My new M1941 Johnson

[Kilroy was here 0]

Howdy, gentlemen! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Quinn and I'm a 21 year old college student in Northeastern Tennessee. I've been collecting firearms for several years now with an interest in WWII but focusing on WWI.

I was fortunate enough to stumble upon an M1941 Johnson last weekend. As a part time gig, I do gunsmith work for people around here. An older fellow had come to me with a junky Jennings 9mm pistol that needed some work. He and I got to talking about firearms and I told him I had a keen interest in military weapons and I had a decent collection. He told me that he had an "ol' war rifle called Johnson." He went on to tell me that it was merely taking up space in his gunsafe and he'd like to get rid of it. So he shows up later in the week at my house with a dandy M1941 Johnson. He named a price and I didn't even negotiate, I just paid him right then and there. I never would have imagined owning an M1941 Johnson, haha.

Anyway, I attached a picture of it. Just disregard the Erfurt below it. The barrel is a funny color in the picture due to lighting, but the finish is just worn a bit. There's also a crack on the buttstock right in front on the magazine which I have carefully repaired and cannot be easily noticed. I've already taken it out to the range and ran some surplus M2 ammo through it. I must say that I was very impressed with it overall. Now I have some questions about it...

The serial number is 9944 with no prefix. I've kind of lurked around here before joining and found that proper part numbers can be obtained via original records. Is there a way to find out if a rifle was used by the United States military? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

It appears to be in original military format. No sporter stock, original military barrel, and original sights. However, the front right sight ear appears to have markings on it that indicate that someone started to hack off the ear, but stopped after a stroke or two. It's only noticeable if you really eyeball it hard. Also, the rear apperature has a "V" notch cut into it. This does not appear to be a "bubba" or table top gunsmith job as the cut is very precise and even. This is what it looks like (click for a bigger image):

So my question is, is this a common military modification or is this more than likely civilian? Is there a source for an original rear sight and front sight?

If anyone can provide some insight on my rifle, I'd appreciate it greatly. I look forward to conversing with you all. Thanks a lot!

Warmest regards,

Quinn

[ArtR 0]

Ref Canfield:Johnson Rifle and Machine Guns, pp142-144

Some rifles were modified by cutting/milling the front ears off to make the sights more like the 1903 rifle sights that the were standard issue

Some rear sights were modified by adding a V cut to improve sighting in low light conditions. It is not clear if this was a "unit" ordinance shop job or was just done by the individual

[Kilroy was here 0]

Art, thank you for the reference. I'm currently waiting for a copy of Bruce's book to come in the mail.

Regards,

Quinn