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butch

American Rifleman

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The American Rifleman series shown on The Outdoor Channel is going to have a segment about the 1941 Johnson tomorrow night, April 20. Get your popcorn ready early and enjoy. :D

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Unfortunetly I have to do something stupid like work. Maybe it can be U-tubed.

walt B)

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To be more specific, it's about the Model of 1941 LMG.

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AAARRRGHGH I missed it was busy with my mother in law in town.

Hopfully it will replay, did any body catch it was it a good program????

Ryche

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I watched it and would have liked it better if he had at least looked at the good points, he seemed to only look at things he did not like,, I did see on a different program that the green berets chose it over the bar in the jungles of vn, lighter, can get lower to the ground like all side feeds, I have never fired a 41 lmg I like it better than the bren with those crazy ofset sights, my father always spoke well of a bar but said they were heavy a few pounds at the end of day means alot,, the other program spoke much more highly of the 41 Lmg, I would take the opine of a gree beret over some suit

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They showed NRA's Mark Keefe firing it and showing some of its' quirks.They stated that Melvin Johnson wanted to design a weapon that was lighter than a BAR and that only a few thousand were produced and used by Marine paratroopers and special forces. Those in the "know" thought that the BAR was a weapon that would go into the future, while the Johnson LMG was a weapon for the time. It wasn't a very long segment of the show as compared to other "I have this old gun" I've watched. If you missed it, don't feel too left out.

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Hey: I'm interested to know if Ed Johnson saw this?? Ed what do you think? We all know that "The people" have been putting words in Melvin Johnson's mouth for alot of years, i want to know what the guy who was there when dad came home has to think.

If tnis is to personal please say so and i'll shut up, but if you want to know what really happened , talk to the guys who were there!!!!

I still would have like to seen the show, if anybody knows if its to be shown again please let me know. Thanks

Ryche

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In terms of "how he felt" at the actual time my father designed and built the '41 LMG, I have to say that I was born in 1940 and knew very little about how he actually felt. Over a period of time, I came to understand the advantages of the '41 LMG over the BAR because by the time I was 23 I had fired both weapons. The Johnson '41 was noticeably lighter to carry and had more versatility with feed, magazine and portability. I also felt that recoil was slightly less and noticed the cyclic rate was higher than the BAR. The easy interchangeable barrel feature of the '41 LMG (and the rifle) was a major advantage, especially with an air-cooled machine gun.

Dad felt that he had designed better weapons than the M1 Garand and the BAR but he acknowledged that those weapons had been designed prior to his own. However, he always felt that U.S. politics was the major enemy of both his rifle and LMG.

Bob Lamoreaux, a Marine, who wrote the original manuscript for our book, had more direct experience than myself with the '41 LMG and a number of other weapons. He had fired both the BAR and the '41 LMG and mentioned all of the above listed advantages. If he reads this, he can probably weigh in with far more detail.

What I have noticed is that, over a period of time, so called "experts" tend to re-write history somewhat. They tend to lean more in favor of the Garand. One guy who owned a gun shop in RI actually said on a local TV segment that the Johnson Rifle was a "failure," which annoyed the hell out of me at the time. However, Walt Liss (one of our key Webteam members) countered these remarks on the same TV segment, indicating a strong preference for the Johnson.

I have not seen the "Outdoor" program or the criticisms you mention. My understanding is that the soldiers who used the Johnson weapons basically liked them and relied upon them. Dad was very conscious of any problems found in the battlefield and made corrections accordingly. Our book, finalized by Bruce Canfield and published by Stuart Mowbray, describes this process. And I think the book gives a fair appraisal of Dad, his weapons and their history. I'll stick with what we did and said with the book and won't worry too much about TV commentators. And I'm glad my father isn't around to see and get upset with all the nonsense. ;)

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Ed: Thanks for the reply and the insight. Aside from all the nonsense your dad may have enjoyed the collectable status his rifle and LMG have attained. If it wasn't for him and the rest of the family's support we would all be chating on a different board.

Thanks once again

Ryche

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I watched it and would have liked it better if he had at least looked at the good points, he seemed to only look at things he did not like,, I did see on a different program that the green berets chose it over the bar in the jungles of vn, lighter, can get lower to the ground like all side feeds, I have never fired a 41 lmg I like it better than the bren with those crazy ofset sights, my father always spoke well of a bar but said they were heavy a few pounds at the end of day means alot,, the other program spoke much more highly of the 41 Lmg, I would take the opine of a gree beret over some suit

I guess I would question the green beret who said the LMG was used in Viet Nam. First Special Service Force as the precursor to Special Forces and used them in WWII as we all know, but I'd be extremely surprised they were in VN. If pressed I can ask several who were there.

Rgds,

John D.

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