capthowie

That's a gorgeous looking gun....but stop laying it in the gravel!

Is Joe Scott's parts website up and running again?

Last I heard is was down for repairs and that was like six months ago.

Yes, as a matter fact one of the guns was a military and the other was a deluxe Winfield. The Winfield is keyed at 8" ,but was the one with the 11 1/2" mainspring and had a slight tacky old oil residue on it and the buffer . The military was at 12" and lightly oiled and clean.

Before I replace the springs, I really need to document exactly what's going on. So another trip to the range is in order. I'll try to capture the action with the camcorder.

The ammo was made by Winchester -Super X 30.06 SPRD 150 Gr Silvertip

Here are some casings from both guns with distinctive signatures. One of the rifles did in fact have a shorter mainspring (11 1/2") the other measured 12''.

At the time I wasn't aware of a problem, so I am not sure which casings belong to which rifle. But in view of Joe Scott's observation, I guess we know.

Question- Are the other markings that are further down on the right three acceptable?

My Naval Officer son-in-law was out shooting with me the other day and he commented on how far the spent casings fly.

I had two of my JSAR's at the range that day and both were spitting them out farther than anything he had ever seen. Seemed normal to me, as I always have warn people to the right of me that I am not doing that purposely.

I am thinking of setting up a secondary target to my right to see what kind of a grouping I am creating with the flying brass.

Shirt arrived today...great choice of color with the washed denim look. Perfect job on the art work.

Now we need a group photo with everyone wearing their shirts...your place or mine?

Beautiful green........you got to be kidding!

I'd be horrified if I found the presence of the condition you describe. I know we all get in a hurry but the cleaning and care of a collectible takes a deliberate effort.

A lot has been written on the number of patches thru a bore and related solvents /chemicals .....when all is done that last patch better be clean.......or your setting yourself up for the leftovers to grow green.

Clean will never be green!

I just recently acquired a bag full of blanks and was wondering whether the gun would cycle properly or cause damage if I used them..

Anybody ever tried blanks?

I've read your dilemma regarding the main spring tube. Sounds like errors during previous attempts of removal resulted in its cracking.

The mainspring tube has a small saddle blazed on it (from the factory) which accomodates a square recoil key (screwed from both sides of the stock). Because of this saddle you can only remove the mainspring tube in the direction toward the receiver.

What kind of damage was done to the tube during repair and do you still have free movement of the mainspring and buffer ? Mainspring tube should be approx. 10 1/8 " in length, center of saddle approx. 4 1/8" from front.

On page 103 of Bruce Canfield's "Johnson Rifle" book. it shows a curious photo of "one handed" firing of the light machine gun which shares similar mechanical characteristics as the rifle.

So this would might be viewed as not needing a whole lot of shoulder in the shot. None the less Melvin is straight armed and the machine gun has a pistol grip.

Anybody ever try firing a Johnson from the hip?

How many wifes do you have?

Here once again we have a seller that over states what he's selling... and someone bought the story.

This seller is stating that the bayonet has "dull green paint" , boy does this speak volumes on the sellers knowledge of military coatings. Other than that it looks fine.

But do you trust him....does he know what he's taking about?

The scabbard appears to have some irregular or pulled stitching...certainly not at a level of excellent condition as stated.

You have to wonder about some anxious buyers.

I have two bottles of the MinWax Rosewood Wood Sheen ... Lowes carries this locally for $4.98 plus tax.

See a posting dated Jan 20,2006 for more details on how to apply it.

Call me if you still need need this stain.

Howard 913-345-1522

Joe -- I saw your lunch invitation to all----same place as last year in the cafeteria on the east end of the building.

I won't have any problem finding you, I'll just look for a couple of Johnsons walking around.

I need a butt swivel ...if you don't mind bringing one.

See ya Saturday at noon!

Well I see our friend on Gunbroker has reconsidered his position. His price is now $500 less and his description is a little more generic. A $4000 starting price maybe could have started a frenzy. I think he lost his opportunity.

There's that old saying that keeps popping up in the back of our heads that you can't ignore ..........."Buy the rifle not the story". He needs to give us something to look at.

A well done set of photos (at least 10) will draw more attention. Clear and detailed photos will certainly give the viewer more help in deciding if this is the rifle he's been looking for. If as a seller, you're digital camera challenged, find help.......... we're all still learning.

Well it pays to advertise, but you have to be careful about what you say. We've all been accused of embellishing facts and when you do some one might have a different take on the issues.

This JSAR is not exceptional .... this an average gun that you typically find in your hunt for a Johnson.

Obviously, the seller has never been on this forum, otherwise his descriptive presentation won't have been so fictional.

Just to critque :

#1 His barrel is 24" (most Johnsons have a 22") ....extra length maybe to hang that suppressor on? ....where's the documentation?

#2 He lacks an understanding on coatings. You're either pregnant or not. You can't have a parkerized blue finish. They are completely different processes. (Must have been a Winfield some time in its colorful life).

#3 I enjoyed the fanciful story about experimental scopes,accuracy testing,and sniper use. This is straight from the factory.... RIGHT!

#4 Too bad about the two drilled and tapped holes, as this is the hardest fix and devalues an otherwise run of the mill JSAR.

#5 I hope the rifle shoots better than his camera.

This is the semi annual show that beats all our other shows for purity of content. You can't walk this one fast.

I saw one repo bayonet and scabbard priced at... $150.

And a dealer from Louisville had a M1941 Johnson for sale ... $7000. nothing wrong with this one.

He also had, what he claimed, to be an original bayonet and scabbard for $500.

The curious thing about scabbard was that he was calling it "Danish Contract"... its the most barizare looking scabbard I've very seen. It's about 2"- 2 1/2" wide has an extra flap of leather in front of the belt loop and an opening at the bottom of the scabbard that your #2 lead pencil could fall thru. It also has a clever metal guide to aid with insertion. The rig is kind of trick looking...it should have an honorable mention in a Canfield's book under the "what if" category.

The bayonet doesn't pass the test either...when referencing Walt Liss's bayoadvise.