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Here's the details for you're rifle: Details for JSAR 5835: Delivered from Cranston Arms to Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Co. : 02/03/42 Stock Type: 2 Barrel # 8714E Hammer Block # 5557 Hammer # 7986 Bolt # 5717 Locking Cam # 5736 Firing Pin # 2268 Extractor # 5339 Magazine # 6182 Delivered from Jamco to Johnson Automatics Inc 02/06/42 Contract : Netherlands Purchasing Commission

Genuine or replacement barrel, genuine or replacement stock? Usually the only genuine parts on these are the metal work (apart from the barrels).

The barrels are BAR barrels. Universal Windings (aka Cranston Arms) were part of the New England Small arms corp. conglomerate put together to make BARs and other weapons parts. This seller had a real JSAR barrel and what looked like a carbine barrel the other week.

This rifle would have gone into store then have been issued out to the Dutch Army in NWI (Aruba etc) or issued to one of the free Dutch Army/ Colonial units around the world such as in Australia, or to the Dutch Navy. Most rifles that were not issued were transferred to the Dutch in 1945, stored, then disposed of in the early 1950's as surplus. The dutch were rearmed with surplus British and US weapons directly from those governments in the immediate post-war years.

In the 1938 catalogue there is a reference to 35 Whelan.

Go to the members tab, click on 'J' and then go to page 2 or 3. Alternatively just look through some postings.

I think you mean Winfield Arms not Cranston Arms.

The barrel centre bushing (and other LMG parts) on a 1941 LMG should be marked "L" for LMG. This is after the Ordnance Department reliability trials, where certain LMG only recommendations were made. I can supply a photo of said bushing if needed.

I don't know whether I would pay $500 for a rifle manual. I think the most I paid for one was a fifth of that but times change and prices move on up I suppose.

There are some rusty Johnson bits and pieces on Gunbroker at the moment. They are in Rhode Island so the story about them coming from a machinist's basement 'may' be true. Some mags and a rifle mag shell. Of note is a rifle barrel and what looks like a carbine barrel still in the white. May be the angle of the photo but it looks slightly shorter than a regular LMG barrel. Gunbroker Johnson parts

Johnson Automatics manufacturing Co. had two Thompson automatic electric arc-welding machines that were installed at the Cranston plant for production of JSAR and LMG receivers. The differences most likely are different set-ups on the two machines.

Bren mags are too thick due to the staggered floor plate.

A serial number of the rifle may assist research a little better.

Hard to say. Being an early production rifle it probably was one that was sent out to a Dutch colony rather than being held in bond after the jap invasion of the NEI. I think they had a Johnson LMG at the armoury at Lympstone if I remember correctly...........

Details for JSAR : 0280 Delivered from Cranston Arms to Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Co. : Not Listed Stock Type: Not Listed Barrel # 1394e Hammer Block # 0139 Hammer # 963 Bolt # 551 Locking Cam # 326 Firing Pin # 0310 Extractor # 903 Magazine # 0496 Delivered from Jamco to Johnson Automatics Inc 9/30/1941 Contract : Netherlands Purchasing Commision (NPC)

Well we have been here since 1997!

As we know stocks were first made in-house at Cranston arms upon Johnson owned machinery. However due to production difficulties and lost production the manufacture was sub-contracted to American paper Tube in nearby Woonsocket. There is no specific start point for this change that has been discovered at the moment. It has been shown from known delivery dates in the production log and in material I have gathered from various archives, production of rifles followed no chronological method. So a no-prefix rifle could be delivered on the same day as a A or B series and so on. Therefore as production progressed into 1941 and 1942 you could have rifles of all three series with both types of stocks until the supply of the non-laminated type dried up. Obviously the very early rifles would all be of the non-laminated type. Some researchers have published work intimating that all a series rifles were made at this time and all b at this, a fact that is simply untrue and can be proven to be so.

Dear Friends, It is with deep regret that I have learned of the death of a valued member of the site, John Kimball who posted under the name of Turbo 6. I had sent him an email asking if he wished to remain a member of the site as he had not posted or visited the site for some time. He was a regular visitor and contributor, so the absence was most unlike him. I received a short note back from his wife stating that sadly John had passed away suddenly in late 2007. The loss of a fine friend to the board. Jim Pullen Owner/ webmaster.

Some of the rubber butt pads actually do say 'Winfield arms' upon them. Most have perished over time and have been replaced by Pachmyer or similar modern variants. I have a couple of Winfield ones in my parts bin, of various quality.

We get a lot of requests from Johnson rifle owners wanting to have the serial number checked to see details of original configuration and delivery etc. Whilst this can be a little time consuming for the members of the admin of this site to do sometimes we do this free of charge every time. Now this can only be performed on JSAR's with NO prefixes i.e. 1234 and at this time we have no means to verify any JSAR with an A or B prefix serial number i.e. A1234 or B1234. A few of our website team members believe that the missing ledgers may have been accidentally destroyed by a storage basement flood during the 1960's, but this is not absolutely certain. We will endevour to expand our help to owners of rifles whose serial numbers fall in these series through further research Thanks for your understanding.

Te seller is our own Ken Haney. A long term member and friend of the site.

Reply to test.

Test only

A & B series serial numbers

Generally the Chilean contract rifles are very original. It is usually only the barrels to have been changed from 7mm to .30-'06.