Joseph Scott

I have new butt plates for $30 plus $7 shipping. One problem with going back to original plate is that the butt is sawed off flat and the shotgun recoil pad is usually glued on and has to be split off. If your wood does not have the tongue cut-out still there, you will have to make new "tongue" opening on the shortened stock. The cutoff stock is usually too thin for military plate and you may have to grind edges to fit. I believe I have fixed my messaging problem, so try message. One of our members has sucess splicing on additional wood, he may answer about this option.

The dovetail is straight across, direction does not matter. Be sure to lift the back end over top of receiver or you can break it. If new one is loose, tap the male edges of sight slightly for snug fit.

I believe cover is for 1909 Argentine Mauser rifles.

Just switch the complete sights. The import will work fine with larger peep. Keep original well tagged for future sale of rifle.

They are not originals. The knob has a roll pin (China), originals have solid pins. Also originals have a checking pattern on back of peep, not so on these. I bought one of these from importer to compare to originals. The screw thread is metric, not correct. He probably was told by his source that they were factory originals.

My thoughts on no buffer is that when they settled on the spike bayonet, they lightened the spring for the extra recoil weight, but had to add the buffers for additional recoil without the bayonet. Then removed wood to keep weight the same. Just my speculation.

Note that is early drawing of the rifle does not show a buffer assembly, nor the third butt stock hole.

I can't receive or send messages due to inbox being full. I have clicked on everything I can see and no luck. For about a year, I had no message icon, now I do but can't find delete button. Help please. Joe

Ed, problem still exists.

I cannot find such a screen as you show. When I click on mail, it goes directly to a list of old messages.

I still have plenty of new springs made with silicon chrome wire. $25 plus $4 postage. Message me. Joe

The second one looks 100% right. On the first ($2175) there is No wear on the edges of the Parkerizing. It is one of the second imports made for Sarxx. Oh well, it was his money.

I am not sure it is an original. On every original I have seen or handled, the lug entrance is straight sided, made on a horizontal milling machine. This entrance is made on a vertical mill with a round cutter. Also the rivet is flattened with a press, not with an orbital riveting machine.

From your picture, it looks like you hardened the sight but did not temper it to reduce the brittleness.

I have previously made rear sights and they were definitely heat treated. Spec. is annealed, 1095 high carbon steel, heat treated after bending down the little tabs and spot welding parts together.. Otherwise they snap off. 1095 is a water quench material. My first ones were oil quenched and did not harden properly. They must be tempered down somewhat to prevent snapping. Dovetail were originally spot welded but I had no luck with this and used riveted screws from the bottom. Measuring dovetails is tricky. I used 2 #55 drills under the lips to get a known dimension. Even so, sometimes I had to peen the lips slightly to get a good fit. The male dovetail must be exactly 90 deg to leaf. The upright back-end is also a challenge but are soft steel. I had my parts laser or water-jet cut. 1940's machining used lots of go-no-go gages for such dimensions. Good luck.

The 7mm barrels were purchased from Mexico and are Mauser stepped design. They have Mexico proofs.

I can't open my messages. How do you do it now?

Between minutes 38.20 and 39, during the parade, the soldiers appear to be carrying Johnson's.

I would like to correct some items in the video. The two small pins that he removed over the trigger must be re-staked on each end. I have seen a pin not re-staked move sideways and one end drop inside the housing frame preventing safe operation. The original stakes are very small and not noticeable. Another items is the home made bolt handle. It works in video but may not be rotating the proper amount to engage the lugs directly opposite each other. This can deform the lugs when half engaged. A Remington 8 handle rotates too much and and lugs deform. That complex handle machining is very carefully designed. The stock splitting in front is caused by over-tightening the screw. The screw must have a lock washer (internal star) under the head, then a flat washer that screws onto the threads to prevent loss. Without the lock washer, the screws will loosen and people over tighten trying to keep them in, this is what splits the wood. The front lug of trigger housing should have clearance in the wood. Recoil is only taken by the cross keys including the small 3/16" recoil tube key. The drawing he shows without a buffer is an early 1939 design. The buffer was added after that date. With regards to the tube, the threaded end can be shortened to remove damage. The threads are 1/2" long so 1/16" removal doesn't hurt. Again this is carefully designed. The rear hole is countered-bored so that the flange contacts the wood and puts tension on the tube key to prevent movement of the tube. A piece of 1/2" pvc tubing (5/8" OD) works good to push out the tube from the rear. The threads are an obsolete 15mm-40tpi which was an old lamp tube thread common in that period. Video does not show the holes for the cross keys, but they are square to prevent rotation and keep keys in contact with the wood to take recoil. The holes are counter-bored just enough to accept the screw heads. This leaves a ledge at the square corners to let screws bear against wood preventing movement/loss. Every detail of the rifles and wood are well thought-out and engineered for a purpose. Did any one notice the 7mm Mauser barrel?

The M1 muzzle gauges are larger than .300" to enter barrels worn by use of the U.S. jointed cleaning rods. Johnson barrels do not have this wear and are usually right on .300" bore diameter. The only cleaning kit I ever found in a butt stock was the older pull-thru on a cord. When screwed together, each joint of the sectional rods acted as a gouge and cut the bore entrance. The German's K98's used a pull-thru aluminum chain and their bores have no muzzle wear. I don't know what cleaning equipment the Dutch intended to use for their rifles. The old Springfield specification was that if a .302" pin gage could enter muzzle, barrel should be replaced.

It seems that a large part of this paper collection are copies of published sources and not worth much. Many of us have the same stuff in our own collections. I did not see any original manuals as such. Without seeing/handling the papers, I could not determine if some of the letters are copies or originals. The fact that it has been for sale before, leads me to think it is extremely overpriced.

The Tulsa show is canceled due to a surge in the virus.

Is this a member of the association of museums, or just a private collection? I have many times been asked to donate or reduce price for a "museum" which was shopper's private collection. Sellers beware of this trick to get a better price. Brian, was this your semi or a class 3 lmg?

If the rifle is extracting ok, I would look at the rear of the bolt lugs for deformation burrs. I have seen several that the lugs had rear burrs that dragged upon closing. If you find any, use a jeweler's file and smooth them. I have seen such inside the locking collar but that is rare. Also clean the main spring of any grease and use oil. Same with bolt and rollers. If bolt still drags, problem may be inside collar. remove link from main spring and try closing bolt, gently pull bolt rearward and feel for drag. It is possible, but unlikely, that you have minimum head-space. I have seen that once. Bolt is designed to go forward fast.

In a U-tube about "Japanese Guns of World war 2", at about minute 33, racks of 1941 rifles are shown being moved around on rolling racks. This is from the Johnson produced production film. I think the view of barrels being straightened is also from the same film.