I need your help with Austin’s guns

[Jean Swanson]

I never had the opportunity to discuss these guns with Austin before he became a victim of ALS. I would like info on the makers history and the value , for I know absolutely nothing about these guns . Once I have the necessary info ,I will properly post on the “ For Sale “ forum. I assume that Austin used these gun in his younger days of competitive rifle shooting. Thanks in advance for your help ,Allan

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050575.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050577.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050579.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050582.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050586.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050587.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050590.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050591.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050594.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050595.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050597.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050599.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050600.jpg

http://www.jhull.net/swanson/P1050601.jpg

[Dean Romig]

They are beyond my scope of knowledge Allan.

[Robert Delk]

Taylor & Robbins are or used to be a pretty big deal in bench rest and varmint shooting.Pennsylvania is a big bench rest and varmint hunting state so maybe they are still in business.

[paul stafford jr]

my blessings to austins family... this is an early custom bench rest rifle,1960s early 1970s the 219 donaldson wasp was a very popular wildcat caliber. in good wind these things would put all the bullits threw the same hole at 100 yards, very cool!

[paul stafford jr]

also looks like a mauser action

[Steve Huffman]

I have some Unertls that would top them off nice ! Is the first gun a Remington action ?

[George M. Purtill]

I have some Unertls that would top them off nice ! Is the first gun a Remington action ?

looks like a 700 Rem
second is a Mauser

[Steve Huffman]

Is pin on the left side the bolt stop or ?

[Bill Zachow]

First one appears to be a 721 or 722 Remington actioned bench rest gun built for the .219 donaldson wasp cartridge. The second, same caliber built on a mauser action. Austen new Harry Donaldson and I believe they shot benchrest together in the Mohawk valley of NY. If Austen maintained documentation of his association with Donaldson, or if one of the guns came to Austen from Harry, then they would have value to a historical bench rest shooter. If not, the value becomes somewhat limited as the new bench rest rifles are extremely high tech and probably shoot rings around these. Wish I could remember more. Ask Pam if she can find any target books that Austen may have kept.

[Bill Zachow]

Austin, not Austen. Damn, I hate to get old.

[Charlie]

Allan: I recall discussing the .219 Donaldson Wasp (a wildcat) cartridge with Austin. It was a modified .219 Zipper (factory) cartridge and must have had a following among target and varmint shooters. I think Austin knew Harvey Donalson personally. I recognize the last rifle action as an FN (Belgum) Mauser which came along after WWII. I would guess that these rifles were custom made by some gunsmith. Thanks for dealing with them. Years ago I might have been a buyer but not now. Charlie Price

[ed good]

put them out on gunbroker with a high reserve. the boys out there will tell you what they are worth in today's market...problem is, no one knows the quality of the bores and how these guns shoot, so buying them is a crap shoot...

[Bill Murphy]

Allan, there may be some information in the Hogan files that would indicate that Harvey Donaldson actually built these guns. Austin apparently owned Harvey's L.C. Smith shotgun, maybe bought the rifles at the same time.

[Dean Romig]

I will look through the things I received from Austin over the last several months. Most of it is Parker Pages related CDs and paper files but I noticed that some of it is not Parker related. Unfortunately I can't jump right into it as I have a couple of deadlines to meet in the next several days.

Dean

[Daryl Middlebrook]

Allan,
Austin and Harvey Donaldson were indeed friends. Austin once told me that, as a teenager, he spent a lot of time with Harvey. Austin also told me that he had one of Harvey's guns.------Daryl

[Bill Murphy]

That was probably the L.C. Smith that Austin had written about. I believe he also mentioned it in a Precision Shooting article in my collection. Don't know about those rifles, though.

[Glenn Jackson]

An excellent book is "Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles" by Charles S. Landis .
http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Two-Caliber-Varmint-Rifles-Charles/dp/1446502090

Try posting these photo's on Benchrest Central as Taylor & Robbins has come up before.
I am very sure that this would be much appreciated by all there.

http://benchrest.com/forumdisplay.php?8-General-Discussion

And here at the Doublegunshop forum:

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=7&page=1


Good luck .

I look forward with interest to read what you find.




Glenn:)