Ed Johnson

Art, thank you. I did suspect it might have been a Winfield unit.

Not to detract from the above, but there is/was also a '41 JSAR (don't know serial number) at Gunslinger Auctions starting at 12 PM Pacific Time. gunslingerauctions@yahoo.com www.gunslingerauctions.com They advertised in the Gun and Sword Collector Magazine p.46 in the February edition. They also show a 1927 Ohio Ordinance water-cooled tripod mounted MG. ej

OK. You have one of two possibilities with that Carbine. a ) If it was one of our conversions of an existing .30 M1 Carbine, the serial number would be on the top of the receiver, which would still be parkerized. The blued barrel would be one of ours with the Williams Front sight. There might be some build-up material on the feedramp or actually have a new feedramp to adjust for the smaller .2235 bullet ogive. The rear sight would still be the M1 Carbine version....as you indicate. b ) If it was one of our new guns, refitted into a GI wood stock, everything would be blued and you would have a Williams front sight and a Williams rear ramp sight. The receiver might also have "Johnson Arms" stamped near the serial number on top. What type of ammo box is holding the cartridges? These factors would affect the price. Let me know, and photos would help. Ed J

Is that USMC Museum the newer one that was recently built? I know that one of our Website Team former members donated a Johnson '41 Rifle to that new museum....but not a JLMG.

So if we DO keep a copy of the video, we would need to include Joe's post above. Otherwise.....don't keep a copy.....to avoid being involved in causing an error by someone using this site.

I do know that there is a WWII 1941 Johnson LMG in the Special Forces Museum at Fort Bragg. I would assume there would be photos and possible battle use info there. I mention this because museums tend to make occasional changes in their inventory. The most disturbing aspect of this can occur if a museum actually closes down, usually for budget purposes. A classic example is the closure of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Museum. There goes a real monument to miliatary history. So, the moral of the story......strike while the iron is hot.

OK. Art, if the subject comes up and the info would be helpful you can guide folks accordingly. That works.

Do we need to record any of this, or somehow have it on file?

I believe there is one other person, and i have also pursued this a bit. We'll see what transpires.

Dad did not like the Garand gas take-off system at the time and was trying to avoid it completely so he went with recoil operation. He used gas system on a later LMG design.

The Johnson Rifle was designed for 30:06 and .270. There are existing variations to those calibers involving bullet weight and types of powder burning speed, as long as these variations do not impede the cycling operation of the recoil unlocking and extraction process. What would be the point of modifying it to other calibers?

I agree with Joe. I think the entire collection might be of interest to a neophyte who has no collection material. But, as also mentioned, for $50 you can buy the book that describes the whole story.....which is one of the reasons we did a book in the first place. ej

Might be a tad overpriced. And a vague answer does not help the cause.

Glad to finally know SOMEONE who is getting a vaccine. We seem to be in very short supply in SE CT.

Contact the Webmaster of this site for question on this.

Amen. And thank you, Art. Same to you.

Brian's explanation is reasonable. It is also quite possible that USMC had "borrowed" some JLMG's from Dad as a form of loan. If actually intact, it may have been used for "show" purposes, as his ties with the USMC were very strong. In any case, no matter how you slice it, #0068 is entered twice in the Canfield-Johnson book as being allocated/related directly to USMC provenance as well as being directly connected with property of MMJ, Jr via Cody Museum....currently purchased at a low price. You really can't beat that combination ! Merry Christmas ! ej

Saw the photo. Definitely not one of ours but looks like an IAI unit for sure and the description confirms that.

OK. Is the barrel blued or parkerized? What type of front gunsight is it? What type of rear gunsight?

For clarity, I am re-posting the saved message that Webmaster Jim Pullen posted in the Johnson Rifle section of this message board, as the Johnson LMG products are also subject to similar misrepresentations. Ed J Posted September 8, 2019 · Report post "Over the years, certain auction houses or dealers claimed they had "Johnson Estate" items, or "special prototypes" with special serial numbers, available for sale at elevated price levels. These claims should all be considered as outright false. The only Johnson Rifle or deactivated LMG products and prototypes, that were in the personal collection of Melvin Maynard Johnson Jr, at the time of his death in 1965, have been directly handled by members of his family. These items are already in the legal possession of a few private collectors or museums and have never been available for sale to the general public. One of the more notable items is the "Queen of the Netherlands" rifle # A2913, presented by Melvin Johnson to the Queen in 1942. Only ONE of these was ever made for her. If anyone happens to find another such rifle, simply treat it as a "replica" or "copy" of the real thing, priced accordingly, and not as an "exclusive original." In summary, as we always say, buy the gun itself, but not the "story." "

As to Brian's summary, that is a reasonable explanation. Winfield would be a key factor with the majority of Johnson Rifles. Not so sure about the LMGs. And there were a few "independents" such as "Doc" Ross (Old Bennica Arsenal) who got into the act and, in the process, have caused a good deal of confusion with some of the mis-information on the guns. Without going into direct detail, I refer everyone to the postings at the beginning of the rifle section by Webmaster Jim Pullen regarding such things as "Estate" collections. In short, buy the gun, not the story.

Again, might a silencer affect the recoil performance?

It should not be for a muzzle brake, as this might interfere with the rifle's recoil operating system. It might be for a flash hider?

No, there is no production log available for the '41 JLMGs. But at least your receiver is in the book with some USMC provenance.. Congratulations. ej

I was puzzled, as was Brian above, by the photos. Thank you for the clarification. Did I miss the full serial number of the LMG itself? You mention a # 68. If that is the actual serial number, it is listed on page 246 column 1, 4th block of 6/28/42 USMC transfers. If the piece is legit, then you got it at a low price ej.