Steve(WA)

Hi all.... I bought a new Johnson from the other Auction site (not GB, GunAction--the old Auction Arms) that I asked opinions from the board in another thread. Nice gun, metal is about perfect except for the two pins below the rear dovetail. Anyway, I took off the buttplate tonight and found a plastic oiler, a pull-through, and a spare new magazine spring. Did someone just hog out the stock for those parts? I didn't think there was anything stored there so was surprised to see it. Here are a couple of pictures.

Mr Alpert. There are some good pictures from the auction in the other thread I started. Would you mind looking at those? The stock sure looks nice on the outside. It matches the handguard perfectly. Could some one have opened up those holes for storage?

Mr Scott...does an original stock have that hollowed out area?

Hi all... I know this is a little late (auction over), but can the collective group look at this rifle? I threw a bid on it, not thinking I would get it. It looked rightous to me. I wanted a complete Johnson. I bought one a while back with sporterized stocks, Mr Scott fixed me up with a great new stock, but I also wanted an all original gun. I am getting this no matter, however, just wanted the group opinion. I may sell my other gun after this arrives, but not sure. I will post up here first if I do sell. It has perfect metal, probably never fired. And a brand new stock set. Looks like it just came off the line. Here is the auction:http://www.gunauction.com/buy/13097028/ Thanks all! Steve

Having it in hand, it does look nice. Mike (M48Tanker) brought up an interesting idea about the two holes by the rear sight. He wondered if they weren't made to tighten the dovetail. And it does look a little large on one end. One of the pins is right there on the dovetail too. Could that have been done at the factory?

Thanks much. I totally overlooked those two holes. Someone have an old scope mount? The seller didn't list it, but they are sure pictured well now that I look closer. That is the problem of using your tablet to bid. Earlier stock? No "cheeks", looks all solid wood.

I pinged this guy a long time ago. He said then his bottom dollar was $8K. Nice looking, but will eventually sell if he waits long enough!

Hello everyone. Thought I would give you guys first shot before GB. I bought it a while back, but am going to sell it for what I have in it. I would like to add more money and get something with a bit more finish. I took a shot at this from GB a little while back. Had poor pictures and description. It was very filthy inside. I took it apart and cleaned it. It seems to function fine. Has bolt hold open. Plus, I think this one did make it to service somewhere. It has two different rack numbers in the stock. The finish is mostly worn off, and it has seen humid conditions. A fair amount of pitting under the woodline, less so above the woodline. It is chambered in 30-06. Barrel is decent, has been shot a lot, but no rust or pitting there. Some dullness, it doesn't quite swallow a 30-06 bullet, but getting there. It would be great to know it's history. It is import marked, so it came in from somewhere. It needs the magazine holding pins, I think Mr Scott has them. Otherwise seems complete. Pics: I have $3600 in it (plus shipping, etc). I would ask the same shipped to C&R or FFL. More pics and such available.

Ha Ha....that is mine. I ended up with two for my Johnson, so posted up that one. It came from a member here, most certainly real. It is a great piece, got it from a great guy here on the forum.

Howard... I don't blame you a bit! It is nice to have a perfect copy. I am very happy to have Mr Scott's furniture set, and understand why he marks them, and makes them as to not to be confused with an original one. His final finish is second to none on a reproduction stock! Now I am comparing to 1903A3's and such with wartime finish. I don't have an original Johnson military type stock to compare it too. I have seen M1 Garand and 1903 Springfield reproduction wood sets, and they do not compare to Mr Scott's finish. Good luck with the project!

Hi all.... I just noticed the barrel on my new Johnson matches the serial. I never looked for it because numbers are not supposed to match. The barrel and collar has their own drawing number, but also the same serial number. Bolt and such don't have matching numbers. Talking with the previous owner ( I just bought it recently, was in Winfield stock, new furniture by Mr Scott), the gun can be traced back close to 50 years, so I know it was not recent stampings. Any ideas?

Interesting, thanks for posting. At least in my case, it answers the question if a later B serial number gun could conceivably have a solid stock. A stretch but maybe.

JEM... I think you are right, some things are just lost to history and we probably won't ever know. But it is fun to get as much history as possible. I wish we still had access to the stock military wood that Winfield "chucked" away to put the sporterized wood on. That still amazes me. And why Winfield thought it would be cool to sell the rifle with the front sling swivel still on, but none fitted to the rear. Even wild game hunters would like to sling their weapon once in a while!

Mr Scott and all: the numbers on the collar and barrel match, barrel marked JA and 30-06 etc. Any idea on who would have stamped the serial onto the barrel? Winfield? Dutch?

Were any Johnson's made with a solid stock, without the "cheeks"? All the pictures I have seen show the cheeks (unless sporters, although my Winfield stock has them). Were just the early no-prefix guns the only ones with solid stocks? My set by Mr Scott looks perfect, but is it totally incorrect on a B prefix gun like mine? Not that 99% of the shooting public would know, but I do like it to be as accurate as possible. I have a almost like new Remington 1903A3 and the same thing in Smith Corona. Mr Scott's finish is just like those. A military type WW2 finish, not a pre or post war high gloss and polished shooter. It is a perfect wood finish for a war type product (just no "cheek").

The font does appear different than the drawing numbers, Any idea who would have stamped them? Like I mentioned, the gun can be accounted for back to it's Winfield days. Would Winfield have done that? Not sue what the point of Winfield doing it would be, they sporterized many, so I can't imagine why they would care to match up the barrel to the receiver. All the metal has the same finish and wear (no wear, actually). Another one of those interesting Johnson things that may never be answered.

This may have been covered in the past, but I sure want to bring it up again. I just installed a new wood set from Mr Scott. It is simply outstanding! I asked for a "turn-key" set, rather than try and coax the spring out of my sporter's stock. Mr Scott had it perfectly ready to install. It took a few minutes only, and then I had a military configured Johnson, with a WW2 web sling! I am very happy with the set. If any of you are thinking of upgrading or changing out a Sporter, I would jump! I am working this weekend, but will post up some pics soon. My sporter looks to not have been fired, so the newly finished wood set looks just right. A gun with more patina could easily have the new wood stock set "aged" a bit. Thanks much to Mr Scott. He goes above and beyond to help a customer. And you feel like a friend instead of a customer when the deal is done.

Mike.... yup, the set arrived ready to swap out. Mr Scott did the finishing (except the tung/linseed final), metal in place including recoil spring (extra charge if you don't want to use yours). It was an easy job, unbolt the old and bolt on the new. I am super happy with the outcome. The weapon wasn't right with the recoil pad. And, funny thing about a sporter, why wouldn't you put a rear sling swivel on? Sportsmen would want to sling a weapon as much as a Soldier would. Another thing I really like about it, Mr Scott finishes them in a military type product. In other words, he doesn't sand them down smooth (like a sporter stock, or a re-finished military stock). It has that slightly rough military like finish. You can tell on the photos with the two stocks together, the sporter stock looks much smoother.

Thanks Mr Scott. I know the USGI's used more linseed oil earlier in the war, and more tung oil later in the war. So would either be fine for an ending finish on the Johnson?

Whoops... wrong picture set, sorry, that is the original furniture, below is Mr Scott's set: Good comparison between "sporterized" wood sets and military wood set.

Pics as promised: Mr Scott said to finish with Tung oil or Linseed oil as desired. I know the history of both with M1 Garands and such, how about Johnson's? Either more correct as far as final finish?

That is an outstanding MB! Mine is also a 1943, it is a GPW, Ford made jeep. Bought it from a gentleman who originally purchased it in 1961 to swap in a new V8 motor. He never got it done, and was tired of it in the barn! It was restored by my father in law, who works on military vehicles as a hobby. Here are a few pictures: Bayo:

Thanks Walt. It is fun learning about my new favorite WW2 firearm! This bayo has pretty professional looking stampings on the scabbard and the rivet head, then, like you say, the numbers on the top ring are crudely stamped. It seems like no one really knows, but why would "they" stamp a four digit number into the scabbard, and then the last two numbers into the rivet head? Interesting to speculate about anyway.

Just got the bayo from Jim. Very nice matching set. The scabbard has "9433" stamped on it, and the bayo (on the rivet) has "33" on it. Very cool. Like Jim said, it has been together since new. The Johnson site says no one really knows the source of the numbers? The bayo also has "2569" on it. Seems like I read somewhere that was a Dutch number?

Like Ryche says, new people (like me) will come in from time to time. I really appreciate what I have learned from you all so far, and hope to be able to pass on that knowledge in the future.