oldtirediron

To clear up a lttle point of confusion; RIA Auction house is not Rock Island Arsenal-- The one and only original Rock Island Arsenal is an old military arsenal not a knock off auction house that is out there to make piles of money selling other people's stuff-- I have no point of contention with the auction house but I attended many government surplus auctions at the Arsenal and they are definately not related to each other in any way shape or form except the Auction house is using the long trusted name of the Arsenal with a play on verbage to possibly confuse people much like the company Springfield Armory in Gemeseo using Springfield Armory in Massachuetts revered name as a patented product line name !

Just another person trying to make the rifle "Original" I agree that the parts were numbered for accounting purposes; Where foreign firarms were hand fit and the parts were numbered to keeps the parts for one weapon together ! I have seen personally many Mauser rifles that the so called matching numbers were a digit off or mistamped when the rifle was built not common but they are out there!! I also had a P-08 luger that was all matching but on the barrel extension the last digit was restamped at the factory; someone had stamped a "0" instead of a "9" in the last digit, then they just stamped the "9" over the Zero! You could see that the last digit was somewhat different but without a magnifying glass you would never see it and the most important lesson here is that these firearms were made to shoot--NOT to be a collector's item!

Basically answering Ed Johnson's posting; Rock Island Arsenal, renumbered many firearms that were recoverd by law enforcement agencies after WWII was over and even before it even started-- The most stolen firarms of WWI era was the 45 automatic pistol and most showed up in private possession with the serial number and or US Property removed; Rock Island renumbered the 1911 and the Colt 380 pocket pistol, most are seen with an X number and these are listed in the Springfield Research Publications along with the M-1 Garands and Carbines ! Remember after WWII unless you had a bonafide government bill of sale any USGI weapon in your possession could be confiscared ""ON Sight"" because the government had not sold any or many except to say some officers! 1903 springfield had been sold since 1915 from the arsenals but the M-1 Garand and Carbine had not been sold at all and were condsidered contraband-- The 1911 Colt was a different story and a one point the ruling was any 1911 with US Property was subject to confiscation, but that was changed a few years down the road like in the 1950's! That is whay there are so many nice 1911 pistols floating around with the US Property marks removed!! I have seen these markings so expertly removed that you would swear they were never there!! I once had an X- numbered almost brand new Springfield Armory 1911 ; It was evidently an old government reblue with an X Serial number; and sold through the DCM in 1961!!

Basically answering Ed Johnson's posting; Rock Island Arsenal, renumbered many firearms that were recoverd by law enforcement agencies after WWII was over and even before it even started-- The most stolen firearm of WWI era was the 45 automatic pistol and most showed up in private possession with the serial number and or US Property removed; Rock Island renumbered the 1911 and the Colt 380 pocket pistol, most are seen with an X number and these are listed in the Springfield Research Publications along with the M-1 Garands and Carbines ! Remember after WWII unless you had a bonafide government bill of sale any USGI weapon in your possession could be confiscared ""ON Sight"" because the government had not sold any or many except to say some officers! 1903 springfield's had been sold since 1915 from the arsenals but the M-1 Garand and Carbine had not been sold at all and were condsidered contraband-- The 1911 Colt was a different story and a one point the ruling was any 1911 with US Property was subject to confiscation, but that was changed a few years down the road like in the 1950's! That is whay there are so many nice 1911 pistols floating around with the US Property marks removed!! I have seen these markings so expertly removed that you would swear they were never there!! I once had an X- numbered almost brand new Springfield Armory 1911 ; It was evidently an old government reblue with an X Serial number; and sold through the DCM in 1961!!

What ever !! You and anyone else should know that it doesn't matter who, why, what or when because possession is the problem here!!! I bought a Garand with a X-2XXX serial number on it; after it was confiscated; investigated; AND it was returned because the investigation showed that that rifle was a stolen from US Government M-1 rifle; serial number was removed; someone was caught with it and then re-numbered in the early 1950's by Rock Island Arsenal-- I even was given the original serial number by the ATF when the rifle was returned-- That is why I have the information because I was real nervous until the rifle was returned to me and all they had to say was ""Possession"" was the problem !! That stupid rifle almost cost me a $20,000.00 Minimum lawyer fee; and I even told them who I had purchased it from!!

Heard of a couple of fool's shooting a 22 pistol inside a factory-- They though the wall was drywall over brick-- So away they shot their 22 LR pistols for a couple of hours and over more than a couple of beers!! When they went to go home they realized they had shot both of their new Harley's up!! Both were pretty new and mint but when they were done both were pretty wrecked and full of holes in the gas tanks, oil tanks carburator's and saddle bags and I can't remember what else except one of the shooters had just installed a nice custom seat on his bike!! How they did that I don't know but both of them will probably a little more careful next time!

Are you fellow's for real?? This rifle?? ( Receiver and barrel) Has an altered serial number which is a Felony Period!! Buy it but if you get caught with it they will confiscate it and you will be charged with a felony-- No if's and ands or butt's!! but it may be your Butt in a wringer here!! Any body else out there have or seen another Johnson with a "D" and or "DB" serial number range rifle!! Probably was a stolen rifle and now it isn't?? Why would the serial number be so cleverly altered?? Someone knew something was off at some point and stripped that gun for parts!! So go ahead and throw your money away because I see someone taking a fall at some point on that "Johnson" and if you do take a fall it will be a felony and you will have no more firearms--PERIOD!!

Bad news on any plated gun; a problem called Hydrogen embrittlement can occur when you strip the plating; when metal is brittle you know what the problem is!! best off to leave it alone unless you can get a metal's expert to strip the plating- Electrical stripping is definately a danger in firearms!!

The reason this documentation disappeared so rapidly from the factories is that all drawings and correspondence was to be returned to Springfield Armory no later than 90 days after a contract expired--so when Johnson Automatics was making Barrels for the 1917 Enfield etc., this documentation was either destroyed or returned to Springfield Armory after 90 days of contract expiration; along with all the tools and guages and other items like excess packing materials etc-- Kind of hard to believe why almost all the documentation from all the contractor's disappeared so fast after WWII-- I once talked with David ROCK-OLA in the mid -1980's and he was still put out about the carbine production mess he was involved in-- Seems like he had a Government inspector that he felt was out to destroy him personally!! This inspector routinely rejected large amounts of parts and completed guns, and when they were retested-- all passed!! So nearly 35 years after the contracts were up; that company swore off future government contracts--- Period!!

Joe; as you know you can have all the fancy machinery in the world ans still produce a nasty unusable product!! Skill, knowledge and understanding with a bunch of patience will help you make an A-1 product! You evidently have what it takes to make a first rate product no matter what it is! Keep on with the great work!!

On the front handguard to a Johnson Military rifle hanguard there is a small metal clip that holds the front pin in securely just need the metal clip; Have the nail and a broken clip! Anyone got a decent one they can help me out with?? let me know by PM Please!

Just completed a deal will Joe and another one is pending!! Fast service and great to deal with AAAAAAAAAAAAAA++++++ all the way around!! Deal could not have been better!!

Sorry guys what you are looking at is the back end of a 1903 Springfield type barrel-- They probably turned the threads down or off and re-threaded the original barrel-- And then they re-fit and re-head spaced the barrel extension/bolt to the chamber depth-- Naturally anyone doing this would logically space the original barrel extractor cut out to a point where the Johnson extractor would clearance the Springfield extractor cone-- That is what the back of the barrel with the extractor cut out is called. This way you could probably use the original head space depth with a little luck-- Any of you guys that ever read up on these rifles would have seen in the pre-war 1941 Johnson Literature that Mel Johnson himself said any barrel could be used as a 1941 Johnson rifle replacement with adequate machining-- He said if I remember correctly-- any 1903 Springfield,1917 Enfield or Mauser military barrels could be used in this function as well as well as for caliber conversions to 7MM, 8MM, and .30-06 caliber--- Now looking at the back of the barrel pictures the replacement barrel has has the sharp shoulder edge turned off-- Hopefully whomever did this conversion did it correctly and a Johnson bolt should hopefully head space-- If the chamber is not deep enough the head of the cartridge will be un-supported and that would be a very dangerous situation-- If this is the case the case head would be unsupported and rupture on firing-- So I think this barrel will need to be carefully checked out-- This could be the reason the chamber appears not deep enough from the pictures-- I have a 1941 Johnson barrel and the chamber on the barrel eats a cartridge case up to nearly the cartridge rim--FWIW !! Actually on further thinking about this, the barrel should have been turned flat like a Johnson 1941 barrel or a Mauser barrel; then the re-threading operation should have taken place-- This would give the correct lock up between the bolt face and the rear of the chamber-- I am not posting this as a knock on this barrel or the seller; But as a warning as I see a possible unsafe condition in this barrel-- If the headspace is wrong there could be a real danger if you chamber a round and shoot it as a case head failure could be dangerous in a Johnson; as least as dangerous as the same problem in a bolt action rifle-- But I am not sure that the barrel extension would survive this problem so be careful with this or any other Johnson barrel that may have been reworked!! I have worked on many AR-15 / M-16 rifle barrels that had a case head failure. Most of these resulted in a cracked barrel extension and a cracked upper receiver-- the barrels were mostly salvageable with a new barrel extension installed, and a replacement upper receiver- Some of these failed with factory ammunition; others failed with reloads-- these were mostly in Pre-1980's firearms and since then the barrel extensions have been subject to magnetic particle inspection and different machining operations that eliminated incipient cracks in the barrel extensions --these cracks probably opened up witht he high pressure from the ruptured cartridge cases!! Take a good look at this picture that was posted above; because you may see what I am talking about a little clearer!! http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj141/motorseven/Garand/Grenades%20cheek%20pads%20slings/barrel006.jpg

Believe this to be a repro barrel with original mounting hardware on it --- Are there any markings on the right side of the chamber area?? I am interested for a shooter barrel --What is the bore condition??

Joe; Please stay well you are scaring people!! Note the turmoil that is here when people can not contact you!! Talk with you soon!!

Well it has been a real rough year for me this past 2012-- Not to cry on your shoulders but if i was acting strangely I can tell you now that I am completely well. About 1 year ago today on the 27th Of December 2011 I was diagnosed with Stage 4A Throat cancer-- I have never drank or smoked so it was a big surprise to me. Turns out I had an up and coming new prevalent disease HPV type 16 cancer-- this is the cancer that Doctors are innoculating all children under age of 16 years-- I had a bunch of time to read up on this cancer and every one of you fellows that have children should find out about it-- it may save your child from going through the hell I had to go through-- Chemo therapy and Radiation even the new forms are still really severe insults to your body- Chemo therapy is the selective poisoning of your body-- Radiation is the selective killing of the Cancer cells-- I thank the Lord every day because i am cured and pray for the others that were in the cancer ward that didn't make it period- tough to think that you talked with them one day in the hallway and the next day they were gone. Young and old cancer knows no age limits --it kills all who have it indiscriminately-- So please do some research and get your children or grandchildren innoculated against this killer-- One doctor I had said it is the new upcoming AIDS epedemic of our lifetime--So all of you out there i hope you had a Merry Christmas; or a great Holiday and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Great to hear you are doing well !! I really know what it is to be out of the shop! I am just getting back to normality!! I spent the first 5 months of the year mostly as an Inpatient then an outpatient in a hospital 100 miles from my home. So give yourself time get well and hopefully stay well!

Nice rear sight must have been for a special guy, gold trigger, high polish re-blue and no bayonet lug! For only $8000.00 ?? Wait a month and it will be back with "Presentation Grade" documentation ! I don't know why people ask so much for these rifles in that condition but blowing the price out of proportion actually ruins the market on these fine rifles.

I have one original left for sale; 30.00 plus shipping-- Let me know if you want it ed

Well in my quest for Johnson parts I came across a baggy of three nice rear swivels for the 1941 rifle, I had bought a pile of parts years ago and these were thrown in with 1903 swivels -- As we all know the Johnson rear swivel is a one of a kind item-- Let me know what you have to trade; or what you want to pay for one. I have located a bunch of parts to fix my rifle on this board and want to be fair PM me please!

Didn't mean to slight anyone on this board but I posted these swivels for sale awhile ago and i really didn't get any response at all- I got the price for these by asking a few guys out there how much ishould charge. I believe I have one nice johnsonm swivel left; If you need one e-mail through here or at ekcloseout@gmail.com You should know how to fix that e-mail address!! Thanks again!

Sorry; no longer availiable !

I do need one !! PM Me please !

I can only tell you fellows that I had a several hundred gun US Military collection. Included were many rare items that you just don't see anywhere.I had been researching type collecting and obtaining rifles for years that could be documented through Springfield research service; I got top dollar in my opinion with no complaints; How about over $10,000.00 for a 1903 in well worn condition that was salvaged off the USS California at Pearl Harbor- You Know a nasty 1903 that you would walk by in any gun show in the USA ! Another big dollar gun was a Low number 1903 That served in Haiti in 1912--Documented! All of these were local gun show finds! I also heard some thing about that Libertor Pistol auction; seems the owner was warned about flooding the market at once with all of those little beauties -- It took over a year to sell my collection a little at a time so that I did not flood the market-- What other auction house could you go to and see Two pederson devices in the display area- Those took auctions 6 months apart to sell !

Rock Island Auction in Moline Illinois has been very good to me; they routinely sell firearms in the $50-75,000.00 range and always seem to get top dollar-- Only place in whole world I have been able to walk in and handle a complete Pederson device; a Jap garand and a Jap Pedersen rifle all on the same rack !! I know of one guy that sold over 100+ USGI rifles at auction there and realized 60% more after fee's than he thought he would get ! IMHO the best ! They are not a cut rate auction!! They are not a gun show auction! Their staff is extremely knowledgeable!