All those benchrest Mauser-action rifles from the 40's and 50's, in 219 Wasp, 22-250, etc. Where are they now? Varmint fields? Parted out?

I've never seen one in a shop or gun show.

Bruce

You can see 2 of 'em at my house, one is a 219 Don Wasp and the other a 250 Savage. I've spent some time with the Wasp, it will consistently shoot in the 2's and occasionally in the 1's. Lots of fun. Need to shoot the 250 Savage to see what it will do. I see a couple on the Wards auctions coming up.
Phil

I bought a heavily modified 98 in 224 Durham Jet from an estate sale. 224 DJ is a 243 case necked down to .224 and improved.
The barrel was a straight cylinder 27-28 inches long.
Wide fore end and raised cheekpiece on the custom stock along with it being modified to single shot.
The trigger was an unmarked custom make and set pretty light.

It was interesting and I had fun with it for a while but the barrel was a 1-14 twist which limited bullet selection.
The lock time was typical Mauser, heavy enough to fire an 8mm Mauser cartridge and long enough to be positive, which didn't help me squeeze the best out of it...

It was an example of taking what you have in hand and going about as far in a different direction as you possibly could.

It was given to my brother who subsequently gave it to a gunsmithing school graduate to practice on, so it lives on with a re-contoured lighter barrel in 22-250,

Mine were both owned by Jack Pohl previously. Jack owned Bishop Gunstock Co. in Warsaw, MO so the stocks on both are nice although very big. 3 1/2" forearms. Barrel on the Wasp, if I remember correctly is a Gregoire, straight cylinder 30" long. The 250 Savage is just as heavy but maybe only 26" long and made by Ashurst. I googled up the barrels and it appears they were among the barrels to have back in the 50's.
The Wasp has double set triggers and the action is engraved. Both have 1951 FN commercial actions. Fun to play with both.
Phil

Several year back I walked into a gunshop and they had two bull barrel custom rifles on display. One was an Arisaka with a thumbhole stock and was chambered in 257WBY, the other was an Enfield 1917 in 35 Whelen. They both weighed 10 pounds or more.

I've got a 219 Donaldson Wasp - short version.
TenX, which version is yours?

Mine is the 1.75" version whatever that is.
Phil

A friend had a 219 built by Gregoire; it was a good shooter. When I started shooting BR, in the mid-70's, there were still a few FN Mauser single shot actions being used and some of them shot very well. Sako actions were not uncommon as well. GD

The 1.750" is the short version - the same as mine.
The long version is .063" longer.
Do you form your own brass, or buy it?
Reason I ask is, I have some for the long version, but can't reliably set the shoulder back.
So, I'm not sure what to do at this point.

In the '90s, I came into a FN Supreme single shot Mauser with a big Douglas barrel in a roll over cheek piece Fajen walnut stock. It had been sitting for 25 years in the back of a closet in a little ramble down house where an elderly bachelor lived.

After a solid week of work to get the barrel clean, it shot 1/2" 5 shot groups. It was chambered in 244 Remington.

A good friend's father was a pretty well known 'smith in our area and it turned out he had built the gun for the gentleman. His Dad's name was in the barrel channel in pencil. I got the gun back to my friend. He has also passed now and his son has it....a gun that his Grandpa built.

Pretty cool circle of events, all in all. -Al

Sold. My buddy competed in the 70's but this was his Varmint rifle.

In 244.


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That is a nice looking rifle Rich, TY for sharing

I have a custom target Mauser built by PO Ackley himself (or his shop in Trinidad, CO).

The original owner had Ackley build it as a retirement gift to himself (retired from the steel mill in Pueblo, CO). The owner was a WWII vet and had Ackley use his own Nazi marked bring-back Mauser.

Unfortunately before the rifle was completed the new retiree passed away from a heart attack.

The rifle was paid for and put in a closet and passed between kids and grandkids and none of them were into the shooting sports, I bought it from the LGS where one of the grandsons had consigned it.

It has many nicks and scratches from poor storage.

It's chambered in 270 Win.

28" straight cylinder barrel, drilled and tapped for sights front and rear. Barrel is stamped "PO Ackley"

Dayton-Traister trigger

Glass bedded in a walnut Bishop stock.

I put a recoil pad on it this winter to increase the LOP.

Very cool piece of history!

I'll get some pictures posted one of these days.