Joseph Scott

Advertise in your local papers (major & trifty) for a Johnson. They were mail ordered for years and seem to be all over the country. I know of a case where the person found two in the first week at a very good price. Good luck.

Not sure, but one may be for LMG. or could be a personal modification by someone hoping for a stronger primer hit. Looks like it is modified so as to stick out furthur to the rear of bolt. The drawings I have seen show only one type. Another question to resolve.

Not all stocks had the laminated "cheeks". The early ones were solid but required a 3" thick blank which wasted scare wood. Not sure when they changed to the laminated style which used a standard 2" thick blank. It was not a repair, rather an ingenious cost savings.

The worlds largest gun show will be in Tulsa November 8/9. I will be downstairs again and will have several rifles, parts and new LMG magazine carriers. These can be fitted to a modified semi-auto receiver to look like the real LMG's. They are for the horizontal magzines of the LMG.

Report on Tulsa show. There were about 12 JAR's for sale and two displayed by auction houses. As far as I know none sold. Sold a bunch of parts and repaired several. A buyer brought a nice gun but with refinsihed wood to me for appraisal. Asking price was $7700. Did not take it down as he did not own it. I thought price was too high for refinished wood but don't know if he bought the gun. One person bought a nice 7mm barrel for $400. Told him if he didn't buy it I would. One nice gun walked in but he wanted over $5000 for it. Don't think it sold. One of the auction guns was a wreak, barrel latch was frozen in place and spring broken, Even removing the sporter forearm, we couldn't depress the little pin to release latch. Another gun was priced $10,000 and had my stock wood on it. Finally found owner and asked why such a high price. He didn't want to sell it, price high just so he could tell his wife he tried. Overall, public were slow buyers. Didn't see anything I wanted. Always enjoy seeing so many friends and watching the public go by. Joe

Some years ago, I purchased a large Gorton pantograph machine and a template for engraving the lettering on the JAR receivers. Template came from the company that used to do this work in Ca. before their laws got crazy. Because of my vision problems, I never started doing this work and now want to sell the stuff. i was told I should take quite a bit of practice on scrap before I should try it on a receiver. They sugessted it is hardest to redo in the old lettering. It would be much easier to "scrub" (sand off) the old lettering and start anew. The template (6X oversize) is complete with all the stampings including the Cranston arms & star on the side. Ca. used to charge about $400 and did a supreme job. I think there is quite a number of buffed guns that could be redone for a full restoration. Am asking my cost of $2000 for setup. Machine is heavy (probably 2000#) and template is very light (Micarta 12"x24"x .25"). I can load on a lowboy trailer. I am located in SE Texas, 100 miles east of Houston. I have information on the machine and several new engraving bits. If interested, message me and I will give my email address to exchange pictures, etc. Will have pix at Tulsa. Joe

Tom, tables are 12 LA, 3-5. Lower level, island 12A. Same as last time. Hope to arrive around 11:00. See you there. Joe

I recently saw some pictures inside the factory that I had not seen before. It was the barrel shop. I counted 9 or ten single lathes and five double rifling machines. They could make and rifle ten barrels at a time. A well organized business run by very capable persons to high quality standards.

That gun has been on Gunbroker continuously for a long time. I think he is hoping and wishing for high dollar buyer to come along. I suspect his reserve price is high also.

Wow, never seen that done to one. Probably best to just shoot it or trade it. The radiators were welded on in a special machine which held them in alignment while pressure welded on. I would not try to replace one myself. Also the sight top dovetail looks to be changed. By the way, barrels get HOT, wonder if he ever burned himself?

12" is the correct length. It is common for the old springs to take a set.

I suppose we might never know unless we can find someone involved in the parts sale to Winchester, then to Numrich and Sarco. Does anyone know the exact date production of the 41's ended?

I would "park" parts which can be used or sold separate. Just be sure they are blackish and not green park. Front sights and lugs, I would park some, leave some white. I sell some to customers who want to have their gunsmiths install them and park assembled on a barrel. Others want them colored. I would park complete assembled barrels as most buyers don't have a barrel sized tank. How did the parts get white? I have never seen original parts in the white, most "Blackened" finish or just a few parts, such as bipods-"Parkerize".

Don't know why they chopped barrel but it will have a very loud muzzle blast. Also gun looks refinished (too uniform light color) and long magazine pins are in wrong. Missing front pin retainer and looks like mag door spring may be non original. I have NOS magazines for the drilled one. A good potential for correct restoration.

I honed a barrel chamber with some pitting and it worked fine. Sent it back and owner replies it was erratic on cycling. Mentioned shooting prone and first magazine load worked fine and next not so. I recommended holding it tight and re-shooting. Now it works great. Lesson: he was not holding firm and gun was moving back with the bolt and case. This did not allow full bolt travel and cases were jamming. Johnson's must be held tight to prevent this problem.

Not sure of the value of such a list. We know there were some 18-20,00 re-imported, so this could be a never ending quest. I will leave this for younger persons to pursue.

I also started a list of rifles and finally gave it up. Quite a few owners did not want serial numbers recorded in any manner even when they had option to only give state they lived in. One thought may be to give a place on this site just to post numbers without any other information. However, I suspect only a small number of owners even know of this site. Many are older and not computer users.

Remember to clean your chambers as well as bores. Condition of chamber is critical for extraction. I just honed and saved an original barrel and am corresponding with another person with same problem. To remove corrosive primer residue, you must use water to dissolve the salts they leave. Hot soapy water is best, then clean and oil normally including chamber. Assume all military ammo is corrosive even though some is not.

Tracs, check your message mail. Joe Scott

Received barrel that owner had installed sight and lug himself. Lug is too far back to accept bayonet, and needs to move forward. The correct dimensions of step for sight is 1-3/8" from muzzle. Sights are 1" long and this will leave 3/8" sticking out for bayonet mounting. The bayonet step is 2" back from sight step (3-3/8" from muzzle). The parts are pinned on with #2/0 taper pins x 5/8" long. All pins should enter on same side, not alternate sides. Use Loc-tite on parts and let setup before reaming for pins to prevent any rotation.

Johnson's are made of very high quality steel and are generally safe to shoot. I have found no headspace problems with original barrels and only a few with replacement ones. Some replacements were made with headspace at minimum but usable. I suggest not using ammo of 180 gr. or above, only because of recoil. They were designed for M2 150 gr ball ammo. Clean the chamber as well as bore. Clean any old grease and use oil to lube. Hold the gun tight against shoulder to prevent "bounce" double firing. Load only two rounds on first try, if it cycles ok, then load more. If it throws cases a long way, check the main spring, it should be 12" long. Compression or "set" is a common problem with old original springs. If it doesn't extract cases and clears them out to feed another, chamber may be dirty or finely pitted. If you need information on tear-down, inspection, etc, I have a DVD on that. Good luck.

Dallas arms collectors had a military show along with regular gun show, about 200 tables. No other Johnson's for sale except my three. Did inspect/repair a nice B series gun with excellent bore. Missing a butt plate and firing pin return spring. Could have slam fired without the return spring. Owner did not say anything about selling it however he returned and sold it to a friend at next table who did not own a Johnson. Public were not spending (typical of summer shows).

I think Brian is saying that it is not listed in the available records and it is still a mystery at this time. With the external corrosion, I would inspect it internally carefully. Check the firing pin and that its return spring collar is in correct location. Also main spring, buffer and follower. Chamber is likely pitted also. If only it could talk?

The step for the front sight is 1.375 long x .5625 +0005. Measure your sight bore carefully and adjust step diameter for a light press fit. The bayonet lug step is 2.0" long after/behind the sight step x .591 dia. (3.375 from muzzle) Again measure lug ID and adjust diameter for light press fit. I aligned parts by eyesight (before eye problem). I aligned sight last by installing barrel in receiver and looking for being vertical. Tried levels and/or indicators and found eyesight best method. If you find parts are loose on steps, carefully, lightly center punch around the steps to raise small areas that lug or sight can fit on. I use red lock sealant on parts, let setup and then ream for 2/0 x 5/8" taper pins.

Check your messages. Joe Scott