Black Tom

There is, what appears to be, a very nice JSAR with bayonet & scabbard for sale on Sturmgewehr, listed on the "Collector" board. Price is $4,900 plus shipping I don't know how to post a link so you'll have to bring up the site: sturmgewehr.com Incidentally, I have delt with the seller, Trent Warncke, and you won't find a more honest, standup dealer. He's as good as they come. B.T.

I too would appreciate a few pictures. Thanks, B.T.

An internet acquaintance has raised a question about the bolt handle on a JSAR. It seems that the nut (the one with the two small holes) in the end of the bolt handle works loose during firing and he wants to know if there is any type if tool made to loosen/tighten this nut. I have never had ocassion to remove this piece, and don't even know the purpose of the nut, but it looks like it would require some type of very small "spanner" wrench. Is there such a tool? As far as keeping the nut from working loose; would "Loctite" be ok to keep the nut secured? Thanks, B.T.

Thanks Walt, the needle nose pliers worked like a charm. As a side note, the Remington model 8, a John Browning design (recoil operated, semi auto hunting rifle made from 1906 to 1936 in various calibers) has a bolt & bolt handle that is almost identical to the one on the JSAR. B.T.

Thanks guys. What everyone says makes perfect sense. I had always assumed that the longer of the two holes held a cleaning kit and that the shorter one held a small container of Luberplate. What I couldn't understand was why the rifle was engineered in such a way that someone would have to field strip it to get at the screwdriver on the end of the bolt handle. Removing even a little wood would lighten the load a little bit. It's been a long time since the USMC gave me an M-1 to stroll around with but I can remember someone saying that they would throw away the Joker, in a deck of cards, to make their load lighter. The BAR guys routinely discarded the bipod & flashhider, as that got rid of over a lb. of weight. I don't recall ever having a belt carried cleaning kit. From what I remember we had our bayonet, usually two canteens and a small web pouch that held a compress dressing and possibly some sulfa powder. Maybe there was some type of cleaning kit but I just don't remember having one. Thanks, B.T.

Recently I have been in contact with a new owner of a JSAR who was/is interested in acquiring a butt stock cleaning kit. I have period kits in my Garand and 1903. (An aluminum "cigar" tube in the 1903 and a plastic tube type in the M-1) Neither of these will fit in my JSAR, with both being about 1/2" too long for the butt stock well. My butt stock appears to be original--not a replacement. Does anyone what type of kit was used? Thanks, B.T.

Hi Guys: I just saw that there is a JSAR for sale on eBay (I did not get the auction #) I can't tell from the pictures if it's an original, but the seller describes it as "WW2, U.S. Army" The current bid is about $86, with one day left, and there is NO scabbard. I already have one, so I'm going to pass but someone else may be interested. Don

Barry: I don't think the idea of mounting a machinegun to a rifle stock originated on Iwo, as a recall something about a marine armorer who built up a couple using a well made shoulder stock. However the ones mentioned to me by the old paramarine were something the marines rigged up at the time under combat conditions. and he referred to them as "stingers". The guns came from dive bombers--Douglas Dauntless(?)--not tanks and if I recall correctly the gunner was seated behind the pilot and facing aft with two .30 cal's. One of the reasons for taking Iwo was the fact that it had two operational, (and one under construction) airfields and damaged carrier based bombers started using one of these fields shortly after it was secured. US Marines, being the resourceful folks that they are, stole the guns. A typical marine rifle squad had three BAR's and everyone in the squad had to know how to make that BAR run. The addition of a stinger or two in a rifle company added firepower. Courson mentioned that during his time on Iwo he seldom saw a live Jap soldier but when a Nambu would open up a stinger would respond. Ryche, my two summers working for the USFS was just a summer/early fall job that paid $1.76 per hr.-- pretty good pay back then. The parachuting was the fun part, but it was short lived as we were usually on the ground less than two minutes after leaving the plane, and then the work began. Walking out with a 90 lb. pack was the norm. I recall one instance where 8 of us were on a ridge covered in Manzanita brush, the fire had gotten all around us, and it was getting a little touchy. All of a sudden a Stearman biplane came flying upslope and the pilot dropped about 100 gal. of fire retardant on the fire and on us. It punched a hole in the fire and the 8 of us scrambled through it to a little safer location. I can still see that pilot; he was wearing a leather flight helmet, goggles and had a cigar in his mouth. I'd like to buy him a bottle of Jack Daniels. I recall another instance on a trail clearing jump which, on the 5th day, involved 5 naked smokejumpers skinny diping in a river (believe me--NONE of us were gay!), some college girls and three USFS "ground pounders" who were on a timber cruising job. But that's a story for another time. Don

Barry: You mentiond that you would like to speak to someone who actually used a JSAR and while I'm old I'm not quite that old, however I can tell you about my conversation with someone who did use one. Here's a little background: During the summers of 1957 & 1958 (at the time I was in the USMCR) I worked for the US Forest Sevice as a smokejumper based in the small town of Cave Junction, OR. In fact it was there that I picked up the nickname "Black Tom" from another jumper (Gid Newton) who was subsequently killed in Laos while working for Air America. Our boss was a WW2 vet who had served in the 82nd Airborne and most of the smokejumpers who worked in the late '40's to early '50's had been WW2 paratroopers. Following the '58 fire season I went back into the service, but this time into the USAF where I learned to fly, subsequently met the woman I was to marry and moved on with my life. The jump base at Cave Junction closed in the mid 1980's due to budgetary reasons but about 10 yrs ago they had a reunion of the Cave Junction guys at the now closed jump base and my wife and I attended. I was sitting at a picnic table, having a cold one, and turned to an elderly man sitting next to me and casually asked him of he had been in the 82nd or 101st Airborne. He responded that he had been a paramarine, served in the Pacific theater and mentionrd that he had been on Guadacanal and Iwo Jima. This immediately piqued my interest and we struck up a conversation. He explained that he was a retired Oregon Superior Court judge and that he had worked for the USFS for a couple of summers following WW2. At that time I did not own a JSAR--in fact I had never even seen one, but I had heard that they had been used by the paramarines. I just casually asked this gentleman if he was familiar with the JSAR. He sort of smiled and said "Yes, I killed my first Jap with a Johnson". He explained that he had gone ashore on Tulagi armed with a 1903 Springfield but in a firefight had picked up a Johnson ( I assume from a wounded or dead marine) and used it with good results. He said that he carried the Johnson until his unit was issued M-1's. I had the impression that his Johnson accounted for few more enemy soldiers. As a sidenote, he mentioned that on Iwo Jima some of the marines cannibalized the.30 ca. machineguns from the turrets of battle damaged USN dive bombers, stripped them down to the bare essentials and mounted them in modified M-1 stocks. They held the barrels & receivers to the stocks with large hose clamps and fed them with 50 rd. belts. He said they were crude and not too accurate but they worked and added more firepower to the marine squads. This man's name is Robert Courson. He was a true gentleman, sharp as a tack and I hope he is still with us. Hope you find this of some interest. Don

Jason: I don't have a Winfield but I'm responding because I've been on a lot of mule deer hunts and unless you are going on a canned hunt on private land you may want to rethink your idea of hunting with a JSAR. The fact that you are hunting mulies tells me you are probably hunting one of the western states and that probably means you will be in the mountains and, unless you are one of the SEAL's who just wacked those pirates, those mountains will get steeper every day. That JSAR weighs about 10 lbs., add a scope, mount & rings and you'll be lugging 11+ lbs and that's in the morning, by evening it will weigh 40 lbs. Now consider accuracy; while I like my JSAR it's NOT a tack driver. You're not paying big bucks to shoot the first forked horn you see--you're looking for that big 26"-30" old grey faced guy, and he didn't get to be big and old by being dumb. He spends a few months a year fooling hunters and every day outwitting cougars and cougars are real smart. The only time you'll find him standing out in the open being dumb is during the rut, (all us guys are dumb when we're rutting) and chances are you will not be hunting during the rut. You may have one shot at him at 300 yds with him down low and going flat out balls to the wall. Lastly you might check with the F&G people in the state where you are hunting and find out if they allow rifles with 10 rd. magazines. Some states have a limitation and you don't want a citation and watch your JSAR disappearing down the road in the back of a game cop's truck. I don't mean to rain on your parade but if it were me I would leave my Johnson at home and take my Weatherby. Have a great hunt. Don

Joe, are you at liberty to divulge what you had to give for the G-41? The reason I'm asking is that I also have a G-41 (W) that I'm going to be selling and I'm trying to get a feel for a reasonable price. Thanks, Don

I saw pic's of this rifle on Sturmgewehr and maybe my old eyes are really failing me but the bayonet lug appears to be different than the one on my JSAR. It looks like there is a "crease" in the lug just above the pins, the color of the lug appears to be different than that of the barrel and the pins appear to be lower on the lug. Did Johnson/Cranston use different types of lugs? The wood looks beautiful--too beautiful? Repro? B.T.

No, it doesn't look just like everyone else's. You got yourself a keeper. BT

Damnit Brian, after looking at the pictures I took my JSAR and smashed it to pieces and threw it in the trash! After breakfast I'm going to stab myself with the bayonet! Does your friend know anything about the history of the rifle? Which auction house, was it from an estate etc? Let us know. Thanks, B.T.

Art: Thanks for the info. I sent a mesg. to Canfield. B.T.

Can anyone provide Bruce Canfield's e-mail address and/or telephone number? I found the address & phone number for the former paramarine who I mentioned in my previous post. He is still alive and Canfield may want to interview him. Thanks, B.T.

I can confirm what tsmgguy said; the pic's are gone. Would love to see them. B.T.

During the summers of 1957 & '58 I worked as a smokejumper for the USFS in Cave Junction, Oregon. In June 2002 (if memory serves me) there was a reunion of C.J. jumpers at the old, and now closed, base in Cave Junction. I attended that reunion and while there I struck up a conversation with an older gentlemen who had been a paramarine and who had fought on Guadacanal and Iwo Jima. I asked him if he was familiar with the JSAR and his eyes lit up and, if I recall correctly, he said that he had carried one for a period of time on Guadacanal. He had worked as a smokejumper at C.J. for a summer or two following the war. At that time he was sharp as a tack and had some very definite opinions on the decision of President Truman to use the atomic bomb against Japan. His name is Richard Courson, he was a retired Oregon Superior court judge and lived in Pendleton, Oregon I have his address & phone number if I can find it. At the time , my wife and I owned a home in Baker City, OR and there was local businessman who had a pretty good collection of WW2 memorabilla including a coffee can full of sand from Iwo Jima which had been brought back by a Marine who had fought on Iwo. The Marine had passed away and his widow had given the sand to the businessman. I conned the guy out of a small quantity of the sand and sent 10 small vials of it to Courson who, in turn, gave them to some of his paramarine friends at a convention that was held later that year in San Diego. I haven't had any contact with Judge Courson in a number of years and I don't know if he is still with us. During one phone call to his home his wife mentioned that he was suffering from prostate cancer, so he may have passed away. Bruce, if you have any interest in contacting him I'm sure I can get his address and phone number through the Nat'l Smokejumper Assoc. Incidentally, the name I use on this site (Black Tom) was a nick name bestowed upon me by Gid Newton, another C.J. jumper who was subsequently killed in Cambodia while working for Air America. My real name is Don Thomas and my email address is: thomasdandp@hotmail.com B.T.

Buzz: You may be able to have the cracked stock repaired. Keep in mind that most of the German WW2 rifles (K98k's, G/K 43's, G-41's) had stocks made of laminated wood and they were usually stronger than solid wood stocks. A good custom cabinet maker may be able to glue the stock and the glue joint will be stronger than it was prior to cracking. If you can't find someone local, try this outfit located in Simi Valley, CA: The Wood Reviver 4445 Cochran Ave Simi Valley, CA (I don't know the zip code) (805) 526-3967 B.T.

I have a friend who wants to buy a receiver for a JSAR. He wants an original, "unmolested" receiver with original finish. Not drilled for scope, no "USMC" lettering, etc. He may also want a bolt handle. His name is Boris, e-mail: kserbrga@optonline.net If any of you guys have these it would be best to contact Boris directly. If, for some reason, you can't reach him get back to me and I'll contact him. Thanks, B.T.

Jim,thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it. B.T.

Last July I requested, and received, details from the Webmaster on JSAR s/n 3570. The details that I received shows it delivered from Cranston to Jamco on 12-17-41 and delivered from Jamco to Johnson Automatics Inc on 12-18-42-- 366 days later. Does this sound right or could the 1942 be a typo? I'm assuming, and this may be an incorrect assumption on my part, that the transfer from Jamco to Johnson Automatics was a paperwork transaction. Incidentally 3570 still has three of it's original parts--hammer, hammer block & magazine. Thanks, B.T.

I saw this one on GB several days ago and, like Matt, I skipped over it when I saw the USMC on the stock. In looking at the pic's again today I see a couple of cartouches in pic's 5 & 11. Are these Dutch? They look like U.S. cartouches--almost identical to the one on my M-1 carbine. The asumption on my part is that whoever put the USMC on one side of the stock and the alphabet on the other side also added the crossed canons. Am I wrong? B.T.

Mitch: I would be interested in one of the repo slings, subject to a close estimate of the cost. Thanks, B.T.

What type slings were originally used on the JSAR? Thanks for your input B.T