Range visit

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Took the Johnson out for the first time yesterday and I was wondering if she'd be a little cranky for a 70 year old...

For the most part, it went well. I was concerned about the firing pin as it was bent and would bind, but I managed to straighten it - thank goodness it came with a spare just in case. The recoil wasn't hard on me and the brass wasn't dinged up too badly (but I'm used to mangled brass from my FNC and Hk 91 anyway). Now if I could only get that darned buffer out and check the spring. Again, the gun came with a good spare if it needs it. Love the trigger...really smooth. It did have some feeding/ejection issues, but I can't recall exactly what was happening...it seemed to extract just fine...was it trying to chamber a live rnd when the previous one hasn't been ejected?...anyway, it seened to have trouble after I loaded more than 4 rounds. Maybe I was limp arming - can you do that with it? Next trip I'll pay more attention.

Several people at the range knew what it was, but hadn't seen one in the flesh, so she was fondled lots before the firing started. One of the range guys can now say he's fired one. Even shot a short video of my dad firing it. Nice fire ball! All in all a good day and I can't wait to get her out again!

[Barry in IN 0]

I take mine on almost every trip to the rifle range. Very few people know what it is, even after asking and me telling them. I'm surprised that so few have never even heard of them. I think maybe two knew what it was without telling them.

But my club is a little...funny. If it's not a .22 or Winchester 94, it doesn't count.

After hearing conflicting stories for years about recoil, with some saying they recoiled more than Garands and others saying less, I don't think I can tell the difference. I usually shoot a Garand the same day, and still can't say one is better or worse than the other.

I am curious about your malfunctions and would like to hear more details. I only have one Johnson to go by, but it seems really forgiving of light loads so I doubt it was "limp arming". I've shot 180 grain cast bullets at around 1800 fps with no trouble, which should much lighter than M2 ball.

I shot a few rounds through mine just one time before replacing the recoil spring. The ejector left a pretty good dent in the case heads, telling me the bolt was coming back fast and hard. Empties were flung off the range, through a fence, and into the driveway. That was my clue to stop until I got the spring changed. After that, the empties were unmarked and flew about half as far.

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My brass had a very pronounced dent in the head where the ejector hit. Not sure how far it would fling it because of the stall at the indoor range. I must say I like how clean it was...just like a bolt gun, clean the bore, around the bolt face and lugs and your done. That would be a PITA if the barrel didn't come out.

While my shoulder does hurt a little from the recoil, it certainly isn't any worse than the M1. It did feel different for me...I swear I could feel a slight double push, 1 from the firing and the other from the barrel stopping.

[Matt K. 0]

I have one in the herd that crushes the brass big time. I am guessing it is a weak spring, but haven't gotten around to replacing it.

The rest have no problems, but truth be told I do love my Garands (blasphemy?).