M48TANKER

I'd almost forgotten ...on my way home from VietNam I met Melvin Johnson, along with some other Jarheads. Melvin was packing a Johnson LMG. He said that he was on his way back to the Pacific to take care of some unfinished business? We were somewhere near the Burmuda Triangle if I recall correctly. M48TANKER Oh yeah, I was there. I can't disclose what my mission was. You know, Black Ops stuff. I was with the CIA and we parachuted into North VietNam. That's all I can tell you without haveing to kill you.

Since my question about the trigger spring went unanswered....is there in existance a schematic of the sub-assemblies like the sear housing/trigger/hammer frame? I just went with my "common sense" and inserted the bare coils into the little block that the trigger pulls back, and put the end of the spring, with the "plunger head" on it, against the lock frame channel...... where the trigger will rub against the round metal plunger head, and not a bare spring coil. Thanks M48Tanker

Well, today I picked up my second 1941 Johnson Winfield Deluxe Sporter. I STILL am looking for a completely military specimin! but the Sporters just keep finding their way to me. This rifle is beautiful and every bit as nice as the first one that I got. I haven't got a chance to do a complete disassembly yet, but it function checks OK. No bolt hold open but that doesn't bother me any. Again the parkerizing job is superb and the wood finish is immaculate, if a bit too shiney. The ramp sight still has the hood, but the rear sight has been replaced by a scope rail....easy enough to fix if I want to go back to the original sights. It was drilled and tapped on top so the holes will be covered by the original sight. Who knows, I might just put a scope back on it? Someday I'll get that all original military configuration rifle and my quest will be fulfilled. I'm still actively hunting for one. Cash is now running low....hehehe. M48TANKER

What a great story! We had all better listen to our elders and get all the information from them that we can. I regret very much that I didn't discuss my Father's service with the US Navy Seabees. He spent three years in the South Pacific and I have no idea where he was, except I believe he was on Trinidad once. I remember two stories that he told me. One about the Seabees cooling their beer. They buried it under the beach sand, poured fuel on top of it and then lit off the fuel. It seems that the burning fuel pulled the cooler air from under the sand and the heat of the fire just rose up. This cooled the beer to almost freezing. The other story was about when the war was over and they headed home on the troop ships. The guys were just so happy to be going home that they threw overboard their uniforms, guns, helmets, duffle bags and most everything having to do with the military. They were DONE! Done with the war, done with the military, done with the heat of the tropics, and they survived and were going HOME. I wish I could talk to him now! M48TANKER

Mitch, thanks! I've got the CD but have not "read" it yet. Hmmmmm....I guess I need to turn off Fox News and play Joseph's CD.

I'll try to make this as simple as possible without pictures. In the 1941 Johnson's trigger/hammer/sear assembly....the plate in the bottom that slides forwards and backwards, moves the "sear catches" when you pull the trigger, ends at the rear with a small block, held in position by a pin in the front and the edges of the channel cut for the trigger. A small spring goes between the upper part of the trigger and into this little block. The block has a hole in it for the spring to reside in. I hope you've been able to follow me so far. I guess you could call this the trigger return spring. The stiffness of this little spring is what gives you a light trigger pull or a heavier trigger pull. The little spring seems to have a round headed plunger, like a nail head, that sits inside the spring. Does this round headed plunger go inside the hole in the block ? or does it go against the lock frame where the upper part of the trigger will push on it,? instead of just pushing against bare spring coils? I've seen two different lock frames and both had the round headed plunger tucked away inside the little block where you wouldn't even know it's there, instead of being on the back end of the spring..... where the trigger could contact it instead of pressing against the bare spring coils. It makes more sense to me for the bare end of the spring to go forward and into the little block, and the rear end of the spring to have the plunger inserted into it where it will be pushed by the trigger. I'll take pictures if I need to, but perhaps someone here will understand what I'm talking about. Thanks........TANKER

I'm going to need a rear sight assembly for a 1941 Johnson. Does anyone have one to sell? Thanks, M48TANKER

email sent

OK, Thanks very much Brian, I appreciate the information. TANKER

Any info on serial #5288 ? I just bought this rifle and don't have it in my possession yet. I'd just like to know anything I can find out.

I just want to say "Thank You" to Joseph Scott for his quick service and great advice on my order for 1941 Johnson parts. I changed out my Winfield Deluxe Sporter stock (with cheekpiece and rubber recoil pad) for a replacement stock more in the military configuration. I had to locate and countersink the holes for the recoil stop that is above the trigger guard. All it took was the right tools and some patience. Measure about a dozen times and drill once...because that's the only chance you'll get to do it right! Using measuring instruments from my machinest's toolbox and my carpenter's tools too, I was able to mark the location of the holes and drill them accurately. I used a self-centering, self-countersinking, woodworkers drill bit...that I used to use when I installed screws into the stiles of kitchen cabinets when I spent 36 years as a Custom Homebuilding Contractor. A carpenter's try-square came in handy too, and masking tape protected the area around where the hole was to be drilled. A tiny bit of work with a wood carving chisel to make room for the little square piece of bar stock....and my recoil stop was installed. Then I replaced my tired 11&5/8ths inch recoil/buffer spring with a new 12 inch long spring, and installed the new bolt hold open...piece of cake! I will test fire it tomorrow. Next on my agenda will be to replace the Dahl ramped front sight with Mr. Scott's newly made military style sight, and replace the bayonet lug. I purchased a reamer for drilling and installing the pins on the sight and bayonet lug. Now to try to get that ramped sight off the blued barrel without doing any damage to the muzzle end of the barrel. Using my digital micrometer, it appears that the sight and bayonet lug will both fit without haveing to turn down the end of the barrel in my lathe...I hope that I'll get that lucky. I'll keep you posted. I welcome all comments and suggestions on removing the Dahl ramped sight to minimize finish damage to the barrel. M48TANKER michaeleroper@comcast.net

Thanks Brian, that's what I thought. Do you know if they used silver solder back then? Doesn't silver solder take 1100 degrees to melt? Usually a propane torch won't get that hot. I've got a Mapp gas torch that would be just right. Acetylene and oxygen would get too hot too fast I'm afraid. I'm hoping to retain the bluing, but that might just be wishful thinking. I can reblue it but it would be nice not to have to. Heck, I'd buy another barrel if I could find a blued one with the bayonet lug and original sight on it. I could just let the Dahl sight grow on me. You sure see plenty of Johnsons with that sight on them, even in the older pictures. But there is just something about the original configuration that I like. (along with every other "collector" I suppose)

Hello All, I acquired some "new" wood for my 1941 Johnson. This is "aftermarket" furniture, or the military style Winfield wood. This "new" wood is in near perfect condition...no dings, scratches, and it's got a beautiful finish...too good actually. The hole for the little square steel bar that stops the recoil is not present over the trigger guard area? I realize that I will have to drill a hole over the trigger guard area for the stop that holds the sear housing/trigger housing. I'll have to start a hole the size of the screw head with a flat bit with the anti-chip cutters on the outer edges. Stopping before the bit cuts all the way through. Then, I'll drill a small hole, just undersize of the steel bar, and then square it up. The front wood, or forestock, already has the holes for the square recoil stop bar in it. Now the next part I'll need some information on. The recoil stop/square bar for the spring tube does not seem to be in the right place. The spring tube seems to sit too far back but I don't know what the distance should be. On my complete Johnson the distance from the front of the tube to the rear of the receiver is about 1&3/4 inches, measured at the back of the cut out for the action. On the "new" wood the spring tube is 2 inches back from the same benchmark. The location of the spring tube has a direct relationship to the function of the bolt when it recoils. I already need a new mainspring/recoil spring since mine measures 11&5/8s instead of 12 inches. If I install this recoil spring in the spring tube of the new stock, then the assembly will be even farther back than it is now. The answer seems to be to drill out the plugs on the sides of the "new" stock and reposition the spring tube forward...but how much forward? What is the factory measurement? I've posted some pictures on my "Hunt101" page so you can have a look. A picture is worth a thousand words and easier to attach that to type all this!!! Sorry if my nomenclature is not accurate but I'll learn the names of all the parts eventually. Thanks, TANKER..."michaeleroper@comcast.net" http://www.hunt101.com/showgallery.php?ppuser=8666&cat=500

Welcome Whitworth! Glad to have you on the forum. I, too, am a "new guy". I just acquired my first 1941 Johnson. It's a Winfield sporter. It has the stock with the comb and rubber buttpad, the Dahl front ramped sight, and it's got a beautiful blue job. I'd love to return it to complete military configuration, but the blueing is starting to grow on me. I have the ability to parkerize it, but I hate to ruin that lustrous finish that's on it now. I may settle for just replacing the stock and adding the military front sight and bayonet lug? I've even considered leaving it "as is" and finding another Johnson to militarize. Tough decision. Usually a sporterized military rifle is just about worthless, but with a Johnson...well that is part of it's history. No doubt a full military specimin is worth more to collectors. Now to historians, a Winfield Sporter may be just fine. At any rate they are wonderful rifles and I'd love to have more of them. I hope you enjoy the forum. Joseph Scott, {amoung others}is the resident guru and can be a lot of help with parts, restoration, etc. He stays pretty busy from what I hear. Michael E. Roper...aka...M48TANKER

Thanks Mr. Scott, The newly acquired stock, pictured in the post above, has a plugged hole exactly 8" from where the keyhole over the trigger guard should be(but is not installed). So, I'll go ahead and locate and drill the hole for that main recoil key. This seems to show that the stock I got on the rifle has the small key hole mis-located at 7&5/8 from the main key hole. This is what is causing my measurement from the top end of the buffer tube....to the back of the receiver...to be shorter on the stock installed on the rifle @ about 1&5/8" instead of the 2" shown in the picture in the post above. The only variable that concerns me is that the buffer tube in the newly acquired stock may have somehow slipped backward and is not being retained by the small key but is bearing against the buttplate instead. So, I'm still confused about which measurement for the recoil tube is correct, or at least close to anyone else's measured distance. Anyone....What is the measurement from your buffer/recoil tube, from the top edge of the tube...to the rear of the receiver or the back edge of the action cutout inletted in the stock, as shown in my picture? Thanks, TANKER

Barry, the final bid was $331.00 ...and then there is shipping on top of that. I figure the winner will have $350.00 in it by the time it gets to him. In order to win I would have to bid over the $331.00 and who knows how much it might have taken to outbid the other gentleman? So, I figured that he wanted it more than I did. Then there was the fact that the cross cuts for the bayonet lug and front sight were not going to be right for a JSAR. If I was building the LMG...well maybe the barrel would have been worth more to me. I noticed that the winning bidder was also bidding on a LMG buttstock, so I assumed that he REALLY wanted the barrel. Judging from his feedback lately, he has no qualms about spending whatever it takes to buy what he's bidding on, so I knew he could outbid me. When bidding on Gunbroker it sometimes pays to look at the feedback of who you are bidding against and see what sort of merchandise they buy, their patterns and amount of expenditures. I hope that he enjoys his "new" barrel...I really do! TANKER

Thanks Mr. Scott. I measured my mainspring and found it to be 11&5/8 of an inch, so I'll be ordering a new mainspring. In comparing the stock on the gun, which has a cheekplate and recoil pad on it, the "buffer" tube seems to be farther forward than a buffer tube on another stock that I bought. One which has no cheekplate and just the steel buttplate. This "plain" stock's buffer tube is set so far back that it keeps you from screwing the buffer tube cap on the back far enough into the stock to put the metal buttplate back on. I am thinking that the buffer tube on the "plain" stock has slipped backward at some point by about 3/4's of an inch. This would have the same effect as a short buffer spring would it not? So I didn't put this "new/plain" stock on the rifle. The holes on the side of the stock are filled in anyway. In order to use this stock, I'm assuming that I'll need to remove the plugs from the holes in the sides and reposition the buffer tube farther forward? What would be the proper distance for the buffer tube to be away from the rear of the trigger housing?...or some other point of reference, and what is the proper way to reposition it using the key stock that I hope is inside? Thanks.

Today I shot my "new" 1941 Johnson for the first time! What a pleasure. I loaded ten rounds in the magazine and proceeded to fire them all in rapid succession. I think that the rifle did great. The brass was thrown in a low arc 90 degrees from the action and landed about 20 feet away...that may be too far? If that seems to be an unreasonable distance for the brass to go, does that mean I may need a new action/buffer spring? I managed to find nine of the ten spent brass casings. They all had a tiny pencil dot size ding about 3/4 in. from the back rim of the brass. Nothing that won't disappear with a tiny file, but I wonder what the brass is hitting and how to cure that.

Barry in IN, well I quit bidding when the barrel started to get over $200.00 I think. I appreciate the fact that you said that you would not bid against me...that was very courteous of you. It would have been perfectly OK if you had wanted to bid however. That is just the way an auction works: the object may be worth more to one guy than it is to another. I know I've refrained from bidding when my brother is getting a good deal on Gunbroker. You REALLY wouldn't want to bid against my brother, as he'll pay anything just to be the winner! An extra barrel would be nice to have but my barrel seems to be practically new. I wouldn't pass up a really cheap bargain however. I'm mainly wanting to get rid of my nice ramped sporter sight and put an original sight and a bayonet lug back on. My present barrel has such a nice blueing job that I thought I might just want to restore an extra barrel. Thank you too, Mr. Scott for providing the information we needed to make an informed decision. TANKER

I think the LMG barrel is just about to get out of my price range. What's it worth? The owner says the locking lugs are good?

Thanks Mr. Scott, I'm going to bid for a little while. Will the pin cuts from the rear leg of the LMG barrel be covered by the JSAR bayonet lug, and will the front JSAR sight cover the pin cuts left by the LMG front sight? Wow....I'm having to learn fast about this stuff. Thanks, Michael Roper

I was considering bidding on it. I don't know if it will fit or not? Someone here will know. TANKER

Mr Scott, how do I get in touch with you to order parts? Thanks, TANKER...."michaeleroper@comcast.net"

Just curious as to price? Can you send pictures to: "michaeleroper@comcast.net" I'm looking for a front sight. Thanks