Which way do I go...

[BenTolson 0]

Picked up this Winfield Sporter Johnson last month (along with several other fun items)... I've never owned a Johnson and have always found them interesting.  Looking for "reasonable" input regarding having it "restored" or sell it outright in it's present condition.  From what I've found, it should bring $3500-$4000 as it is.  Am I off base here?  If I drop the money and have it restored... it's still "restored".  Will it be worth more than the base of $3500 plus the cost to restore?  This is an entirely new game for me so I'm trying to figure out my best option.  BTW the serial number is 8909 (no letter),  I tried to post more pics but couldn't. Thanks in advance... Ben 

 

[ArtR 0]

Hi Ben and welcome to the forum.

The following information is provided from the production logs:

Receiver SN 8909, Received From: Cranston Arms, Date Received 3/10/1942, Stock No. 2, Barrel No. 9371E, Hammer Block No. 8663, Hammer No. 0621A, Bolt No. 6750, Locking Cam No. 9634, Firing Pin No. A9246,  Extractor No. 8160,  Magazine No. 9282, Disposition Date 3/11/1942, Transferred to J.A. Inc - N.P.C

Without proper and reliable provenance, be very careful about claims of both ownership and usage.

Also, if you would like forum members to comment about the condition of your rifle, please post high definition, quality photos showing all rifle views, and any suspected defects. Generally, photos taken with cell phones or quality cameras produce large files. If you crop the photos to the rifle in general, and scale the photos so the size is less than 2MB, uploading should work well, and the resulting photos will give reviewers enough detail to comment.

As is stated at the bottom of the 'reply screen', just either drag files to the 'paperclip icon' or use the 'choose files..." option, which allows your to navigate to where you photos are saved. Once there, select all that you want to attach, and then press okay or open. Watch file size!

As for restoration, that is sometimes a tough call.  Depending on what you paid for the rifle, availability and cost of needed parts, and any outsourced labor all will factor into the final cost. If you already had a barrel and a stock set in hand, that would almost be a no brainer. However, in today's market, finding just those two items can set you back upwards of $2000 or more. There is currently a decent, repaired, stock set on GunBroker, and a spare parts set. Both are very recent posts, so who knows where the price will end up.

As for keeping it, it appears to be a nice looking sporter. If you have fired the rifle, you will know if it is a good shooter or not. Just having a nice sporter in shooting condition is a plus. Many would be happy with what you have.

Others will chime in once you have a chance to post a few more detailed photos.

Again welcome and nice find.

ArtR

[BenTolson 0]

Thanks for the information.  The rifle is on it's way to Denver... going to show it to Chuck, a military gun guy that has alot of parts & pieces.  We typically play with 1903's and Garands, but he thought he might be able to help.  If not, I will most likely let it go.  I'll post better pics when I get to Denver (actually the Colorado Gun Collectors show in Greeley) next week.  Thanks again....Ben

[WHIG 0]

Welcome, Ben and good luck with the rifle. I'm always impressed with the effort some people put into restoring a military piece. Labor of love sometimes. Frequently not worth it money-wise but it's still a great thing to fix up an altered piece of history.

[BenTolson 0]

I've gone down that road with a Springfield 1903 MkI, and a M1C Garand... they were labors of love and turned out great, but were black holes financially...

[maconners 0]

Your rifle's receiver appears to be polished and blued.See below and refer to old advertisements for deluxe vs standard grade rifles.

Repost from  the  Late and well liked Brian Alpert:

In my 25+ years in dealing with JSARS, I have come to a number of conclusions regarding value/price realized on sale.  In my opinion, the hierarchy of value is as follows:  

1. JSARs with documented US provenance and those with individual combatant provenance.  Realize that only around 800 JSARs were in US  service.....Marines, 1st Special Service Force, OSS, etc  

2. Original mint condition JSARs with or without correct, as issued numbers

3. Originals in lesser condition

4. JSARs restored to original configuration with replacement stocks, bbl, rear sights, etc.  The more replacement parts, the less it is worth.  

5. Previously polished and blued JSARs restored to original with replacement parts

6. Restored JSARs with receivers drilled and tapped for scope mounts

7. Winfield Standard Sporters.  These are easier to restore than Deluxe as the receivers have not been polished and blued

8. Winfield Deluxe Sporters

9. Sporters which have been drilled and tapped

Chilean 7mm JSARs (imported by Navy Arms in late 70's), even with correct #s bring less than 30/06 rifles in comparable condition.  Miltech restorations are at the high end of restored rifles.

The majority of JSARs in the US came from Winfield Arms.  Cecil Jackson bought the entire Dutch inventory in the late 40's as well as  most of the parts inventory from Numrich and these emerged as Winfield in Los Angeles

Auctions and online auction sites are sometimes a "crap shoot"  I have seen Sporters go for $5000 and nice originals go for under $4000.  Occasionally, one, even without provenance will reach "telephone numbers".  I believe the record is around $12000 but realistically, choice originals may reach $7500.  Decent restorations $4500, lesser on down.

 

 

 

 

[ArtR 0]

9 hours ago, maconners said:

 

Repost from  the  Late and well liked Brian Alpert:

 

Hi Guys

Just a thought.

When posting quotes from previous posts, it might be helpful to include the date the previous post was made, or at the very least, the link to the actual post, as it may help keep issues in context. In this case quoted values. As we all know values change over time. In this case, Brian's post was made Oct 13, 2019,

 

ArtR

[maconners 0]

Thanks for providing the date and link to Brian's post.

[Bruce Canfield 0]

Interesting list.  The only thing that needs to be changed is that the 1st Special Service Force did not have any Johnson rifles...only Johnson LMGs.

[BBBQ 0]

It doesn't look like it was handled very much. I think it looks great as is!

[metrotps 0]

Looks great to me and I like my Winfield 

[camstuff 0]

Yeah, I like it to! 

[BenTolson 0]

Well, not having the time or patience to see the restoration thru to where it needed to go, I re-homed the 1941 to a person on this website...