emmagee1917

Above post left out : Or I can act as an in-between if needed . Thanks , Chris

You have one of a run of seven rifles . Lightly clean and oil to preserve. Wait for professional advice before going further. My advice , Chris

Get ahold of " chuckindenver " over on the Culvers or Milsurp forums . He has had deplating done by a chrome shop near him . He would be up on the ins and outs of doing this. The main problem is you do not know what the surface under the plating is like till you remove it. You don't know what shape it was in , what prep was done to it , nor what has occured after it was applied . These would determine your next step , it's a crap shoot. Chris

Hummm.....Looks like you must be THERE and live THERE to bid unless FFL 'd . They are really limiting the buyers over the other auction places lists . I bet we'll see a down dip in the going prices because of the large supply / limited market . Time will tell , I guess. Chris

I would also check the cams on top of the bolt and carrier . If they are worn , the bolt will not fully unlock because it will not turn enough . If it is jusssssst worn out , higher powered ammo can force it to work through momentum . To check , remove bolt stop plate and bolt stop , disengage link from mainspring , and set butt on carpet with link free floating out of the back of the reciever . Shove down on the barrel and see if the bolt disengages from the barrel. If not , see how far the bolt needs to be raised to unlock it. Does seem that your spring may be on the weak side , too. Chris

See my responce over on the LMG side Chris

Was going through my collection of stuff to see if there was anything I would like to take to a gun show. ( There wasn't ) Anyway , I came across a WW2 USGI issue rifle grenade bag . This is like the bulk 30rd Thompson Airborne mag bags ( and the later 30 rd Greasegun mag bags ) , but larger and with a strap and buckle rather than a lift-the-dot . It is sometimes called a general purpose bag . Anyway , someone told me they also used them to carry a .30 cal can of belted 30-06. I found one in my stuff , and it does . The box of Johnson mags were back there , too , so I decided to try them. The bag is too wide to work like a BAR belt , but it will hold 8 mags with the bullets pointing out quite nicely . The latch springs can hang a little , but if you alternate lip up / lip down ( if they had lips , but you know what I mean ) and pull lip ups out first , no problems. This may be how some units carried them and they were just hidden in plain sight. Chris

I would like to point out that the buyer still had no clue until he talked to you , so buying sight unseen was not the problem. Buying without spending the time to research or the money on a good book , that's more the underlining problem as I see it. Chris

The first stocks did not have cheek pieces added , they were machined out of the wood blank which was quite thick. This resulted in a lot of wasted wood. When the war started , there was shortages of everything , including the thick stock blanks. The US just could not waste wood like that any more. Johnson had to start using the narrow blanks they could still get and add on the separate cheek pieces. Chris

Nice. The unexpected rarely happens , but when it does , it's when you least expect it. Old sage's advice. Chris

So , one piece stocks are known with the "2" stamp present ? Any theories on what it does mean ? Chris

Which is why he claims it to be a replacement barrel . Chris

Yes , prewar blanks were thick. Wartime demands forced the use of narrower blanks so the cheeks had to be added. Chris

You are not having luck because your information is incorrect. The united group was called New England Small Arms ( NESA ) . NEI is really NE1 to denote which sub-company made that particular part. You'll find NE1 through to about NE9 or so. They are well known in thier BAR production as well as Reising mag production. International Silver , a part of NESA , is best known for thier M1 carbine oilers ( marked IS as well as II , IW , etc for thier earlier sub-contract work ) . I was not aware of a Johnson - NESA connection. Chris

And recoil springs Chris

Really ? So , with all those Jap machine guns that would not operate dry but will operate when the case is lubed , the working has nothing to do with the oiled case ? Pray tell , what is it then ? Chris

It looks like your's is still original finish. They were in the white like some carbine parts or nickel finished like some Thompson bolts , not sure which . Man , I did not even pay attention to the forend . How could I have missed that ? Chris

I have not even seen a picture of it , but what would be your guess at the value of a bare reciever in good , clean , unpitted condition ? I guessed around $500 or so .....was I even close ? On a related note , I was thinking about using this to build a 1941LMG semi-repro. I know Joseph is going to make a run of mag well housings at $1200-$1500 . Are the other parts available ? Ballpark going rate ? Thanks all. Chris

Not an expert by any means , but I don't think this is a Winfield. I think a local gunsmith somewhere just refinished a tired rifle , somewhere . Your stock has not been cut and a rubber pad added . Your sights are still there and the one bbl has the wings and bayonet lug still attached. Would be rather inexpensive to strip and refinish the stock and refinish the metal back. A fairly easy restoration as they go. I can't tell , but has the reciever been drilled and tapped for a scope ? Hope not. Chris

http://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/ Mostly Thompsons , but other forms as well. Seems to be down today , though. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WWIIBARMAN/ James Ballou is on this site. Enjoy , Chris

He loged off an hour after he posted and has not returned yet . He hasn't even seen your PMs . Chris

I don't have one in front of me , but it looks less like a "C" and more like the cut on the "O" for the extractor claw to me . If you think this is alot , look into a M1917 / M1919 sometime. Other thoughts anyone ? Chris

Thanks for the info. I'll see what he wants to do. Chris

I have not seen a detailed lube chart on the Johnson , the above was given as sage advice on most USGI small arms. I don't have one in front of me to check , but from memory , here goes. The little lug up front that goes into the bbl lock , the bolt and carrier ( esp the reciever top groove & rollers ) , top of hammer / bottom of carrier , smear in the trigger / hammer catches , a bit on the tail that goes into the buttstock , any rub marked areas on the bbl. or anywhere else that pops up that I can't recall offhand. A little dab on the crosspins to ensure no rusting in place will help those little tabs stay attached. A dab of anti-seeze on the threads of the parts that contain the mainspring . Hopefully others will chime in. Chris

If it rotates , oil it . If it slides , grease it. Chris