Some custom shops play to aesthetic appeal, some follow the rule of “form follows function”, and some strive to accomplish both. Which is why, beyond a fundamental performance wring out of a firearm for accuracy and reliability, firearm modifications should be closely scrutinized as they always tell a lot about the experience and expertise of the modifier.
| Manufacturer | Wild West Guns |
| Model | SummitLite |
| Action | Carbon Steel Parkerized |
| Barrel | Fluted Stainless |
| Chamber | .308 Winchester |
| Magazine Capacity | 4+1 |
| Barrel Length – Twist | 20″ – 1:12″ |
| Stock | Kevlar synthetic |
| Stock Pull | 13.5″ |
| Base Price | $3,465 |
Both the factory piece and Wild West Modified barreled actions, less bolts, weigh essentially the same at 3 pounds 2 ounces; no weight reduction, however, there is a significant reliability and performance gain. If you follow the double headed arrow above you’ll see how far the ejection port has been cut back toward the aft ring on the Wild West gun. The long span between scope mounts and port has been reduced and a pretty nifty radius has been cut to increase case clearance on ejection and improve reliability of function. The result is the factory short action port length has been increased on the Wild West gun from 2.400″ to 2.910″, which closes the gap toward the 3.25″ .30-06 Springfield length action. So metal gone usually means lower weight…where did it go?
To keep weight in check, Remington’s Mountain rifle utilizes a very slender barrel that terminates with a 0.540″ muzzle. Wild West took the weight they trimmed from their action and invested it into a much larger diameter fluted barrel that is over 0.750″ for most of its length and 0.656″ at its target crowned muzzle.
The SummitLite has less barrel whip, which should mean smaller group sizes and the increased surface area resulting from fluting promotes barrel cooling. The bead blasted stainless on the Wild West gun yields a welcome non-reflective surface.
The finesse work that isn’t so obvious
Besides all of the spiffy machining for weight reduction, all actions are squared, trued and lapped for optimal accuracy and reliability. The pictured rifle cycled as though the bolt was moving over ball bearings; very slick with little bolt wiggle. The Timney trigger released the sear at 3 pounds 4 ounces with no creep. Safety operation was crisp and positive two position. The barrel is premium match grade, cryogenically treated for stress relief and long wearing bore finish.
The Kevlar stock inletting is a very tight end to end fit, measureable effort was required to get the stock to let go of the action on disassembly….about 2.5metric fig Newtons per angular inch of rotation. It was nice to work with a synthetic stock firearm that did not have huge gaps at the barrel channel and did not allow the action and barrel to shift in the stock when fired. The Kevlar stock finish is uniform, very dark…almost black graphite color and it cleaned up easily after a day of getting dragged around in the woods. For the sake of comparison, the Remington factory laminated stock weighs 2 pounds 8 ounces compared to the Kevlar stock at 1 pound 7 ounces.
$3,465! What happened to “Firearms, handloading and projects for the average guy”?
If your annual income exceeds $40,000, you’ll be glad to know that fearless leader Obama has declared you to be rich, at least from a taxation perspective, so $3.465 should be a snap in terms of discretionary spending. Besides, if you live in the real world with the rest of us, you’ll find that $3,465 is standard fare from even factory custom shops these days and from companies that offer premium grade production line firearms. I look at it this way, it’s really OK to work your ass off, day dream a little and to save for something special.
A customer can spend the money on slick hardware and fancy walnut, or on a more pragmatic firearm, optimized for hunting, or scan down an option list and put together something that places an emphasis on a personal priority list of features. Both the SummitLite and Wild West’s similarly innovative Co-Pilot are solid hunting pieces, but they also serve as a resume of Wild West Gun’s custom parts and their shop’s extensive capabilities.
This particular rifle is chambered for the .308 Winchester, a cartridge I’ve found to be the next best thing to a sedative when I want to take a nap. That said, and before I am tortured with having to read complaining readers’ email, it is about as close as anyone has come to a universal North American cartridge and it is the cartridge of choice for some of the most accurate long range TAC guns. For those with another cartridge preference, the SummitLite is available in any just about any chamber with the bigger rounds getting a proprietary Wild West Guns’ Alaska Magnum Muzzle Brake.
Next
My intention is to find a couple hundred yards of Maine that isn’t covered in snow drifts, and to do some shooting with a variety of factory and moderate handloads and see how much of an impression the rifle would leave on game.
A Custom Rifle Built With Porpoise…Err Purpose – Part I
A Custom Rifle Built With Porpoise…Err Purpose – Part II
Hornady’s Superformance…Califragilisticexpialidocious
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