Motor7

Mr Scott, your just answered a couple of other questions I had and thanks. Moderators I hope you don't mind but I privately referenced this thread to some prospective buyers that had some of the the same questions I did. Hopefully the site will gain some fellow Johnson owners in the near future.

OT, I appreciate all input and no offense taken here at all. It is a risky proposition buying a none oem barrel on-line without having it in you hands and knowing what to look for. Since I came into this cold, my eyes and ears are wide open and I am passing on this info to the prospective buyers. I have posted doubts on this chamber on my listing because I want the buyer to do his homework and make the best of an informed decision as possible. Since it's hard to measure things with a round in the pipe, I took a small paper clip, straightened it and bent 1/16th of the end at 90 degrees. I used that as kind of a feeler gauge to check the space between the collar and the case rim(about 1/32nd) and the chamber & rim(1/16th-1/8th). these are estimated based on what I feel and are for sure not proper measurements I assume there is a head-space gauge that does all this, but I don't have one. Keep the thoughts, experiences and opinions coming, this is really some new stuff I am learning. The barrel already has an opening bid which I think was fair, so if it does not go a penny higher I'm ok with that.

Ahh, yes I did not think about bolt rotation, this explains things...thanks. Another member also said that the case is also not supposed to be flush with the end of the chamber and that some of the case is supposed to stick out slightly. So the 30-06 headspaces on the neck or tapered part of the cartridge?

I agree it's the extractor cut, but man it's rather large(wide). The only thing I have to compare it to is a Garand, Colt M4 & a Mini-14...none of them look anything like this. And another thing, the "C" is beveled all the way around so I don't see the need for the cut-out...it might as well have been a "O" with a full bevel. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a 30.06 chamber or something els.

In other words, how can the round sit up on that lip of the "C" ? This leaves a unsupported raised section of brass that is almost 50% not contacting the collar or the chamber. I'm not a gunsmith, but was a armorer at one time and I don't like what I see.

I've posted this up for sale on Ebay. I have a question on the chamber & I had already dropped a 30.06 round in there & at first glance it looked like it fit. In responding to the question I took a flashlight and checked it again. In my experience the chamber looks odd, but then again many things about the Johnson were outside of the box in design. There is a "C" collar inside the breech wrapped around the chamber. I took some pictures, so maybe those here that have oem barrels can tell me if this even looks right: I appreciate all the info I have learned here and it is greatly appreciated. I have passed all of it on so hopefully a buyer can make an informed decision on this barrel.

Thanks Brian. Was this a production replacement by a military contractor, or some kind of aftermarket outfit?

As far as I can see, the only negatives about this barrel are some armorer marks on the bayonet collar: And some handling marks on the side of the front sight:

I cleaned the chamber with a brass bore brush & same with the barrel. everything looks to be in veyr good condition as i can see no pitting. Sorry for the crappy pictures but getting pic's of a bore is not easy: And from the chamber side:

I was looking in the wrong place. It's a 1941 oem barrel in 30-06: I knew it had to be when I saw the witness marks left by the bayonet:

Last one's: I stuck a 30-06 bullet in as far as it would go then measured it. Between the crown & the brass case is between 3/16th's & 1/4" of bullet showing:

More:

Hi guys, nice site here. I acquired this barrel at an estate auction of a friend of mine. He was a US military rifle collector and a couple of years ago sent his M1941 Johnson to an auction house along with a large part of his collection. I had a opportunity to purchase his rifle for $2500 but could not justify that cost since I was building my house at the time. Obviously that was a poor decision since the price has shot up since then. I did not know that he had a second barrel and was puzzled to see any barrel come up for bids at the auction(he was not a armorer at all). To be honest, I didn't even recognize the barrel until I got it home & made some inquires. Anyway, unless I can buy a receiver for this barrel I don't think I will have any use for it. So my question is what is a fair price to ask? Attached are the photos & other then the serial number of 6998E and a what looks like a "M" cast into the barrel collar(middle) there are no other stamps on this barrel. I googled around today and saw quite a few barrels that all had various stamps on them. Since this one is virtually "neked" I am wondering why it is this way? Rifling is good, overall condition is good. Here are the pic's: