Wildcat Predator modular moderators review | Gear/Equipment TestModerators and Suppressors Reviews

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Wildcat Predator modular moderators

It was a good few months ago that Andrew Banner (UK Custom Shop/Wildcat Moderators) sent me his new design Predator 8 moderator, which is a reflex or over-barrel system, as is the fashion these days. The idea behind this product was three-fold; it offered a full bore can that was easy to disassemble and so keep clean, which means a longer working life and was priced to go head to head with the BR Tuote Reflex at around the £200 mark. It was also the first moddy to my knowledge that was made from the outset to be truly modular, in that by swapping baffles and expansion chambers for others of different sizes/capacities you could set it up for just about any calibre or need.

At this year’s Tackle & Gun show I visited the Wildcat stand and Andrew told me that the alternative baffle and expansion chamber units were now in production, so he would send me some to use with my Predator 8.

Recap

If you are not aware of the Predator 8 system then here’s a brief recap. The moddy consists of three main assemblies; up front is the baffle stack which shows an inner, multi-hole cage that slides into the outer/baffle unit, at the rear is a stainless steel blast plate. This screws into the middle adaptor unit which is the part that attaches to the rifle’s muzzle and is available in all common thread sizes. This piece is pierced by holes, which allows the gases to bleed into the expansion chamber at the rear. The chamber consists of outer and inner tubes and at the rear is an end cap with nylon bushing that can be drilled out to suit the barrel’s outside diameter. All interfaces are sealed by O-rings. Overall a sound and practical design that from my tests gave effective moderation of centrefire calibres. Disassembly too was easy, so the ability to keep it clean, should you choose to do so, again lived up to the claims and ability of the unit.

All Wildcat has done now is to produce three sizes of baffle stack – 4, 8 and 12 and various lengths of expansion chamber and inner tube lengths, so you can mix and match according to calibre. They sent me 4.5, 7.5, 10 and 11.75” tubes, the last two seem quite long but when you consider that this is what sits over the barrel in front of the forend and behind the muzzle, then only shorter tubes need to get the shortest units. For example I used my Mauser M 03 in its 223 Rem set, which only has a 20” tube, which with its long forend only leaves 7.5” of barrel available. So I had to fit the 4.5” chamber, however for this calibre and the right baffle stack it was effective.

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Baffled

Now to the choice of baffle stacks. Of the three - the 4-baffle measured a diminutive 2.5” long and offered a free bore diameter of 0.295” measured at the aperture in the blast plate, so good for 22 centrefires. The eight and twelve were larger at 0.350”, so could handle up to 308, these measured 3.5 and 4.5” accordingly. Testing was done with my M 03 as its 223 barrel is the only one I have cut for ½” X20 UNF.

To my eyes the little 4-baffle unit did look rather small and though not overly powerful the 223 Remington cartridge produces quite a high muzzle signature so a good test bed. Shooting was done with my 60-grain reload that achieves around 2870 fps, and a Norma Varmint load pushing a 50-grain V-MAX at 3300 fps.

In terms of size, weight and handling the short expansion chamber and tiny 4-baffle unit offered a very compact moddy indeed, which measured nose to tail 7.5”. Including the middle section (adaptor tube) it only adds 2.75” to the overall length of the rifle. In terms of effect it was workable and took the noise down to an acceptable level, though the signature was noticeably sharp.

Moving up to the 8-baffle stack edged up the overall unit length to 8.75” with an added 4” past the muzzle. Though still offering good handling the weight difference was easily noticeable over the smaller unit. Signature was reduced too, though not as much as I thought it would.

Finally I fitted the largest, 12-baffle unit. This put the overall length up to 10” with a 5” overhang on the barrel. Here the extra weight was most noticeable, as was the sound reduction. I would say in this format in 223 it was the equal to a BR Tuote T8, giving that magical, flat ‘bewap’ noise of a moddy working properly.

Balanced performance

Obviously the larger amount of baffles means the greatest amount of moderation; no surprise there then? However, the M 03 in 223 is a very handy rifle with its 20” barrel and overall length of 40”. I did find the 12-baffle nose piece made it a bit ungainly and re-shot all three moddies to see what else might be occurring. This time I shot for group and found that the 8-baffle stack gave the best performance for my load and barrel length; keeping it at ½” @ 100 yards with its 60-grain Hornady SP over 26-grains of Vit N140. So I had no compromise on accuracy but a slight one on output.

I think what I liked the most about the Predator 8 is the ability to assemble a recipe that suits one particular gun perfectly. Had the barrel on the M 03 been longer it would have been interesting to see how much difference the larger expansion chambers would have made in conjunction with mixing and matching baffles.

Overall a most flexible system and one that will save you a deal of money when it comes to getting a moddy for a rifle, as with a basic Predator 8 you can up or down size accordingly without having to buy a whole new can…

Technical Specifications
Name	Wildcat Predator 8 moderator
Price	£215
Baffle sets	4 / 8 - £100 12 - £125

All Prices Are Guides Due to the Changes in US & European Exchange Rates

This review has 14 comments

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User Comments

having had a t8 replaced due to corrosion and the new unit changed my 1/2" rifle into a 2 foot rifle because it was not welded straight and then finding the importer to be one of the rudest men i've ever dealt with! he told me file out the centre hole one side with a chainsaw file !! I decided to try a wildcat 8 the company is superb to deal with , to my mark one ear it sounds the same as a t8 in fact i was so delighted i got a wildcat 4 with short back for my .260 stalking rifle and a 12 with long back for my 300 rum . In short bad customer service has cost the t8 importer a lot of money.

Russ

Comment by: Russ Taylor Posted on: 25 Mar 2009 at 11:21 AM
As a modular system the Predator 8 is a good can and its calibre flexability due to its mix & match build is an excellent selling point. However, I am very surprised at your comments about the BR Tuote importer, which I find hard to beleive. I have owned a lot of T8s and T4s and have never had any problems on rifles with properly cut threads... Likewise the importers; I have always found them knowlegable and helpful.

Comment by: Pete Moore Posted on: 25 Mar 2009 at 09:29 PM
I had my rifle threaded by rifle craft and the rifle shot fine with the original t8 and it now shoots fine with a predator 8 also you could see where the bullets fouled the baffles and if you looked through it you could just see it wasn't straight,all the guy had to do was replace the faulty mod instead of telling me how difficult welding is which as a coded welder I'm fully aware of most welding issues! I could name names but it would be inappropiate on this forum,I'm not however in the habit of telling lies so i just told it like it is.

dissapointing as the t8 is a fine moderator apart from corrosion issues .

Comment by: Russ Taylor Posted on: 03 Apr 2009 at 01:21 PM
The BR Tuote T-series come in for a lot of slagging off due to their mild steel build and I have seen some that have given up the ghost after just one year, due to lack of maintenance. However, in their defence - if you keep them oiled as I do with mine; they offer a good life span and service.

My policy is to get some spray oil and before I fire even one shot give it a good soaking inside. I find this tends to bake on and form a barrier to the corrosive elements of the powder gases. After that and every time I use it (one shot or fifty) I give it a spray and also always remove it from the rifle.

I had a BR Tuote T8 Scout on my 243 Steyr Scout Rifle and that lasted for five years using that regime and when I sold it, it was still doing the job.

Comment by: Pete Moore Posted on: 03 Apr 2009 at 04:25 PM
I also oiled mine at every use although on re reading my text above i've slightly mislead you, although my can was showing signs of corrosion the actual reason for replacement was weld failure in the heat affected zone (a welding term) around the spot welds. There is nothing wrong with the T8 it's a good moderator I just experienced awful service , maybe it was an off day but without any kind of explanation or apology I've chosen to spend my hard earned else where.

I've just given my 300 rum a thorough work out with a predator 12 on and still can't believe how effective it is at dealing with over 100 grains worth of retumbo stuffed up it on fire!!

Comment by: Russ Taylor Posted on: 09 Apr 2009 at 04:37 PM
Yeah, we all can have off days, best put it down to expierence. I know how you feel though; as there are certain brands I will now not even consider because of the attitude of the vendors...

That's a lot of therms running through that can, I'd definately keep an eye out for errosion and gas cutting. What velocity figures do you get out of the RUM?

Safe shooting
PM

Comment by: Pete Moore Posted on: 09 Apr 2009 at 05:04 PM
208 amax @ 3250 fps (maybe a little more to go but just starting to show signs of pressure so i'm happy at that)

168amax @ 3550 fps, more to go but whats the point with 3250 out of 208 grain ?

if i get any signs of gas cutting or erosion i'll just replace the centre of the predator 12 (another advantage of wildcat) I have took the attitude that the barrel is a consumable item on this rifle and since I had to get rid of my .338 lapua because they were effectively banned on most ranges I'll make do with a 300rum.

just had a day at steel safari in wales , thoroughly enjoyed it but after 180 rounds of .308 and 60 rounds with my 300 rum my upper body was starting to object....... bit windy though 13moa at 500 metres !

Comment by: Russ Taylor Posted on: 14 Apr 2009 at 04:16 PM
Pretty impressive figures, though I can't say I have ever tested a 300 RUM. That Steel Safari sounds like a lot of fun, but I know what you mean after a day of hi-power shooting...

Comment by: Pete Moore Posted on: 15 Apr 2009 at 11:46 AM
Mr. Taylor,

I can second the comments of Mr. Moore,

If your comments refer to the official BR Reflex ( and Ase Utra ) UK distributor, then they sound quite odd to me.

Our experiences with dealing with that company have been extremely good and your description of their customer service and protocol does not sound familiar to my experience of working with them for a number of years.

Best Regards!

Tuukka Jokinen
Sales & Marketing manager
Ase Utra sound suppressors

Comment by: Tuukka Jokinen Posted on: 15 Apr 2009 at 12:21 PM
tell you what everybody, I am not in the habit of making things up and if i did it would be much more exciting than just bad customer service !

the reflex WAS welded out of true , fact

the supplier DID tell me to file it out with a chainsaw file.

all i wanted was a replacement , not unreasonable ?

Tuukka , your moderators are very good bits of kit but due to my personal experience with jackson rifles I will not buy them any more or anything else from jackson rifles for that matter. However if there was another distributor or i could buy direct from your selfs then i wouldn't hesitate to buy them again.I know i'm only a small voice but in the absense of an apology I will spend my money else where.

all i'm saying is I was treated badly I cannot speak for anyone else,so shall we leave it at that?

I'll manage without some very good kit ( my decision) you can manage without my small purchases,fair enough?

Russ

Comment by: Russ Taylor Posted on: 16 Apr 2009 at 04:46 PM
Mr Taylor had a one-year-old T8 replaced by us under warranty (due to a weld defect) in November 2007 but he chose not to follow the recommendation in the user’s manual to have the new suppressor fitted or checked by a competent gunsmith.

Our usual approach to accuracy problems as described by Mr Taylor is to take in the weapon and suppressor, to check the true cause and if necessary, replace the product if found faulty. We offered to have Mr Taylor's rifle and suppressor collected and returned by our courier so that we could check and if necessary rectify or replace the suppressor all at our cost, but this offer was refused.

We always do whatever we can to help end-users but there is a limit to what we can do if they will not allowed us to check, identify and rectify the problem for them free of charge.

Nevertheless, we set ourselves a target of 100% customer satisfaction across our entire product range, and I am sorry that we fell short of that target in this instance.

Peter Jackson
Jackson Rifles

Comment by: Peter Jackson Posted on: 17 Apr 2009 at 01:45 PM
actually my t8 was older than one year and i was delighted when jackson rifles offered to replace it with a reduced price replacement even though they knew it was out of warranty because i told them.

I did consult riflecraft as they did the original threading and fitting and their threading is always done to the bore therefore if the moderator was true there would be no problems.

i could see where the bullets had fouled the baffles slightly and as nothing on the rifle had changed only a new moderator and without the new moderator on it still grouped 1/2" why would i want to send my whole rifle to scotland ? all i wanted was a new moderator because i accept that sometimes you can get manufacturing defects ,thats life.

my rifle is a precision custom rifle (tmr3) by riflecraft which cost me a lot of money therefore i was not delighted to be told to just file out the side of the moderator with a chainsaw file until the bullets cleared the baffles.

I was prepared to send back the moderator whereupon it would have been obvious to even a layman what was wrong , eventually when i could get a word in i had to demand my money back , something which is very unusual for me.

I never heard but would assume that there was a fault with the moderator as my money was returned after a short period unfortunatly without any explanation.was there a fault with the moderator?

finally i would like to say there is nothing wrong with t8 moderators in fact they are very good and i'm sure everybody else gets on famously with jackson rifles all i'm saying is my personal experience was unpleasant.

none of this is meant to be offensive and i'm sorry if it comes accross that way .

Russ Taylor
ordinary guy.

Comment by: Russ Taylor Posted on: 17 Apr 2009 at 03:17 PM
just had a read of sum of the reviews of the t8.could anyone tell me the best silencer for my tikka t3 22/250.it has a 21 inch barrell.....

Comment by: longford ireland Posted on: 28 Aug 2010 at 09:55 PM
Not an easy question. As price, weight, material, size/weight and muzzle-mounted or reflex and above all effectivness are all worth considering...

Given the calibre and rifle I use I like the following:

Ase Utra Compact and North Star

BR Tuote T8

PES

A-TEC

J-Tec Ranger

Wildcat

SAK

And all for very different reasons; I feel an article coming on...

PM

Comment by: Pete Moore Posted on: 31 Aug 2010 at 11:19 AM

Keep it polite and on topic. Your email address will not be published. Please do not advertise products, all posts of this nature will be removed. We do not stock or supply any of these products, we independently review these products.