Bruce Canfield

Ed is correct. M1941 Johnson Light Machine Guns were used by U.S. Marine Corps Parachute units and some Raider Battalions as well as the U.S. Army's Joint American/Canadian First Special Service Force.

The wide web sling with leather ends shown on the photo of the two FSSF "Forcemen' is the correct sling for the M1941 Johnson LMG but was nothing like the leather sling originally fitted to the NPC M1941 Johnson rifles Here is a view of the original sling on a Johnson LMG. A similar view of the original leather sling for the M1941 Johnson rifle is shown on Page 95 of the Johnson book. By the way, the LMG sling shown here belonged to JAMCO official Chandler B. Gardiner. I acquired it from his son, Chandler, Jr., in 2006. Both the original Johnson rifle and Johnson LMG slings are very rarely seen on the market today.

The USMC markings are bogus. You're right, it's a shame to devalue an apparently otherwise decent Johnson rifle by stamping fake markings. The asking price is obviously highly inflated.

While it is may be considered something of an archaic term today, for a couple of centuries, when it comes to firearms, "furniture" correctly to the metal fittings on the stock such as barrel bands, band springs, patch boxes, trigger guards, buttplates and the like. The use of the term "furniture" to refer to wooden components (stocks, handguards and forends) is a fairly recent phenomenon. You're actually "new school" and not "old school" ' lol

Must be really hard to find ammunition!

I thought the group might be interested in this slow-motion video (no audio) of an original Johnson Auto-Carbine, serial number S-5, being fired for an American Rifleman Television Program we did on the "Weapons of Melvin Johnson." I initially had some reservations about firing such an irreplaceable weapon (I only loaded eight rounds in the magazine) but it functioned perfectly. The recoil and report were a bit greater than the Johnson rifle but were entirely manageable and the straight-line stock made it easy to keep on target. DaisyMae_(1).mp4

Yep, that's it.

Wayne, no it's a previous program from 2015 or 2016. I think its still available on YouTube.

Absolutely fake markings.

Brian, thanks for contacting the Museum. Do you know if they have an email I could use for contracting Col. Read?

It's great that the museum got a "representative" Johnson LMG. However, it seems that the display indicates that the FSSF had Johnson semiautomatic rifles as well. If anyone has contact with the museum staff, it would be helpful to let them know that the FSSF did not procure any Johnson rifles. Also they are doing a disservice by stating that the USMC Raiders didn't like the Johnson LMG and the FSSF acquired theirs in a trade with the Marines for explosives. Both of these claims are disproved by USMC and Johnson Automatics, Inc. documentation.

I hope somebody doesn't pay a lot of money for this bogus gun.

Mowbray Publishing indicates that they will have the books from the printer in early August. I will have a notice on my website as soon as I have some books in hand. Thanks for your interest,

Thanks Art. John Spangler is a first-class guy.

It wasn't done at the JAMCO factory. My guess is that it was a Dutch thing.

I always subscribe to the theory that "no information is better than bad information."

Very nice work! The leather backpack mag carrier displayed in the book was essentially a prototype and I've never seen one "in the flesh." You did a great job replicating it. The more common type (as you alluded to, a very relative term since they're rarely seen) is the canvas variety as per the attached photo.

Based on the photos, it appears to be a pretty decent example. The verbose description and commentary is fairly accurate but contains some of the usual misinformation. For example: The Johnson Rifle was never issued to any USMC Raider units. Its issuance was restricted to the First Parachute Regiment, except for the 23 rifles "lent" by Melvin Johnson to the First Parachute Battalion on Guadalcanal. There were not 30,000 M1941 Johnson Rifles manufactured, Total production was 21,988 The statement that the "Marines continued to use Johnson rifles as late as Iwo Jima" is a bit misleading. Captain Robert Dunlap's rifle is the only known Johnson rifle that may have served on Iwo Jima and was an unofficial anomaly.

I wish I did have one of the Taft-Peirce prototype dagger bayonets but I don't and have never seen one "in the flesh." Very rare item indeed.

I agree 100% with Brian. It's bogus. Actually the entire premise that the "semiautomatic Light Machine Gun" is a legitimate Johnson Automatics, Inc. "experimental" product is laughable. What would be the point of Johnson making a semiautomatic-only weapon of this type? If one desires to fire a Johnson LMG in the semiautomatic mode, a simple flick of the fire selector lever is all is required!

Wow...proves the old adage "no good deed ever goes unpunished." Some people just don't want to hear the truth.

Brian, it's really a shame when sellers don't fully disclose information to potential buyers. On the other hand, perhaps the dealer wasn't aware of its Chilean origins. Regardless, you're absolutely correct about the purchaser having buyers' remorse if he finds out!

For that kind of money, it should have an original Johnson rifle sling!

Thanks...same to you and yours.

Ed, I had my webmaster take down the "Canfield's Corner" section of my website sometime ago primarily because I was too busy to do it justice. However, I will be having the entire website revamped in a few months and will have a similar blog section and can resume postings. Some of the old "Canfield's Corner" site is cached and can still be accessed online as you noted. The Historical Symposium sponsored by the Cody Museum to be held at Springfield Armory has been postponed until later this summer or fall. They're still committed to having it sometime this year. By the way, my new book on WWII small arms will have a lot of information on the Johnson weapons, especially the semiauto rifle, that I gleaned from USMC files and other primary documentation that wasn't available when we did the book. There will be quite a bit of information that hasn't been previously published. The book should be out sometime in May or June.