New Acquisition Johnson B0227 Pictures For Opinions

[WHIG 0]

I have received and had fun learning about my new Johnson Model 1941 rifle addition to my expanding Military rifle collection. Thanks to all on this site and Camstuff for helping me learn about the Johnsons before jumping into a purchase. I spent 5 hours yesterday dis-assembling, cleaning, photographing and re-assembling my rifle. I thoroughly enjoy doing this for all of my new treasures. Great hobby especially when we just had 6 inches of snow and I can't work outside.

The bore of this rifle is pristine. It has been shot but the bore is beautiful. The rifle had remains of old grease and cosmoline. I didn't see any real damage to anything, lots of patina from years of dust, old oil that had thickened a lot and little wear overall. Some of the pictures are before and some after cleaning. I had trouble removing some parts because of old thickened oil and years of storage. I could not remove the bolt spring cover in the butt stock. I did not want to strip it. I soaked it good with Kroil and will try sometime later. With the condition of everything else, I assume that the spring is in good condition. It seems to have a lot of power to it with pushing back on the main spring plunger. The majority of the dis-assembly, otherwise, went well without problems. 

I cleaned the rifle inside and out as well as I could without harsh chemicals or abrasives. I don't like to even come close to ruining any real patina, scratch or damage anything when I can help it. This rifle really does not seem to have had much use at all. Your examination and opinions on the bolt and barrel lug areas can help with that evaluation. 

If this stock is not an original whoever made it, or where ever it came from, it is very nice fitting, excellent wood to metal fit, has even and expected patina and aging and seems very solid. The stock markings, as shown in one picture, I need opinions on. These pictures are taken after I wiped the stock down well with Howard's Feed and Wax which is beeswax and Carnauba wax. I have used this or BLO for my stocks for years. This wood was somewhat dry in areas and needed some lubrication. I also used a nice leather wax for the sling which had verdigris over the brass and hadn't been touched in decades. The sling was on tight and I had to remove it before I could let down the barrel release linkage. That also tells me this hadn't been fooled with in a long time.

Following are markings I made note of:

Front of rear stock-"D" and "2" with a symbol like a backwards "E"

Extractor- J0767

Firing Pin- J2313

Back of Bolt linkage- "M" 

Rear part of bolt- E1618

Main Bolt Body- C4022 and "123" under this

Barrel- 2246G

Magazine- C0681

Trigger Housing- B0257

Hammer- C8539

 

If I misnamed anything, please let me know. I am just learning this. The inside of the magazine looks new. I don't think it has been used much. The springs feel very strong. 

I tried to show a lot in the pictures. If any other pictures are needed for questions, please let me know. I did not take the trigger housing a part. Just lubed it all well. 

Upon reassembly, the rifle functions fine. The trigger pull is very smooth and not too heavy for a semi-auto like this. The safety works properly. The rear sight is fine and no holes drilled underneath.  After cleaning all of the old lube off, I lubricated it all well and re-assembly was easy. There are just a couple things I needed to play with to get the reassembly in the right order but no problems. 
So, overall I think this is good and I look forward to shooting it soon. I'd like to know all opinions and concerns, especially about the stock. I will keep this and treasure it as one of my special rifles in my collection. Pictures below are not really in any specific order. I hope all of these parts are original Johnson parts! Thanks!

 

[eb in oregon 0]

There are no records existing for the letter prefixed serial numbers to my knowledge. Those were lost to fire and water damage I've been told. I'm in the same boat, there is nothing to confirm or deny my JSAR is completely original. But, very nice rifle. It's nice to see you are using the proper screw drivers.

[camstuff 0]

It looks great to me! Nice buy and nice pictures as well. You’ll have fun with it at the range. Enjoy.  
 

What cartridge is in the first picture?  I have a guess in mind!  

[eb in oregon 0]

It does appear the stock was varnished or shellacked though. That can be removed with denatured alcohol (DA), a rag, and vigorous rubbing and old tooth brushes. Then simply re-oil with boiled linseed oil (BLO). You can check the theory by wiping a portion of the stock with DA and see if it gets sticky. If it gets sticky it isn't oil.

[ArtR 0]

Rarecat has some nice paper posters with detailed numbers to part descriptions, that you might obtain to help you with your PN/description education. PM him to see what is available and pricing.

[WHIG 0]

I did think that there was a light coating on shellac or varnish on the stock. I probably will try to remove that and wipe it down repeatedly with BLO. I love the darker look of oiled wood and it might make it a little more "correct". Thanks for the comments. The rifle is in fantastic condition overall and I consider myself fortunate to have come across it and get it. I should have nothing but fun with this over the years.

I'll check out the posters, also. Always like good references. Bruce's book is good to page through. A lot about the machine gun which I look at but I'm focusing on the Semi auto Johnson right now.

[eb in oregon 0]

"Patina" in my book is dirt, corrosion, or maybe Dung Beetle poop, I clean my rifles as the manufacturer intended. To some people that's an anathema. Tough.

[WHIG 0]

eb- That's funny because I did find, in taking this rifle down, something that I have found before that tells me this rifle hasn't been disassembled in a long time. I found the hollowed out carcasses of a few bugs that had been stored inside for a long time! It sure made me feel good to see some good old "patina" inside this rifle!

[Rarecat 0]

Congrats, looks like a nice one

[WHIG 0]

Thanks all. I found another detail which makes me feel a bunch better about the stock. First, it does have a light coat of varnish. I am going to remove the wood and wipe it down with Denatured alcohol and then apply a few coats of BLO. This should darken the wood a little which I prefer. Should look a bunch better.

But, when I was wiping some of it down to check the finish out, I wiped off some gunk behind the stock screw near the receiver/magazine. I found the number "2" stamped there. I read back through old posts and found that stocks either had no stampings or the number "2" in this recess. This makes me feel that this is an original Johnson stock. Nice find to convince me more. I have read about so many stocks having been replaced with new ones. Nice to have what appears to be an all original Johnson as far as I can tell.

Is there still some thought about number "1" and "3" stocks or is it just number "2" and no marking stocks?

Thanks!

 

[eb in oregon 0]

4 hours ago, WHIG said:

eb- That's funny because I did find, in taking this rifle down, something that I have found before that tells me this rifle hasn't been disassembled in a long time. I found the hollowed out carcasses of a few bugs that had been stored inside for a long time! It sure made me feel good to see some good old "patina" inside this rifle!

When I was working in the armament section for the state of Oregon the unit received a bunch of M4 Carbines that came back from Iraq. Inspection and gauging was the job. When I took one down for inspection there was a good sized beetle in there. It was long gone and I wondered when the soldier that had this rifle took it apart. As with that beetle in there it couldn't fire. But I still can't figure how that beetle got in there.

[matconcrete 0]

I have one that looks legit and has a number 1.

[WHIG 0]

If I could find some replacement screws for mine, I would replace them. There are just 2 or 3 that have a little buggered look to them but not too bad. Most of them look untouched. I was real careful in removing them. Any source for screws for these rifles? I don't know if Numrich has what I need but I'll check them again.

[matconcrete 0]

I’ve seen some utube videos of clever gunsmiths repairing screw heads. They make it look easy.

[WHIG 0]

I have ground some of these kind of buggered screw heads down, polished them and re-blued them. I don't really need to fool with these because they're not bad. I just thought if there was an inexpensive source of good ones, I'd buy some and switch them out. 

[ArtR 0]

Always keep checking back with both SARCO and NUMRICH. You never know when parts will come in/be available.

 

[WHIG 0]

I haven't checked Sarco in a while. Thanks.

[douglas.hughes 0]

She's a beauty! Congratulations and hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine!

[WHIG 0]

Thanks! I will post pictures of the stock after I apply some more BLO and buff it a little. Looks much better, and more appropriate, than it did with the light coat of varnish applied years ago. I do like that oiled wood look on the old rifles.

[WHIG 0]

These are new pictures after removing the light varnish coat on from the stock and re-oiling it well with BLO. It does look much nicer and more correct for any mil surp. This Johnson rifle is a real treasure! Thanks to all for your help and suggestions. Whenever I get out to the range with it, I'll be reporting back.

 

[ArtR 0]

WHIG

That is a nice piece of wood and a nice job. It will surely turn some heads at the range

ArtR

[camstuff 0]

Very nice work.  That’s going to get some attention at the range.  I’m going to send you about 15 stocks! Just kidding……well maybe!  Ha ha.  Now that it’s all nice and clean, go to the range and get some powder on it, then clean it again.  Definitely should be proud of your purchase! 

[eb in oregon 0]

That looks great and I think you lucked out. I'm thinking whom ever varnished the stock just varnished over the oil. No penetration. So the varnish just wiped off and the oil restored the original finish.

[M48TANKER 0]

You've done an excellent job cleaning up that wood. Of course you know that!

[WHIG 0]

That makes sense, eb, because I used the alcohol liberally but didn't have to scrub too hard to get it all off. No stickiness left before I oiled it. I also heated the dry wood in the oven at 150 for about 10 minutes before putting the first coat of linseed oil on. That opens the pores more to get it to soak deeper. Looks nicer overall. I look at these rifles in good condition like this and just marvel that these Johnson rifles are 80 years old and can still look almost brand new! Some of the Krags I have, which are 120+ years old, look new and shoot fantastic. Great designs and great workmanship from some of these old factories to be amazed at.

Now to the reloading room!