.219 Donaldson Wasp Long Range Heavy Gun…. Opinions

[Donzila]

I bought the following rifle at an auction many years ago. I was the last man standing with my hand up …….and people laughed at me for buying it !
I have always called it “The Door Stop Rifle” !

I have NEVER had a minutes regret owning this !.....I always though there was more to this rifle……

The stats are:
.219 Donaldson Wasp
Apex Match Grade Barrel
Barrel Length ?
Canjar Trigger
FN Action
20 lbs

I thought this was a “Rail Gun” from the channel on the bottom but now I seem to think it’s considered a “Long Range Heavy Gun”.

Never pulled the trigger on it but I was thinking of maybe getting it up and running. Thought about putting a vintage Unertl scope on it ( I have a Unertl 24x on another rifle…..and it’s great ).

Ok……here’s my questions;

Value as it sits ?
Desirability / collectability ?
Is it worth putting in the time and money ?
Is it worth more “AS IS” or refurbished ?
Any other suggestions on a good scope ?
What is the effective accurate range of this cartridge ?
How accurate should this rig be ?
I have accurate rifles in .223 & .222 ……
How does the .219 compare ?
For longer range do I really need a 22-250 ?
Can I order premium ammo for this rifle ? ( I don’t reload )
How about a good gunsmith in the southern Calif Area ?

Although this is a dangerous request……….I would like to get the groups thoughts on this rifle.

Thx

 

[Carolina Man]

I like fooling around with the old calibers and many years ago had several long conversations with Harvey Donaldson about the Wasp. There is no factory brass and you will probably have problems finding 219 Zipper brass to make the Wasp cases. I have used 25-35 brass but this also hard to find. It will compare in velocity with the 222 Rem. Use 4198, BLC(2) and RL-7 if I remember correctly. A very nice varmint rifle for the time it was in use and very early benchrest matches. Would be right at home with the Unertl scope. Good luck with it.

George

 

[KMart]

E Arthur Brown has brass and dies for the 219 Donaldson Wasp

http://www.eabco.com/brass01.html

 

[coonhunter70]

This months (June) issue of Precision Shooting has a good article on this cartridge.

 

[nv22br]

The Wasp is capable of decent accuracy and 3,500 fps with 55 grain bullets. Wasp cases can be formed from 30-30 cases. That's according to one reloading manual.

 

[Donzila]

Thanks for the info.

Any comments on what I got ?

Thx

 

[bheadboy]

i think it is an early rail gun, i some some like it in Johnstown at my first BR shoots in the mid 60's.

The wasp is a fine accurate round and would be a good pd shooter as it is just about the same speed as the std 223 in a bolt rifle

Bob

 

[Donzila]

Ok........so how about this.......what would it take and cost to convert this rig to a 22-250 ? or ?

I want a PD rifle that will reach out and touch something at 500 + yards.

Thx

 

[bheadboy]

bolt face is 30-30 , too large for 308 would need shimming,

bbl twish is most likelly 14, and could be 16 as some early rifles shot only 52gr hp.

check twist and be sure the smith can fix the bolt face and extractor.

An easier trip is to go 219 mashburn Zipper, same case head near 22-250 case capacity and velocity, very accurate -no bolt work to be done. use 225 winchester loading data as a starter

bob