Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Object of desire: M1941 Johnson rifle


Have you ever seen a rifle that tripped your “I really want that” trigger the first time you saw a picture of it?

I first saw a photo of the M1941 Johnson rifle probably twenty years ago, and have wanted to get my hands on one ever since. Unfortunately there were only about 35,000 ever made and many of those were destroyed in combat in the South Pacific, so this video is (sigh) probably as close as I’m ever going to get.

I’ll warn you in advance that the cameraman for this video is the owner of the rifle is he’s heard wheezing all the way though the video, and whispers his opinion of firearms designer Eugene Stoner at about the six-minute mark.

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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 10, 2013 at 5:17 PM

    Having shot one (My uncle "Ross" owned one he "liberated" in 1946) I never liked it. They jam A LOT if not cleaned "twice a day whether they need it or not" They are EXTREMLY sensitive to dirt and carbon build up( heard that before?). Its the primary reason the Corp took them out of service in late '43, And I share the mans opinion of E. Stoner as I deeply hate everything the man ever designed.---Ray

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  2. UnknownDecember 10, 2013 at 6:40 PM

    Agree with Ray on all counts.
    I've been privy to one of these also, and I'm not impressed.
    And as Ray said, I'm not a fan of E. Stoner either. Matter of fact I wouldn't have a AR type series rifle of his design. (I'm being nice with my thoughts here, as I have read considerable amounts on Stoner and his AR, including the initial Nam experience and Nader's meddling into it which cost many American lives.) Bill Ruger (Min1 14/30 modeled after Garand) and Mikhail Kalashnikov are much superior designs.

    OTOH I am a great fan of Carbine Williams. Anyone seen the movie made about him? Just a note of this influence by Williams you may not know. He designed the floating chamber/barrel system that you see today in most sporting firearms. This also made possible the *adapters*/converters making it possible to shoot 22 rimfire in Colt 45s.

    His invention affected shotguns first, with the Remington 550/552 Speedmaster being the first 22 semi-auto rimfire showing how versatile this system is. I own an early production 552 BDL and it has always been my favorite 22 rimfire rifle. And that was before I knew anything of Carbine Williams.

    Michael-- Deo Vindicabamur

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  3. Brock TownsendDecember 10, 2013 at 6:49 PM

    Thanks. Carbine Williams: sounds like he should have been one of my cowboy heroes growing up. :)

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  4. UnknownDecember 10, 2013 at 6:50 PM

    One correction I didn't catch until I was reflecting on what I had wrote. It was Nader, my apologies. It was Robert McNamara. Defense secretary who tried to micromanage the country and military. He was one of the 5 guys referred to as the "whiz kids" of their day.(some claim 10 whiz kids of business.) Lee Iacocca was another of them. (Oddly both worked at Ford and both cost the company as much as they made it.) None of the 5 were worth the powder to shoot them either!

    Michael-- Deo Vindicabamur

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  5. UnknownDecember 10, 2013 at 6:53 PM

    Carbine Williams was born and died in NC. Homegrown..
    Very interesting life story...

    Michael-- Deo Vindicabamur

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    Replies
    1. Brock TownsendDecember 10, 2013 at 10:53 PM

      I just checked it out. An amazing story which I will post. Thanks.

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