happy on the next firing point with no hearing protection if I was the only person there.

P.S. It is a Wildcat Predator 12

Thank everyone for the comments. I'll do some research not the ASE utra. Im still feel loyal to Wildcat and find there service amazing.

@Plumrose - Clinton at Dauntsey will 100% getting my order. Ill need to check out the Predator 12? Thank you for the help.

Clinton and his team are awesome, but I think they are shut for duration of these fun and games:

Plumose wrote:Clinton and his team are awesome, but I think they are shut for duration of these fun and games:

I know I managed to get my new rifle like a week or so before they shut.