Love this rifle - but I had some difficulty the first time out.

[Bullitt08 0]

All & all - she was a dream to shoot. Digested about 50 rounds without a glitch. Pretty freakin' accurate too - but I didn't try beyond 100yards. That'll happen the next time I find a longer outdoor rifle range. Likewise as many here have told me - I did draw a crowd when I started shooting her.

But the trip was cut short because I made the mistake of allowing a young friend of the family to shoot the rifle without "properly" going over the basics before hand. I don't blame him - this was purely my fault - he was an experienced shooter (active duty Army & was an armorer) but had never fired anything remotely like this before. Started out ok - I loaded up the first 5rds via stripper clip for him as he observed going over each step best I could. The problem came when he tried to duplicate the process after firing the first 5rds I'd loaded up for him - after loading the rifle just as I did - he didn't pull the already "open" charging handle back as I always do to release the bolt - but rather "slammed" the charging handle forward with the palm of his hand. Not unlike you might see someone do with an M1 Garand after loading an E-Clip. This caused the operating handle assembly to "come off" and that in turn caused the "now loose" extractor to fly forward into the receiver and when the bolt tried to go home it snapped the tip of the extractor off. UGH!

I was able to collect all the parts and have performed a complete inventory of the rifle and the extractor seems to have been the only damage and everything (including the operating handle) seems to be ok. I've ordered a new extractor (aftermarket) and hope to have the rifle fully operational after wards. But I'll admit this kind of freaked me out - I didn't think the charging handle would just come off like that.

Would love to hear any thoughts about this?

Me shooting my baby ---

One of the 100yd groups:

The broken Extractor!

[dash 0]

Ohhhh ouch!

Was the spring loaded pin in the center of the charging handle all the way down into the bolt? This pin goes through the hole in the extractor and into the bolt, locking them all together. Mine's pretty snug and I've always had to use a little pressure to seat the charging handle all the way back into the bolt after cleaning. Even more so after installing a new extractor.

That's all I can come up with, but you'd think this would've happened sooner in the shooting session if what I said was the case.

[Bullitt08 0]

Ohhhh ouch!

Was the spring loaded pin in the center of the charging handle all the way down into the bolt? This pin goes through the hole in the extractor and into the bolt, and locking them all together. Mine's pretty snug and I've always had to use a little pressure to seat the charging handle all the way back into the bolt after cleaning. Even more so after installing a new extractor.

That's all I can come up with, but you'd think this would've happened sooner in the shooting session if what I said was the case.

Hard to say Dash,

But it would make sense if that was the case.. But like I said I'd fired about 50rds without any problems. So I'm bewildered as to what could've caused this.

Just happy it wasn't worse.

[Joseph Scott 0]

Inspect the lower center pin of the handle and be sure the outer center pin retracts the lower pin and it returns downward. They are separate parts. A disk on the upper pin fits in a notch of the lower and a spring returns them down. I have seen the lower pin broken at the notch and not moving properly.into the extractor and bolt. If broken,, you will have to make a tool to unscrew the retaining cap.. Inspect the bolt catch also.

[ryche_me 0]

Ouch!! like the man above said "At least it wasn't worse" Like a lost bolt handle or something equally expensive to replace. Good luck on the fix.

I had an ouch myself two weeks ago at a 2 gun match. During the course of stage 3 i didn't make the shooting box in time and had to drop and shoot from prone in all this nice loose Arizona dirt.

I figured that was a good time to reload as i was getting low. I made the prone shot and got up and started to run{ weapon pointed down range of course} not realizing i was as close to the shoot box as i was. I stopped short and with all the dust on my hands my rifle slipped out of my hands and down in the dirt she went, sliding along and gathering more scratches and dings.

At the time i didn't know that when i went prone i popped the snap on my pistol holster with the butt of my rifle. When i got up to run for the box i didn't know that my unloaded pistol {no pistol shots on this stage} Had fallen out of the holster and was laying in the dirt. Consequently i was disqualified from the match for losing control of my weapon, not once but twice

Every one assumed i would be mad about the DQ, but hey that's the rules. I was mad about throwing my Johnson into the dirt {alot of johnson jokes were made then} and adding more scratches to the stock.

One guy did point out, after i cleaned her off, that it wasn't that bad and not really noticeable due to the "road wear" that was already there long before i got her.

All in all it was a fun day and my rifle preformed beautifully especially at the 200 yard stage. I told them i didn't mind the DQ and would be back next month to wreak havoc on the other guys scores

Also ALOT of comment on the rifle, most of the young AR15 guys had no clue what is was, and most of the older gentlemen knew and couldn't believe i would shoot competition with it. I love taking it out to play.....

Ryche

[Bullitt08 0]

Ouch!! like the man above said "At least it wasn't worse" Like a lost bolt handle or something equally expensive to replace. Good luck on the fix.

I had an ouch myself two weeks ago at a 2 gun match. During the course of stage 3 i didn't make the shooting box in time and had to drop and shoot from prone in all this nice loose Arizona dirt.

I figured that was a good time to reload as i was getting low. I made the prone shot and got up and started to run{ weapon pointed down range of course} not realizing i was as close to the shoot box as i was. I stopped short and with all the dust on my hands my rifle slipped out of my hands and down in the dirt she went, sliding along and gathering more scratches and dings.

At the time i didn't know that when i went prone i popped the snap on my pistol holster with the butt of my rifle. When i got up to run for the box i didn't know that my unloaded pistol {no pistol shots on this stage} Had fallen out of the holster and was laying in the dirt. Consequently i was disqualified from the match for losing control of my weapon, not once but twice

Every one assumed i would be mad about the DQ, but hey that's the rules. I was mad about throwing my Johnson into the dirt {alot of johnson jokes were made then} and adding more scratches to the stock.

One guy did point out, after i cleaned her off, that it wasn't that bad and not really noticeable due to the "road wear" that was already there long before i got her.

All in all it was a fun day and my rifle preformed beautifully especially at the 200 yard stage. I told them i didn't mind the DQ and would be back next month to wreak havoc on the other guys scores

Also ALOT of comment on the rifle, most of the young AR15 guys had no clue what is was, and most of the older gentlemen knew and couldn't believe i would shoot competition with it. I love taking it out to play.....

Ryche

That's awesome Ryche!

Like anything I own - I don't tuck my firearms away in a safe only to be brought out to show folks once in awhile - I actually use mine whenever I get the chance.

As I said - it could've been much worse. Lucky I was in an indoor ($100) range - made it easy to recover everything. Funny thing is the tip of the extractor fell into the magazine - could actually hear it rattling around in there - the other two items landed on the deck at my feet.

[Bullitt08 0]

Ok Good News!

Just got the replacement extractor and putting everything back together she seems to be ok. I'll try'n take her to the range next week if possible.

What's interesting is the new extractor is an extremely tight fit compared to the old one. I'm starting to think the old one might've been worn as I don't remember it fitting this snugly. Granted it might be because it’s a reproduction part but the original was really easy to remove and replace. Didn't feel as much tension on the operating handle assembly and required a bit more effort to install.

Oh well – I’m feeling pretty good about it and can’t wait to take her back to the range.

[Ed Johnson 0]

What or who was your source for the replacement parts? If your rifle works well following the changes, other Johnson Site users can benefit from your experience. And if things don't work well, it is important that we know that too. Please keep us posted. Thank you for your info thus far. Very helpful. ej

[Bullitt08 0]

What or who was your source for the replacement parts? If your rifle works well following the changes, other Johnson Site users can benefit from your experience. And if things don't work well, it is important that we know that too. Please keep us posted. Thank you for your info thus far. Very helpful. ej

Hey Ed,

I got the reproduction extractor from Sarco for $40 looks like a good part and as I indicated it was a bit of a tight fit compared to the original. Racking dummy rounds it seems to be working just fine but a trip to the range is the only real test.

Here's a link for the Sarco extractor: http://www.e-sarcoinc.com/1941johnsonextractor.aspx

Of course after I purchased it - I found one on Numrich Arm's website for $23 - I'm thinking about ordering one just as a spare. Doesn't say if it's a reproduction or not.

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/Products/317240B.htm

[dash 0]

YMMV with the repro extractors. It seems no two are alike...small differences in overall size. The one I had was loose enough to drop the spent case before it would hit the ejector. Good luck!

[Joseph Scott 0]

I have a number of originals and they vary on fit. Orignals were hand filed after machining. Hardness was important and every one was hardness tested, you can see the small diamond impression on the insde. I don't trust imported parts from that source. A small drop of oil on each side helps when they flex.