Winchester Wildcat rifle

[Jim]

I've been looking for a light weight .22 bolt action rifle. I found one I really like. A Winchester Wildcat. 4.5 lbs, 21" barrel, good for the young'uns and light enough to carry all night on a 'coon hunt.

[NickSS]

I looked at them when I was looking for a light rifle but I decided upon a CZ Scout which is shorter and lighter than the Winchester and also cost me about the same when I bought it. I did have to put a slip on recoil pad on it to get an extra inch of pull so I could shoot it. It came with a single shot adapter but CZ 452 clips work in it just fine and boy is it accurate. I tried it out to 200 yards with Winchester 40 gr solids and it will print a 3 inch 10 shot group at that range and at 50 yards the same load make groups of 1/2" or less.

[Jim]

Yeah, one thing, in particular, that I like about this rifle is the receiver is open enough that you can load it single shot over an empty magazine. The mags are set up for LRs only, but if you're not in a hurry, you can shoot shorts in it.
The receiver is grooved for a scope mount, too.
I'm happy with it.

[OBXPilgrim]

Had a couple friends at work that bought the heavy barrel version, and they loved it. I was thinking they might work well for Silhouette matches.

BTW, the weaver #15 mount fits the drilled & tapped holes on top of the heavy barrel version, if you want weaver mounts instead of grooved mounts.

[canyon-ghost]

Imported from Russia, the only problem is polishing out the feed ramp. You get a really nice rifle just for taking it out of cosmoline. I love mine, it's my open sight rifle for silhouette.

I spent some time cleaning and polishing it up some but, the 3 magazines that come with it let you shoot a lot. It's a fun little rifle.
Ron

[clodhopper]

I thought they were pretty nice for the money, when my local store had some I was circleing the drain, putting money into a ruger.
For a guy who cast bullets, what an I doing with so many .22s already?

[LAH]

For a guy who cast bullets, what an I doing with so many .22s already?

'cause there's nothing like a 22RF.

[Jim]

I found a Simmons 3X9X40 in the cabinet and put it on. The nice leather sling is for carrying it in the woods when I go coon huntin. I'm gonna try to get the scope zeroed today and then check it with shorts.
It looks kinda' funny for a little rifle with a big scope, don't it?

[doubs43]

I found a Simmons 3X9X40 in the cabinet and put it on.

While your scope will work, it's parallax is set for 100 yards and unless you're careful to position your eye precisely centered on the crosshairs for each shot, your groups will not be the best possible.

When you can afford it, consider buying a rimfire or air rifle scope with an adjustable objective. Simmons makes a nice .22 Mag 3~9x32 with adj. obj. for about $60. They are well thought of by those who own them and that includes me.

The Winchester Wildcat .22 rifle is nice although I found mine to have a heavy trigger. I found a used TOZ-78, the version of the rifle imported without the Winchester name, and bought it cheap. Then I swapped the triggers. Now my Winchester Wildcat has a fully adjustable trigger which is very nice. The "target" versions with the heavy barrels that came later are supposed to have the adjustable triggers which would make them a nice rifle indeed. The Russians know how to build an accurate .22.