Wildcat Predator rear bush

[cyclonebri1 8]

Bought a new Predator 8 for my taper barreled .223 over the break. Went out looking for 2nd hand but got a good offer on the wildcat so went with that.

 

Right the rear bush. I expected to moddy to come with a pilot drilled or undersized bush, or to read from many others experiences the gunshop would "size" and fit the bush.

 

They hadn't got a bush that was undersize and even if they had, they didn't have shop facilities to machine it. OK that's dam annoying but at the price paid I still went ahead.

 

Now having had a quick google found a world of difference in opinion as to whether to fit the bush tightly, with clearance or even at all.

 

At present I'd guess it is .5mm oversize, some say that is ok, I get the idea it will bounce of the barrel at that clearance, (haven't shot with this yet).

 

So, given the argument that it should have been fitted by the shop and the fact that I suppose I could try to arrange to return the existing bush to Wildcat as they supply blanks or cut to size, what's the view from users on here.

 

1 idea I read about and like, would be to have a groove cut in the existing bush to accept an o ring that would keep every thing central and allow flexibility if knocked without affecting the barrel when things warm up????

 

Any views.

Edited January 1, 2013 by cyclonebri1

[Yokel Matt 918]

Do you have a pic of the clearance? As long as there is space between the bush and the barrel you'll be good. My experience of Wildcat with reaming out bush's for P8's is they pull your chain and take forever. The bush is largely redundant on a P8 anyway. I swap my P8 between my sporter barrelled 6.5x55 and oversized .223 ad its fine.

[cyclonebri1 8]

No pic sorry, but the clearance is about 0.5mm, which would be .25mm all round but it doesn't hold centre and can be flexed quite easily with finger pressure.

 

Wildcats advice id to have it so that a piece of paper can be slid between mod and barrel, great if the thing was absolutely concentric.

 

I had a look round yesterday and I have a router bit that I can cut a groove in the bush with then go with the o ring idea. Any issues and it's a new bush.

 

Incidentally WC also state the bush is simply to stop a knock on the mod damaging the threads by twisting.

What they don't say, but I think, is that it is more likely there to stop the can twisting. :hmm:

[cyclonebri1 8]

Nice photo, thanks.

Ok, the bush is approx half a mm bigger than the barrel, a little bigger than yours in the pic.

Called at another rfd today, (my mates on some sort of shopping spree), they were wildcat agents too), Derek Lee in Lincs.

They said 1mm all the way round. So, there's certainly some contradiction between the agents and the manufacturer and common sense I feel?

 

Stalker, I'm going to go ahead with the o ring idea, the bush is a litle larger than the fit shown in your pic, but the o ring will effectively seal it to the barrel and the barrel being s/s there should be no corosion issues.

 

Thanks for the advice guys :thumbs:

 

As a parting shot, asking again today about the cost of the wildcat pred 8 in the joint above, they quoted £250

 

So was the wildcat predator 8 at £195 a better buy than the other option of the ASE s/s jobby at £275?????

 

Decision made but it was close. :yes:

Edited December 31, 2012 by cyclonebri1

[Yokel Matt 918]

The P8 is well made and sturdy to be sure but does weigh significantly more than the new light weight A-TEC / ASE brand mods. This isn't a big deal if the barrel length is reasonable but with a flagpole its does cause balance problems. I've just gone though a mod change myself and would say the P8 is slightly quieter that my new A-TEC so there are pros & cons. The clearance distances you're looking at here are negligible mate and I wouldn't bother personally.

[cyclonebri1 8]

The P8 is well made and sturdy to be sure but does weigh significantly more than the new light weight A-TEC / ASE brand mods. This isn't a big deal if the barrel length is reasonable but with a flagpole its does cause balance problems. I've just gone though a mod change myself and would say the P8 is slightly quieter that my new A-TEC so there are pros & cons. The clearance distances you're looking at here are negligible mate and I wouldn't bother personally.

 

Yeah, the ase was 200mm long with 100mm added to barrel, the P8 was 300 with the same addition, they both weighed very similar so the P8 with the centre weight further back felt lighter.

 

Regarding the clearance, if it was a little greater and concentric I'd leave it, but as it is almost touching, I expect it to rattle the barrel on recoil, I should shoot it to try I know.

 

Cheers.

 

Edited to say I have done this today and it's made a cracking job, tightens down with a little resistance and can still be flexed if pushed hard to 1 side.

 

It's a no lose situation anyway as the rubber o ring can simply be removed and the bush used as is, if there was an issue.

Edited January 1, 2013 by cyclonebri1