Stalker leopard valuation or modify?

[rovercoupe]

Im at a crossroads with this rifle, I have a stalker leopard .25 thats been taken down to sub 12 flbs and now shooting consistent with a right sized transfer port and it shoots well really well.
Its not in showroom condition and has had a hard life with a fair bit of corrosion on the metalwork and the stock has cracked and been repaired. So i have the option of build a new stock for it in left hand to suit me and keep it, clean up the metalwork and sell it and buy a deadicated lh rifle.

So the question is what do you guys think its worth if its cleaned up. And should it be kept with the original stock or am i commiting a crime by changing a stock on a custom built gun that is probably the only sub 12 leopard in the world!

[averageplinker]

Do you need/want/use a sub FAC .25" ?
If so keep it, build yourself a lh stock and keep hold of the original stock in case you ever sell the rifle.
If you really, really like it get reblued. If you just like using it does the mottled bluing affect your enjoyment? Probably not
All imho of course.

[p.sharp]

Weren’t these based on the falcon fn’s? You’d probably pick up a lefty falcon stock for peanuts, unless you’re dead set on making your own, that is 🙂

[rovercoupe]

Yeah there falcon based but none or very few of the internals fit so bit unsure of wether the stock will fit or not, if I see one then it could be a good call to do that for the right money.

[666]

I thought they were huntsman and lr90 based along with the bsa s10 for the tiger ten le?

Pete

[averageplinker]

Iirc my lefty fn19 is secured by 2 bands on the cylinder that have a thread at the bottom for the stock screws to locate in.
It's funny, looking at your stalker it looks part falcon part daystate. A picture of the trigger should confirm which it is.

[averageplinker]

A closer look at the pictures and the web confirms the action is falcon. Stalkers daystate'ish cocking knob confused me 😀

[rovercoupe]

The stalker is secured to the stock by one bolt just forward of the trigger so sounds like it might fit but not have the screws in the right place.

[p.sharp]

You’d need to see how / where the stalker is bolted, if it’s flush with the cylinder somehow, it’d be fine in an fn stock I’d have thought.. Falcon cylinder bands can be bought for less than £10.

Edit* having said that, it looks like the stalker has a thicker barrel than the usual 10mm falcons lw, so the bands might need to be relieved on the tops..and the cylinder could be bigger, hard to gauge from a pic ��

[Rapidnick]

To answer the OP's original question in its current state I think you would be lucky to get £250 for it. It is quirky without a doubt but its current condition doesn't make it 'collectable' and any improvement would cost money. As for swapping stocks I really don't think it matters.
My only experience with Stalker rifles is my ownership of a Stalker Jaguar .22 FAC (based on the early Daystate Huntsman)with a lovely left handed stock. From memory I sold it for £400 losing a small amount of money in the process because I didn't use it very much and always reached for my Rapid.It was however an excellent and very accurate rifle.
As a side issue the OP states that the rifle has been taken off FAC and is now 'legal limit'. I'd like to know exactly what happened here because there are some who assert that 'once FAC always FAC' so a potential buyer should check the actual status of this rifle via the Police computer. My valuation takes this uncertainty into account.

[greenwayjames]

The Stalker Leopards were one off handmade actions by Bowket fitted into Stalkers own stocks. Bowket designed the Titan pcps whose design was stolen by Falcon hence the similarity in looks. If it was made as an FAC rifle it stays FAC and wont be a lot of cop working at 12 ft/lbs. Most of the .25" Leopards worked at 50 + ft/lbs depending on customer requirements. The .25 Leopard was very popular in Japan according to JB. The Jaguar Mk2 , big bore Puma etc actions were all hand made by Bowket. Have a look at the Facebook JB fanpage for more details and many photos.

[rovercoupe]

Well I think a decision has been made, just had my first squirrel with it and it dropped it like nothing else, a 19 grain pellet close range does the job!

I will measure the cylinder and barrel and see if it matches.

[rovercoupe]

It was bought as a project as a sub 12fpe rifle from a rfd just with the wrong transfer port making it in consistent shot to shot which I have sorted.

[greenwayjames]

Well I think a decision has been made, just had my first squirrel with it and it dropped it like nothing else, a 19 grain pellet close range does the job!

I will measure the cylinder and barrel and see if it matches.

Even at sub 12 ft/lbs those .25" pellets are bad medicine for squirrels. Long live the bigbore

[rovercoupe]

Right so a bit of a panic call to where the rifle came from and it was confirmed it is not on or has been fac sect1 which could mean a few things,

Its a factory built sub 12 stalker (unlikley)
Its been on sect 1 and then brought down at some point but all indicators point to this being impossible (very unlikley)
OR
its a mutt, its a titan/falcon with some bling on it and a fancy stock and possibly some stalker parts on it (most prob)
I have read a bit about stalker and they said that parts were not interchangeable but nobody ever seemed to confirm this and could have been a rumor just to put people off swapping bits!
also the trigger seems wrong for a stalker, or anything for that matter! but it works and after this mornings shooting with it it is def a single stage!

I took it as all that glitters is gold and it might not be.
Reasons, its in a bit of a state, you would have to be mad to store such a expensive custom rifle the way it has, the stock has broken, could this have been salvaged off a true stalker and then given away/sold off cheap to put on a standard gun?? It also only has one sling mount in the forend nothing in the rear to attach to.

I think only one man will know the answer to this so I will have to take it for a trip one day but until that happens I think I must call it a Mutt/hybrid/ticoner thing!