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Posted: 10/13/2011 5:03:10 AM EDT
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Bakelite
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=49c7917630c76963# Johnson rifle http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=e5baa260d3f0e143 |
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BAKELITE UFA MOVIE 1930
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrJZWIsbDto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBztkm295fw |
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Quoted:
"Code JA" (Johnson) Light Machine Gun Caliber .30 T48 http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6738-SA.A.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6739-SA.C.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6740-SA.A.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6741-SA.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6742-SA.1.jpg You can see at least 3-4 future SAW design elements in that Code JA LMG (Johnson Automatics) 
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Quoted:
"Code JA" (Johnson) Light Machine Gun Caliber .30 T48 http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6738-SA.A.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6739-SA.C.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6740-SA.A.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6741-SA.1.jpg http://ww2.rediscov.com/springar/full/6742-SA.1.jpg That is awesome. |
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JOHNSON RIFLES AND MACHINE GUNS book
http://napoleonv.pl/opis/561303/johnson-rifles-and-machine-guns.html |
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Yeah, but kind of ironic that the Johnson was rejected due to bayonet attachment issues.
That was one of the issues, but not the only one or even the most important. What really killed the Johnson was the Garand getting accepted five years earlier. Had the Johnson come first, the decision might well have gone the other way, as each offered some advantages over the other, but not enough to make one or the other the obvious choice. Either one, though, was a quantum improvement over the Springfield, and over the similar Mauser-action rifles fielded by most world powers. The Russians also tried to go semi-auto at this point, but they had to back off. For an army, the decision is about more than just one rifle. There are entire systems of logistics, maintenance and training that need to be considered. By 1941 the US was gearing up for war (the draft, War Production Board, lend-lease were all in play) and no one in his right mind would have changed over rifle production unless the new rifle was as far ahead of the Garand as the M1 was vis-a-vis the Springfield. That rifle would not exist until Gene Stoner –– and Mel Johnson –– tried to answer the problems posed by SLA Marshall's writing (especially The Soldier's Load) by making the lightest lethal infantry weapon possible... the Johnson bolt is a clear forerunner of the M16s. So the Johnson is a really, really retro black rifle. They're also cool because of their wartime associations: Marine Raiders, 1st Special Service Force, and OSS all used Johnson guns. Well, they were left over from the Netherlands East Indies contract, and those units were all stepchildren. After reading an article ion the Johnson n American Rifleman decades ago, I wanted one so badly I could taste it. I bought the first one I could afford. Now, I have two... them that has, gets. |
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Quoted:
JOHNSON RIFLES AND MACHINE GUNS book http://napoleonv.pl/opis/561303/johnson-rifles-and-machine-guns.html I have a book on Johnsons but I'm not sure if it's the same one. I just went looking for it with no joy... it is not in the usual place. Now, this book was written by Col. Johnson. (He was legitimately a bird colonel, a Reserve ordnance officer). http://www.librarything.com/work/10488392/book/65278049 It is dry, a mere overview, and very very dated. It cost me a lot of money for some kind of current but facsimile edition that I suspect is an on-demand hardcover. As a gun writer he was a pretty good gun engineer. |
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Found two of these by Johnson currently listed on Amazon:
Automatic Arms; their history, development and use: AUTOMATIC ARMS |
I've always loved the Johnson Automatic rifle - had the chance to buy one once for $400 but the fiancee nixed it - we didn't get married - I should have bought it.  Anyway, I've never seen the pic of the different barrel lengths. I always thought a shorter barrelled carbine version would be ideal. I knew they had quick change barrels, but now I'm wondering if the FSSF used shorter versions. Not only do I want one, but imagine one in 6.8SPC - it'd even be ban-state legal! 
I would love to see someone manufacture this firearm again, but alas, there's likely not enough of a market. ETA: I couldn't resist - I had to photoshop that pic for a 'Tanker Johnson' Tell me it wouldn't make a sweet little gun, especially in a different caliber. 
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Quoted:
I've always loved the Johnson Automatic rifle - had the chance to buy one once for $400 but the fiancee nixed it - we didn't get married - I should have bought it. Anyway, I've never seen the pic of the different barrel lengths. I always thought a shorter barrelled carbine version would be ideal. I knew they had quick change barrels, but now I'm wondering if the FSSF used shorter versions. Not only do I want one, but imagine one in 6.8SPC - it'd even be ban-state legal!
I would love to see someone manufacture this firearm again, but alas, there's likely not enough of a market. ETA: I couldn't resist - I had to photoshop that pic for a 'Tanker Johnson' Tell me it wouldn't make a sweet little gun, especially in a different caliber. http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h92/Morg308/johnsontanker.jpg Wow !!!!!! I've never ever seen a Johnson Carbine before. That's just beautiful. |
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Quoted:
I would love to see someone manufacture this firearm again, but alas, there's likely not enough of a market. Quoted:
it'd even be ban-state legal! I think you found the answer right there! Think about it, first of all it's a sweet rifle, and second, ban state legal! If you were limited to 10 rounds in the rifle, being able to slap more in whenever you wanted to top off would be a great way to solve the problem. And if you were to produce it in another caliber, be it .308 or maybe even 5.56, I bet you could get a lot more rounds in it...Hey...If you were in a state that didn't regulate the capacity of *fixed* magazines, then you might have a 20 or 30 round magazine of 5.56 in that thing, and be able to load it up as you went from M-16 clips.... |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I would love to see someone manufacture this firearm again, but alas, there's likely not enough of a market. Quoted:
it'd even be ban-state legal! I think you found the answer right there! Think about it, first of all it's a sweet rifle, and second, ban state legal! If you were limited to 10 rounds in the rifle, being able to slap more in whenever you wanted to top off would be a great way to solve the problem. And if you were to produce it in another caliber, be it .308 or maybe even 5.56, I bet you could get a lot more rounds in it...Hey...If you were in a state that didn't regulate the capacity of *fixed* magazines, then you might have a 20 or 30 round magazine of 5.56 in that thing, and be able to load it up as you went from M-16 clips.... The topper would be to actually produce it in New York State, bringing jobs to the area. It'd be pretty hard for them to legislate against that! I grew up in upstate Ny and every time I go home I'm aware of this - have to leave most guns with Olgunner before I 'cross the border'. Next time I have an M1 carbine with collapsible stock - it's preban. Screw their stupid laws. |
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The FSSF never used the Johnson Rifle, only the Johnson Light Machine Gun. They wanted the firepower of a BAR, but something easier for airborne troops to carry in parachute operations.
The Force operated outside the normal supply chain, and the 125 Johnson LMGs were procured from the USMC in trade for a quantity of the newly developed RS explosive. (The Supercommandos, Ross, pp. 260-261) Maynard Johnson worked as a consultant at Armalite during the development period of the AR-10/AR-15 in the 1950s and lent Stoner and the design team his concept for a multi-lugged rotating bolt that locks within a barrel extension, as had been used in every Johnson weapon. I don't know for certain where the inspiration for the AR-10/AR-15 's arrangement of the driving spring nesting within a tube in an in-line buttstock came from, but it is similar to that used on the M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun. |
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