Adriaan de Jong

Jim, thanks very much for the time and effort you invest in this site. It's greatly appreciated. Adriaan

Paulo, the name W. van Haaften is definitely a Dutch name, so I think that's where you have to start looking.("Haaften" ist the name of a small village just a few miles from my Birthplace, "Van Haaften" means a person who comes from(=van) Haaften) As for the rank "Lt.Com." , I am at a loss. I do not know the ranks in the Dutch Army/Navy/Kolonial Army well enough to know where it belongs to. If you want to find out who Lt.Com. Van Haaften was, you will have to search in the Netherlands. If you want to, I will be glad to help you. Allthough I live in Germany, I am Dutch and can place some phonecalls to get you on the right track. Please send me a picture of the Rifle and off the presentation plate, that would make life easier. If you want to give it a try on your own, here are two e-mail addresses where you can start(these are those where I would start asking to get in the right direction): - The Dutch Institute for Military History: nimh@mindef.nl - The Dutch Army Museum: M.willemse@legermuseum.nl There are quite a handfull of organisations where the information about Van Haaften could be in the archives, one of the two above should be able to show you in the right direction. Good luck and please feel free to ask me if you need any help greetings Adriaan de Jong ps The person in the link from Tim is not the one you are looking for.

Harry, I have sent you a PM with his e-mail Address. greetings Adriaan

Harry, I have/had to same Problem as you: the original Barrel is not good enough to shoot. Finding an original Barrel in a good enough condition to shoot is not easy. If you find one, they're not cheap either. Important for me was: do I really want to shoot out an original Barrel or do I buy a reproduction Barrel for shooting and save the original for the next generation? If you want a Barrel just for Shooting: contact Joe Scott and buy a brand new Barrel from him. I just did this, the Price is right and Joe is a nice Guy to deal with. You can then shoot as much as you like and don't have to worry about your scarce original. What I also did: bought a new main spring and an extractor. The original main spring almost certainly became to weak/short and should be replaced to prevent damage to the rifle. For shooting I wil also remove the original extractor and put in the spare one. If it breaks(which is seldom but can happen), then it's better to break a reproduction than the original belonging to the rifle. I hope to get the Barrel and spare parts in the weeks to come and can't wait for the opportunity to shoot my Johnson Adriaan

@ Lugercollector I wrote you a pm, please look in your mailbox.(shipment to Germany is a lot easier than getting a post 1898 gun in or out of the USA) Adriaan

Walt, a thing to keep in mind, is that the bulk of the M1941's were ordered and paid for by the Dutch Government in exil. As you know, all of them should have been shipped to the Dutch Indies, but only a few arrived there. I know from "the book" and sources overhere in the Netherlands, that the remaining rifles were impounded(if called like that?...) in the USA. Very few were borrowed or sold by the Dutch Government to the USMC. What happened (and when) with the rest is not clear to me, and it's very difficult to find information about. Known fact is, that the Dutch troops in the Dutch Indies that got away in time from the Japanese Invasion, went to Australia and fought on from there. I own one Johnson that was imported from Australia and saw a lot of action by the looks of it(sorry to say so, it's not on list with the known USMC rifles ) If any rifles went to Australia from the USA, I don't know. I asked the gun room boss in the Dutch Army Museum, he didn't know either. It seems very little to zero research is done so far about the History of the M1941 from 1942 to the mid fifties. I ran/run into the same lack of Information when I try to find out what happened with the rifles after the war, where and when they were used etc. Would be a nice job for me when I retire.... I read somewhere that all Dutch M1941's were sold in two lots in the fifties and ended up back in the USA and Canada. If somebody knows how many rifles were in those two lots, you probably have a close guess to the total amount of rifles that were/are still in circulation. Fact is also that these Rifles are very, very hard to find here in Europe. My feeling is you talk about maybe a couple of hundred, if that many. Adriaan

I'm having to same problem, have been sending several e mails and pm's in November and December last year through this forum to Joe, no reply. Funny enough it worked okay in the beginning of 2009. Adriaan

Ed/Jim, thanks for your Information, I forwarded your Offer to help to Hans-Peter Sigg so he can contact you directly if he needs more Information. Adriaan

Ed, I just had contact with Hans-Peter Sigg. They decided to go with a 14 inch twist because they wanted to use somewhat heavier bullets and the OAL with the single shot rifle wasn't a problem. He has the barrel there for building a M1 Carbine in 5,7 Johnson, that barrel has the same 16 inch twist you and your father used. The 40 grs bullet will be used with it, also to stay within the maximum OAL for the M1's magazine. I will keep an eye on developments and keep you informed. Adriaan

Ed, according to the Article, they used 13,4 grs IMR4227 with the 40 grs Sierra HP for an MV of 2894 fps. That load gave about 1 inch at 100 meters. The author mentions they stayed within the 3200 bar/46413 psi pressure limit. The action/rifle combination would take 4000 bar plus easily. I do not how much pressure the brass can handle. Personally I am a bit disappointed with the results. If you look at the fact that we are talking about a custom made rifle with high quality components, I would have expected smaller groups than the 1/2 MOA. But fairness requires to say that not really many loads were tried and that the author has to stay within the legal pressure limits. I wonder what you could get out of the rifle/cartridge given a bit time to play. Adriaan ps Ed, could you tell me which rate of twist was used in the spitfire? pps Just asked the gunsmith: the barrel is from Sauer and Son, Rate of twist is 14 inch

Last week there was a Johnson Bajonet with scabbard for sale on the German auction site www.egun.de. As I was very much in doubt if this is an original, I did not bid. Especially the stitching on the scabbard looks non original. Here's the auction with pictures: auction What do you guy's think? It sold for somewhat over 100 €, which is about 130 $ Adriaan

Okay, it's not an M1941 but maybe interesting for someone: Johnson Indoor Target Gun Adriaan

On disassembling my Johnson(B5411) for the first time I expected the firing pin stop to fall out as mentioned in the Instruction Manual. Alas, this did not happen and the firing pin stop stayed where it was. After looking more closely, I noticed that the stop has a little clip attached to it that keeps it smugly on the firing pin. Is this a change to the original outlay done at the factory or was this done afterwards by some enterprising soul? The work was done professionally. See picture: One other thing: the bolt has a second number 123 stamped on the bottom. Anybody knows what that means? (see picture) thanks for your answers Adriaan

Thanks Brian, I will try it that way. If it does not work, the screw will stay as it is. No way will I run the risk damaging the rifle. Adriaan

I tried to remove the main spring tube spring screw to clean and oil the spring/tube. Unfortunately it did not move one little bit. I made up a fitting screwdriver, tried left and right but the screw does not move at all. When putting up (to much?)torque, the tube itself starts turning. I removed the Tube positioner screw and tried to remove the tube as a unit. It moves about half an inch out of the stock and than comes to a solid stop. It feels as if some part blockes itself against the stock. Getting it out to the top(direction of the bolt) is not possible because the screw is to big. Any ideas how I can solve this without damaging anything? thanks again Adriaan

Jim, thanks very much! By the way, I fired the Johnson for the first time on saturday Had quite a few people around me on that occasion It was fun! Adriaan

The rearsight of my Johnson has M1 stamped on it.... Adriaan Sorry made a mistake, it has M2 on it.

After searching for a Johnson for about 5 years I finally located one in an excellent condition. Serialno is B5411, the rifle is in great shape. The rifle was bought in Canada by the first owner in the mid fifties, presumably from the Winfield Company. He held it as a collectors item and never fired it. The second owner bought it from him and owned it many years, also taking good care and never shooting it. The condition is great. Finish is without dents or scratches, looks greenish to gray depending on the light. The bore is a bit gray inside, but seems okay. The wood of the stock is very nice, unfortunately I am not able to make better pictures but I hope the nice grain is visible. It's great to own a Johnson Adriaan ps does somebody in this forum own a Dutch Rifle Sling for my Johnson and is willing to sell?

Okay, thanks again. Adriaan

Hello, my Name is Adriaan de Jong, I'am Dutch, live in Germany and am a collector of Dutch Army Rifles. Allthough I allready have a Number of Hembrug and Beaumont Rifles, the Crown in my collection is still missing: a Johnson M1941. It's hard to find in Europe, they are not on the Market often. Finally I found one, and am working very hard on the owner to sell it to me. The serial nr is 1505, the Rifle was originally imported from Australia as far as the current owner knows. Could you please give me the Production Details of the Rifle? It would be good to know if it still is in the original condition since it left the factory in Cranston. One more question: is there a way to find out if this Rifle was in the Shipment of 2000 Rifles that made it to the Dutch Indies before the Japanese Army came in? In the Dutch Literature this question is open, since the Paperwork seems missing. Has any Information about this Shipment surfaced since the Publication of the Dutch Books? Thanks in advance Adriaan de Jong

Jim, one more question: does the fact that this Rifle comes from the Chilean contract mean it should be in 7 mm? Sofar I read about the Rifles only that they are in 7 mm, but which cartridge is not clear to me. Was it the 7x57 ? thanks Adriaan

Thanks a lot for this Information Jim. I will get back when I have acquired the Rifle. That will take a lot of smooth talking, but when I get it the pleasure of owning a Johnson will be even greater Adriaan

Thanks for your fast reply, it's very helpfull. I will search more in Detail, also to the shipments to the KNIL army, when I get the Rifle. One thing in advance: the Serial number information mentions the Chili contract. The Rifle was build in 1941, wasn't the Chili Contract in 1943? Does this mean the Rifle stayed at the JSAR under the embargo and was later sold to Chile? Adriaan