What exactly was their role in the sporting rifle world? I know what the Johnson Rifle was, but I read several references to them in Michael's book (I think largely pertaining to barrels on sporting rifles.)
And here is a sporter attested to be made by them, although the seller doesn't go into much detail.
http://www.gunsamerica.com/981923904/Gun...NVERSION_2.htm#Good website on the Johnson Rifle (and they had a sporting model complete with checkering.)
http://www.johnsonautomatics.com/Just curious what role they played, what their capabilities were, etc.
Thanks.
I don't know if this will help, but here is a link to an auction for one of their catalogs
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GUN-CATALOG-JOHN...=item518609692b
Ryan: I am aware that when Johnson didn't receive large goverment contracts on his Military Automatics, he attempted to sell them as a sporting arm on a limited and temporary basis, 2 to 3 years. The numbers sold were very limited and when seen as Sporters, are rare. The Mauser in the photo you show, was one of a series of rifles Johnson made starting in approx. 1961 and shown in Shooters Bibles. They appear to have been built in 2 grades [checkered and uncheckered], on WWII Surplus 98 Mauser actions with Johnson Automatic Barrels. The stocks were either Bishop or Fajens and the guns were drilled and tapped and had forged bolt handled and Williams sights. To put it plainly, these rifles were exactly the same rifles as were being made in every gunshop in America at that time, SPORTERIZED 98 MAUSERS! I have seen several up close and the workmanship while good is nothing to write home about! HTH WARMEST REGARDS Jerry
I think that Johnson 1941s were for sale as sporters for longer than just 2-3 years. How many sold I have no idea, but I remember seeing them for sale for much of my mis-spent youth in the 1ate '40s and '50s. They may have been sold by other distributors after Johnson gave up the ghost; all I remember is the many ads in gun magazines of the times.
A friend has one of those "sporters," and it is a crude job of sporterizing; neither "fine" nor "custom." More like Bubba with a spec sheet and a ruler by his hacksaw. I read somewhere that many of the "sporters" (the 1941s, not the Mausers) were made from the spare parts left over from the pre-WWII Dutch East Indies military contract. They bring high prices from military collectors now and there is at least one firm that specializes in "re-militarizing" them.
I've also seen several of the Mauser sporters with Johnson Automatics-marked barrels. Both were the plainer model than the one Ryan points out; both were .270s, if I remember correctly. Comparable to the conversions Kimber once did on Swedish M38s; very useful hunting guns, not fine nor truly custom. Would NOT kick one out of my safe....but more appropriate in a truck. (Jerry's evaluation is spot on). Stocks on the plain ones did look like the old Bishop "DIY" specials.
Some very interesting guns emanated from the brain of MMJ. But nothing truly beautiful or classy that I ever saw. "Automatics" kinda says it all about the guns associated with him, even the Mausers have a kind of factory-like uniformity about them.
the semi auto sporters had detachABLE box magzines and were quite different from the rotary mag militariesk whfich were loaded from the side with two sufccessive five shot 1903 clips. It is possible that only onbe or two of these sporters were mnade. I yhVEW H
I have never seen one for sale. damm thiws Ipad
I don't think that I have ever seen a rifle that I knew was stocked at Johnsons. I thought I had one of their catalogs but if I do I've lost it.
I have an early sporter that has a Johnson .257-Roberts barrel on it and a hot blue job. I think the stock is by Singer and if I can ever say for sure I'll pull the barrel and replace it with a period barrel and rust blue it.
The earliest Johnson auto rifles were commercial type semi autos w/detachable magazines, checkered stocks, sporter configuration, etc. They were made in the late 30's by the Taft Pierce Co (sp?) of RI.
They didn't make many. The change to the rotary mag was at the Armys request in '39 for their Ordnance Trials against the Garand. IIRC 7 of those commercial style rifles were built for the trials. The Garand won. It also lost (2nd place) to the Garand in the USMC trials (1940).
Some redesign was done to a more Military looking rifle and a name change to 'Model 1941'
The rotary mag was standard then.
These were Cranston Arms Co, Cranston ,RI mfg rifles.
Holland bought a large number but they never left the docks. The USMC bought a portion of that shipment (they were in cal 30-06) for outfitting Parachute Regiment(s).
The only other contract I've ever heard of was one to Chile during WW2 for around 1k riflesin 7x57 .
After WW2, Johnson Automatics sold out to Winchester in the early 50's. Winchester sold all the parts to Numrich.
Winfield Arms bought most all the remaining Dutch contract rifles from Holland and shipped them to Canada.
Winfield then bought the parts from Numrich.
Winfield built/rebuilt the Dutch rifles and any other J/A rifle they could put together from the parts. Some were 'sporter' models of the Military version. AFAIK all were the rotary mag version.
Some of the Winfield gun building operations probably went on in Canada as well as the USA. The J/A rifles from Winfield pretty much disappeared from the gun magazine ads in the mid 60's.
Melvin Johnson continued to put out different firearms products over the years including the sporterized Mausers, M1 Carbines including his 5.7mm Spitfire version. As I understand it,,those were for the most part made in his custom gunshop at his home in RI.
I don't know if Winchester allowed him to continue use of the J/A name after having sold the business to them. He used 'Johnson Arms Co. New Haven CT' for a time in the 60's.
Perhaps the bbls on some of the Mausers w/ 'J/Automatics' address were mfg'rd earlier. He did make bbls for US Ordnance too.
He did go to work for Winchester after he sold out his J/A Rifle business to them,,that was part of the deal.
He died in the mid 60's I believe.
In 1958-59, I messed about with one in 7x57. This came from Winfield. It had military sights & a rotary magazine and was not very "sporterized". At the time, I thought my 03A3 was decidedly more accurate.
Thanks, Kutter, for the full story. The "sporter" 1941 I handled was obviously a parts gun made up by Winfield, and now that you mention it, those were Winfield Arms ads I was seeing as a kid. (Only thing I ever actually got from them was a $9.95 mail order BSA Cadet action--now a .25-20).
Never saw one of the detachable mag REAL sporters; must be pretty scarce. There isn't even one (prototype military or sporter) at the small arms collection at Aberdeen Arsenal, if I remember correctly.
Weren't all the govt. contract "Johnson Automatics" barrels for the '03A3? I seem to remember seeing one on an '03A3.....or were they also for the rebuilt 1917s we handed out to our Greek, French, and Chinese allies in and after WWII?
Kutter, That was good information for me as I really know little of the man or the company.
Because their sporters were post-war and all I have seen where in the "Utilitarian" category I never paid them much attention.
Thanks very much.
If I'm not mistaken, the ref I read was about an 03 with a JA barrel in it. I can't find it now of course.
The rifle looks like a dalliance between an M16 (look at the bolt and stock spring) and a Garand (upper receiver and magazine). Not unattractive in its own weird way.
I just didn't know if they were regularly involved in some aspect of the custom rifle trade along with their military operation.
Ryan,
Perhaps you are remembering page 54 in Petrov's "Custom Gunmakers of the 20th Century". The photo of that rifle wound up on page 108.
Terry, you're right I believe. Thanks.
Michael - is that an S-man? That's the best inletting I've ever seen on a bolt action. Does the barrel fit the channel in the stock, I wonder? It has a relatively slender shank. I have no doubt that the channel fit the original barrel perfectly.
I vaguely remember that the autos had quick switch barrels and you could have an '06 and a .270 on the same rifle
Not an "S"-Man but does have the "S" shape to the pistol grip, not all that uncommon, Marlin did them by the thousands.
The barrel was made to fit in the inletting, thank goodness and not modified.
J/Automatics made replacement bbls for both the 03 and the 1917 that were used to refurb those rifles in US Arsenals. They have a simple 'JA' stamp at the muzzle.
The Model 1941 SemiAuto is a QD barrel rifle. Easy to unlatch with the point of a loaded round, the bbl simply slides forward and out.
It made it easy to stow as for Airborne Troops. It wasn't a feature designed so much for replacement though that was something easily done as well.
One thing that the rifle suffered from was an easily broken butt stock The area right behind the receiver at the top is usually cracked on most 1941's that have seen any use/action. Troops reported many damaged '41 stocks in jumps when the rifle was in the taken down condition.
Caliber change was simple as already mentioned as long as the cartridge head stayed standard 30-06 size and the OAL was within reason. 30-06 and 7x57 were contract calibers. 270 was a Winfield Arms offering quite often. Johnson was quite fond of the 270 also. Alot of those Mauser sporters were in 270.
I have read, but cannot remember where, that the US (USMC?) had a few Model 1941's still in storage and gave them to the members of the Bay of Pigs Invasion Force (Cuba).
Perhaps just someones thoughts, maybe fact,,I don't know. If true, those rifles will never be seen again.
It is known that Johnson bought back a few Mod '41's from the USMC/Quantico after WW2 and resold them through ads in magazines. I think primarily American Riflman.
The rotary magazine (serial number 'R' prefix on the original mfg 'commercial style' rifles for rotary) gave a firepower leg up on the Garand. But only over the course of a large number of rounds being loaded and fired.
It suffered from damage easily, it's sheet metal covering being dented left it useless, and dirt & sand would prevent the rotary mech from feeding. Being a non-detachable mag,,the soldier was stuck with a single shot rifle.
It also makes the rifle uncomfortable to carry with with one hand. That large magazine right about where your hand would go.
The protective wings on the front sight are often found broken off. They were commonly removed in the field (with a pliers!). Quickly pointing and shooting a '41 will show you that it is very easy to pick up one of the 'wings' as the front sight blade instead of the blade itself.
I did that the first time I shot my first Model '41.
An interesting man and rifle for sure.
Locating one of those early commercial sporters w/ the detachable box magazine would certainly be a nice find.
I'm not sure what happened to the rotary mag versions built for the Ordnance trials.
I thought I had seen a Johnson Automatics barrel on a 1917 that was among some rifles captured in Korea from the PLA. Most I have seen were on O3A4s tho. Never seen one on a '03, but I suspect there are some around.
People sometimes get the 1941 semiauto rifle mixed up with the Johnson LMG, which was also USMC issue, and probably what turned up in "Cuber," as JFK called it.
johnson moved from r.i. to wrentham ma. in the late 50s he sold the business to benko alexander and his wife sonja for 10,000.00 at the time. it then became known as gartman arms. they had available diff. weight sporters. the barrels where timken steel and offered in bantam, light, reg. etc. the stock work was done by alexander and the checkering was done by eric herzog. there was a large inventory of stock blanks available in all grades. they seldom if never used bishop and later used fajan to save on labor costs. there was a man named ed? johnson that did the barrel work and straightening.i have an .30 cal. bantan wt. barrel.i also have a 7x57 full stocked mannlicker with presentation wood and fully eng. by j. adams sr. from the late 60s.
Pretty snazzy, gonna knick that stocker "swingin' Johnson"?
Very interesting thread!
(Ryan, your book ships this AM)
I saw this rifle on gunbroker awhile back, now I can't help but wonder if it was a Johnson modified Mauser, especially because of an
e-bay ad and the similarity of the front sight of the rifle to the one in the drawing in the ad.
Mauser
Here is a pic of a JA stamp on a pretty clean 1917 I picked up years ago, rifle was close to new as rebuilt for WW2. For a 2 groove barrel it is a very good shooter.
This rifle has a ton of charactor
johnr, I envy you your rebuilt 1917. Don't think people know what a part those played in WWII and the various unsung fracas' that followed. Their service just didn't stop with what my Granddad always called "The BIG War" (to differentiate it from that little fuss with the silly Nazis and those pesky Japanese....).
I have a Winchester-made Pattern 14 that apparently sat out WWs I AND II in Canada. But it's getting its share of shooting now; more fun to shoot than a '17 because it don't kick! Too many miles and foot-pounds on my shoulder joints to enjoy an '06 any more.
Lucked into an excellent copy of James Howe's book "The Amateur Guncraftsman" yesterday, 2nd ed. 1953 so I can retire my beat-up First Ed. (Cost me a whole dime; lots of things to hate about LA but the used book market isn't one of them).
In re-reading it for changes and updates, I noticed that Howe recommends re-barreling single shot rifles for Camp Perry use:
"The barrel should be 28 inches in length, and made by the Johnson Automatic Arms Company, Providence R.I., and can then be used at Camp Perry, Ohio, each year in the National Matches." (p.195)
I wonder if this ever happened? Anybody seen a Johnson Automatics barrel on a Perry match rifle? (I BET it wasn't a Farquharson as Howe recommends....).
There wasa JOhnson light machine gun which I believe - I am not sure of any of this - was adopted by the Marine Corps and used in the August 1942 raid on Makin Island.
Here's some info and a few pics on the combat usage of mostly the J/Automatics LMG.
http://www.johnsonautomatics.com/combatuse.htmNote the reference at the bottom of the page in the link to the Bay of Pigs invasion.
I did find this picture (note: pro-Cuban website) of victorious Cuban forces celebrating after the defeat of the invasion. Notice the J/A Rifle held high in the air in the back ground. Most probably a souvenier taken from an invasion member.
http://cubajournal.blogspot.com/2010/04/playa-giron-in-heart-of-cubans.htmlThe 'scope sighted bolt rifle in front is sort of interesting too..
Yup- that's a Johnson in the background, a few Garands- not sure what the BA scoped rifle is in the fore-front, but it is NOT a K98 Mauser-my "SWAG" is a 1903-A3 Springfield- the 1903-A3 was easier to use with a scope- as it didn't have the elevator rear sight as did the 1903 and the Mauser K98, and the Krag-Jorgensen .30-40 cal. The USMC did get a few Johnson 10 rd. semi-auto rifles, but were still using the 1903's and 1903-A3's long after the G.I.'s in the ETO had issue Garands--The Johnson was a fine weapon for its time, but the Garand became "The" rifle for all combat troops by 1943-- Patton sure approved of it- Hitler had his ordnance section trying to copy it.
Re: that scoped BA --Fidel was known to favor a scoped .30-06 Model 70 Winchester. There are many posed photos of him carrying it in the Sierra Madre before the takeover, and this may be it. Can't really tell from the pic, but the that rifle doesn't scream "Springfield" to me.
