I'm new to this forum and am seekin' info on a "Bushmaster" manufactured by Gwinn firearms out of Bangor Maine. Thats what's stamped on the reciever.  My wife bought it for me for x-mas for coyote huntin'.
  I'll try and describe it the best I can.  The barell looks like an M16 with the flash supressor.  The front sight is way dift.  The stock is all wood with a black finish.  
 I guess it would be the bolt slide is on top kinda reminds me of a 50 cal machine gun.  The selector switch has four positions, 1) safe 2) fire 3)safe 4) fire, none of them are fully auto if your wonderin'.  The rear sight is like a ramp style with flip peep.
    I talked to one dealer that said the sear looked like the 16.  I was also told that it has the AK gas system.
   I was hopin' that I could get some info on when it was manufactured and how much it would be worth.
   sorry I don't know the lingo for this stuff but I do appreciate any info and your time

If you have the ability to post a picture that would sure help.  From your description you have one abnormal animal.

Edited to mention one thing, I dig you handle big time!  GnR is my favorite band and I'll have a 454 in my 71 Chevelle SS this summer.

If the fore end is an "open" design ala the Galil, I think that you have the original Bushmaster .223, which was an Australian design.  It was manufactured until the late 1980s iirc.  

It might have also been known as a "Leader" rifle.  Never seen one in person.  If you looked at a 1988 Gun Digest, I bet it would be listed.  

Sorry  this isn't much.

http://www.biggerhammer.net/patents/us04358986__.pdf

BiggerHammer has the above patent for the Australian Leader, but you need Adobe Acrobat (free) to view it.  

Oh yeah, I suspect that they aren't worth that much-- original price was around $450, 2/3 that of the AR, and the leader never did catch on.  But then again I now see the liberty pistols going for $1000+ so who knows.  

I have the 1988 Gun's Digest, and it is in fact in there.  The caption isn't very informative.  Now that it is mentioned I would seem that what you have is the original Bushmaster Assault Rifle.  They are banned in Connecticut, so I don't have much knowledge about them.

  What do you mean by the foreend and open?  I was kinda startin' to think it was a "mutt" that they threw together when they sold out.  I do believe it was made in the early 80s  The other thing I forgot to mention is it doesn't have a bayonet stud.  It does take a 30 round 16 clip.  

  I'll have to see if I can take a pict and scan it in with a friends scanner.

    Thanx for the info so far.

Looking at the patents, I was wrong about the foreend.  I guess the Aussie rifle always looked kind of like the Browning .22 auto rifle's-- like it was sort of an afterthought.  It sticks out a little.   This is compared to the AR and AK.  

But the patent indicates that the forearm does pretty much wrap around the gas tube and barrel, so it's not like the Galil.  

My bad.  Be curious to see how it shoots though.  

  A fellow on Predator Master just showed me site that had a " Gwinn firearms" original Bushmaster with folding stock and spare solid stock the site said " very rare gun" the price was and ya ought to sit down for this $1275.00
I don't know if that is the same rifle or not but I think maybe it was a joke.
 A rifle that cost 450 new can't possibly sell for that now     can it
  That's why I'm on here to find out what exactly it is. I'm downloading adobe now so I can look at bighammer

With a bunch of human packrats such as ourselves, anything is possible, so I would treat your bushmaster like the $1250 it might be until you find out otherwise.  Wish someone else who knows something about these would pipe up  

 Those drawings for the patent look really really close.  From what I could tell, the bolt is it.  The only two differances are the carry handle ( don't have one) and on the back of the lower reciever, there looks to be a part that has a dovetail, I don't recognize that.  Its kida behind the trigger assembly like on the M16 where the buffer spring would be.
 I take it that those are rought drawings for patent purposes?
   Like I said earlier, I realy appreciate your time and info  I sure as heck don't know much about it

You used to see these things with some frequency at the gun shows until maybe the mid-1980s.  Bushmaster was trying to make a rifle, but I don't think the AR15 patents had expired yet, so they did their own.  It might have been related functionally to the "Bushmaster Arm Gun" which also was pretty common about 15-20 years ago, but I am not sure of that.

Cheap, not known for quality, not the same rifle as the Australian Leader, but there are some similarities.  Once in a great while a "Bushmaster assault rifle" will pop up on the Bowers board, generally at a considerably lower price than an AR.

Hope that helps.  I am sure *someone* on this board knows all about these rifles.

Bushmaster made three (3) versions of the rifle you speak of:

1)  Folding stock version with black "Galil" type side-folding stock and with black wooden hand guards.
2)  Fixed stock in black with all furniture  (Rock Maple ?) being black.
3)  Same rifle as above but with natural wood stock and forearm.

The bayonet lug was a separate item that clamped to the barrel and could easily have been separated over the years.

Yes, your rifle has an "AK" type gas system.

Should probably have the 'birdcage' flash suppressor.

Serial Number R001294 was made December 14,  1979 - you can compare your number and get an approximate manufacturing date.

$1250+ seems kinda high.  I've seen several for sale in the last year.  The most expensive one was about $1000, but most were asking $800.

  The solid stock, black describes it.

 The serial # is a little lower than the on mentioned same R 0012 but a couple of numbers lower. So I'm guessin' that it was exactly that time period.
 So I guess if a fella was gonna sell or trade, what would be a resonable price?  It's in ( on a scale of 1-10) 8 condition.  The formentioned removeable bayonet stud explains the marking on the barell in front of the front sight.

   I'm realy enjoying all the input on this.  I like to learn about this stuff.
  Thanx again

slt223 has it about right I'm thinking - somewhere around $800.

Ay.

I just thought of something simple.  Why not call up Urban-armory (716) 487 9065 and see what they would offer you for it?  They have listed a "rare" Bushmaster assault rifle for $1200.  I have no idea what that means, if it is an AR-15 clone or your flavor, but they'd at least give you a price.  Also, they are in Nueva York.  

They also have a website www.urban-armory.com

Gluck