Ed Johnson

Bipods are hard to come by. Joe Scott made up a small quantity years ago. He did it by reverse-engineering an actual production bipod and they came out very nice.

BRAVO !!!! Thank you, Frank.... ej

In the Johnson Book, page 246, 247, 248 indicates USMC and FSSF transfers, if that helps. But no production logs. Ed J

I bought some of the syrup. It goes well on Vanilla Ice Cream. And unfortunately......it tastes damn good !!

I'll be curious how much it goes for.

Wow. That is out of sight. But take a look at this....$4.75 a cartridge ! A Call To Arms, Llc https://shop.ammo-one1.com › product 5.7x33mm Johnson Spitfire, 40gr JSP, 1 Cartridge, not a box. $4.75. Price adjusted for Options selected. Availability: In-Stock.

I checked the records in the Johnson Book on pp 246 & 247 (USMC) and p 248 (1stSSF) . 1032 is not listed. I also note in the description...." . This model was used in the Pacific theater by the Marine Corps ."...which does NOT mean that this particular weapon was used by USMC in the Pacific.....it just means this MODEL was used. Not sure about the "American" stamp. Since we know that # 0068 was designated a USMC item, it would be (hopefully) an original from the factory, also (hopefully) not marked up by any other vendor or distributor. Maybe check and see if 0068 has such a stamp. If not, then Rarecat might be on the right track. I think the pricing I saw was realistic, but not if someone is buying something that they think has direct USMC or even 1stSSF provenance for sure. Obviously, we can't verify because 1032 is not in our book and....to date....I don't think we have other reference sources. I wish we did. ej

Following up on a previous topic, I call everyone's attention to page 22 and page 34 of the March 2023 edition of the American Riflemen. Page 22 contains the brief article I submitted in "Readers Write" which describes the differences between the MMJ 5.7 mm Spitfire (or 5.7 mm Johnson) versus the newer model 5.7 x 28mm mm FN round basically designed for 5.7x28 mm semi-auto pistols. It was primarily to warn folks that they are not the same. Now that both Ruger as well as Smith & Wesson are producing 5.7x28 pistols,and Ruger a 5.7x28 carbine, we will see the new ammo more frequently. They had a nice photo which I received from one of you (Eric B. maybe?) showing the 2 rounds along with a .30 cal M1 Carbine round. And on page 34 "Questions and Answers" concerning the M1 Carbine itself, Bruce Canfield provides an excellent summary of how that weapon was utilized effectively for the purpose that was intended. It was NEVER meant to compete with the performance of the M1 Garand in calber 30:06. It WAS meant to out-perform the .45 1911 pistol, which it basically did. Ed J

I guess we need some good laughs now and then. Thank you both for the cartoons.....I will pass them along to some of my "sick" friends. BTW Art....how can I order some? I got screwed up last year. ej

Bruce Canfield makes references and some details concerning the bayonets on pages 252 & 253 of our Johnson book. ej

$1,800 plus for one of Dad's hated bayonets? I feel him roaring with laughter !! .....even if it is a REAL one.

Their site suggests they are VERY busy and hard to contact. But I'm glad to hear the MMJ 5.7 mm dies are still being made. Thanks.

They probably ARE hard to come by. Not sure of their condition. If fairly new, they would be worth grabbing for MMj 5.7 mm handloaders. I'm not sure if RCBS is still making them. I don't think Clymer is making any MMJ 5.7 mm chamber dies. ej

EB....my apologies for a slow reply. A friend just died recently, which distracted me this past week. I do not have any direct experience with H110. As I think you know, we ended up using 11.5 grains of 4227 and got average 2800 FPS with no excess pressure showing. I'm not sure how much room you have left in the case if you go up to as much as 13 grains of H110 in order to increase velocity. And I can hear dad in my ear telling me to watch out for excessive chamber pressure. If the primer is distorted (or the gun blows up) then you have gone too far. ej

You are left with 4 screw holes that are drilled and tapped. The rear would be the best to use to see if a standard commercial sight would be mounted fit into the hole securely and provide you with decent sight adjustable ranges.. I'm not sure if any Johnson sight would work. Lets' see what other readers might suggest.

Once again....I am grateful I don't live in Buffalo, NY. Why more people don't have generators....is beyond me. Happy New Year to you all...... Ed J

I am advised that there may be some Johnson related products, including possibly a Dardick pistol and also Dardick rifle components, at the Amoskeag Auction in New Hampshire 11/20 & 11/21/2021. There may be also some Dardick ammo, etc. We will know more later on. ej

Not to digress from any progress you folks can make with this process.....but once again, we have been looking for someone who can learn repair/manufacturing on Johnson products from Joe Scott. I thought we had one possibility but that didn't work out. I am happy to follow up on any leads that I can refer to Joe when he is feeling better. ej

Yes, somewhat misleading or confusing. Joe actually made about a dozen actual Johnson design bipods, like the ones that came later, and you really can't tell the difference. Walt has one. Joe built them after borrowing an original from someone I knew who had a '41 JLMG....sort of a "reverse Engineering" concept..

This subject of different versions of 5.7mm ammunition is not a new subject, but recent marketing publicity suggests that I make a point of clarifying some things once again. Several years ago, FN in Europe came out with a fairly expensive semi-auto pistol that was chambered in a new caliber, 5.7 mm by 28 mm. The round was reportedly developed circa the 1980's into the early 1990's and the military purpose was to develop a semi-auto hi-velocity handgun that fired high-velocity bullets that could penetrate conventional soft body armor. As we know, my dad and John "Jack" Fitzgerald developed the M1-Carbine based system around our new cartridge, the MMJ 5.7 mm (.2235-..224) Spitfire, using M1 Carbine Brass necked down to a 5.7 mm 40 grain bullet with a total cartridge length of 1.65" (the same as .30 M1 Carbine). This produced the MV of 2800 - to 3000 fps from an 18" barrel, with an estimated energy of 720 Foot pounds capable of penetrating 1/4" steel plate. All of this took place during the early 1960's, well prior to the FN activity which came later. Several years ago, I fired a friend's FN pistol and liked the low recoil. I did note that the FN round was noticeably shorter than our 5.7 Spitfire round. In my notes to new members of our 5.7 Spitfire Club, I have been making a point of advising that the two rounds are NOT the same. Now, this month, both the AMERICAN RIFLEMAN and FIREARMS NEWS (formally Shotgun News) have feature articles on the new Ruger compact 5.7 mm x 28mm Carbine with 16" barrel, also featuring the FN various sources and models of the 5.7mm x 28mm ammunition. Bullet weights range from 40 grains down to 27 grains. The MV performance with commercial 40 grain is listed circa 2100 fps and with 27 grain 2900 fps. I would suggest reading both articles if you have a chance. Ruger is also continuing to make their 5.7mm x28mm pistol. Note that both the Ruger 5.7mm x 28mm pistol and carbine use a modified blow-back system for this cartridge. A blow-back system would not work effectively for our 5.7 mm Johnson, which has a pressure range of 36,000 to 40,000 p.s.i......hence the need for gas assisted unlocking. Also....please keep your eyes open for other shooters who might confuse the 2 calibers and try to use the wrong ones. Contact me if you have any questions. ej

Thanksgiving was a generous assortment of far too much food followed by a long nap. I'll settle for that any time. Happy Thanksgiving weekend.

I just recently got a couple of "newly manufactured" slide pieces, as well as a small pack of ball bearings and a couple of elastic bands. At some point, I'll go to the vault and see if I've got one of the target guns.

With that equipment, you had to center the grip at one barrel end very carefully. The barrel was then spun at high speed and was slowly brought down on the lubricated carbide drill bit and slowly brought straight down to other end of the barrel. In this fashion, the drill was self centering. The lubricating oil was pressured out the end of the drill tip for cooling and getting rid of the shaved metal pieces.that slid down a groove in the side of the drill. The reaming machine operated in similar fashion to bring the .38 and .22 caliber barrels to proper size.. By this time, I was 18 years old and able to figure out that Sigmund Freud would have probably enjoyed watching the process. You can probably imagine the wisecracks that circulated in the machine shop. To my knowledge.....the bores in the barrels were straight...... ej

Thanks for the info. I'll try a package. ej

From what I've seen, the pricing of $1k to $1.8k is in line. However, they were not sold that way. They were sold as model 1500 pistols with either or both .38 special and .22 long rifle pistol barrels, and the long rifle barrel assembly was an add-on extra. Most of this inventory was sold by Numrich and the guns never worked properly. The only pistols that worked at all were tuned up by a local gunsmith in Guilford, CT who has long since passed on. I believe he had been employed at Dardick at one point after I worked there as a barrel drilling and reaming operator during the summers of 1958 and '59.