Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing wildcat composites vs hightech specialties help me decide

Putting together parts for a lightweight deer rifle and I'm wanting some info from people who have experience with either of these makes. Thanks

Gansettx;
Good morning to you sir, I hope this finds you well on this Labour Day weekend.

With the understanding that I've personally only worked on two Wildcat Composite stocks, zero Hightech Specialties, three Bell & Carlson, at least one Brown Precision and a few McMillan target/tactical stocks thrown in the mix I'd offer the following.

I made the decision to try a Wildcat based upon the recommendation of a couple of posters here RickF and greydog - who happens to be a gunsmith I have a lot of respect for.

When I contacted Wildcat, I was able to communicate directly with the owner Stuart, who was top notch to deal with in both stock purchases.

The second stock I did was a Model 70 Featherweight for a chap in our church. He asked me to paint it primer grey and leave it so that he and his son who was going to be the eventual owner could paint it together later.


The first one was a money pit 98 Mauser project of my own when I set out to see how light one could actually make a 98. In retrospect while it was educational, I really, really should have started with a Husky barreled action - but anyway here's the result.


Bare 98 stock weight


Overall my impressions of the Wildcat are very favorable and I'd buy another one tomorrow if I had a project where one of Stuart's stocks would fit.

Because he's a small company, he does not offer the varieties of options some of the larger companies are able to. For instance if you want 98 stock and you don't want a Monte Carlo type then you're out of luck.

They are very stiff stocks for their weight - he installs some sort of carbon fiber I beam up the center and that combined with the integral pillars seems to work.

The sling swivel anchors are cast in place aluminum blocks one needs to drill and tap. It's a marvelous solution and both rifles I've done have withstood at least 5 years of hunting here in BC now without a hitch.

They do need to be epoxy bedded and I've ordered the unfinished ones from him and done my own bedding and painting, so if one was farming those out it might become cost prohibitive, I can't say.

Lastly here's a link to another thread on the subject that might be of interest to you.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth..._Lightweight_Stock_for_a_Mod#Post8998604

Hopefully that was useful information to you or someone out there this morning sir. Good luck on your project whichever way you decide and good luck on your hunts this fall too.

Dwayne

Dwayne -
That is exactly the type of input I was looking for. I'm planning on building on a model 7. I appreciate you taking the time to give me info on your experiences. I'm planning on doing the fitting and bedding myself and am leaning towards the wildcats. It's a small investment that I won't be upset over if I make an error in my finishing. Thanks again!

I too have used wildcat but have no experience with hightech. I have installed probably 15-20 over the years and have had no issues. As mentioned they are a bit of work and it can seem intimidating at first - but it's pretty hard to wreck anything past the point of being able to fix it. The model 7 pattern is my personal favourite of his offered stocks. If you buy it in the "ultralight fill" you should be able to fully finish it (including a decelerator 1") right at the 19.5oz mark +/-.
They are super stiff, super light - without getting cheesy. I have bought blanks from two other companies because they were lighter - neither were even close to to the quality of a wildcat and by the time I fixed a few issues, they were within an ounce of a wildcat that is properly made from the start.

I will repeat what Dwayne said about cost. If you finish it yourself - they are a bargain. Pay someone to finish it, and costs can climb very very fast.

I put a High Tech Specialties stock on my Rem. 700 build a few years ago. It was the SA Sheep Hunter stock. I did the bedding/finishing/painting on the stock. IIRC, the bare stock weighed around 16.1 ounces at the time I bought it. They are a bit heavier now though. The stock is light and quite stiff. There was little sanding and filling to prep the stock for paint. I did call HTS with a few questions and they were extremely helpful and friendly and answered all of my questions to my satisfaction. I'd buy another one today.

I've had various High Techs on some of my rifles for quite a while now, probably about half of which I've installed myself. They're easy to install if you know a little bit about that sort of thing, and very rugged and pretty light as well. With a 1" pad they'll end up around 24 ounces but can be 4-5 ounces lighter with a thinner pad and shortening the forend a little--which I usually do.

I am assuming wildcat makes a stock for the action you are using.
Sounds like there is no bad choice here.
I haven't handled a Wildcat but have had a few High Techs and like them, a lot.
Given that, I would have no hesitation using a wildcat if they made a stock that fit my project.