WWII Johnson M1941 rifle @ 420 yards

[WurledPeas]

These rifles are so cool. I wish I had one. I remember them being dime a dozen at the gun sows when I was a kid. Seemed the sellers couldn't give them away. I wanted to get one but was too young and my dad scorned them because they were "Marine Corps rifles." He was army. All of a sudden they are selling for outrageous prices, when you could find them. I wish someone would repro them. Very nice rifle.

[tsmgguy]

It's heresy, I know, but the M1941 has some features that I prefer to the Garand. I've often wondered how the '41 would have performed if it had been subject to the long product improvement cycle of the Garand.

The M1941 was never a serious contender for US adoption, although it was used in small numbers as a stopgap automatic rifle pending the arrival of large numbers of Garands.

[reddyeddy69]

The Garand had it all over the Johnson in durability, speed of loading and strength. Any rifle with an exposed moving barrel isn't fit for general issue. Still, it would have been a good idea for the WW2 US military to use this rifle as an alternate sniper rifle. The scope wouldn't prevent use of 5-rnd chargers like the '03A4.Issuing 1 or 2 to per squad for units equipped with 03s/17s like the Free French and dropping 8mm versions for the FFI would have been a good ideas too.

[kullas924]

u use regular off the shelf 30-06 or mil surplus i heard you put new stuff through m1 guarnds or rifles for from that time they get all messed up dueto higher overall manfacture

[Thatevilmidget]

I love the Johnson... it's ridiculously complex, and expensive as hell to make, but it's also one of the most uniquely designed firearms that's ever been designed. Also, that's the first time I've ever seen one being loaded! I was always curious how that was accomplished.

[nativedjd]

beautiful piece

[santosm81]

One neat design there

[HostileSausage]

Whats with the metal part going around the middle of the rifle?

[GovVance]

@HostileSausage The magazine

[phillippibeard]

@HostileSausage It's the magazine where the bullets go. It's round on the inside like the inside of a wine barrel, and the cartridges travel in circle under the action. The bullets are not in a straight column like most rifles. I found that odd the first time I used the rifle, but it worked just fine.

[scallywag86]

Neat. Wouldn`t mind firing off a few rounds in one of those myself. What`s the accuracy like?

[Icandrum2]

lol the reload is soo sick on this gun.... to bad they dont make it anymore! i would so want one! wow that must be hard to get the stripper clip in there in the middle of combat if your hands were shaking from the adrenaline. thank god the army picked the M1 garand when they did.

[mag30th]

@Icandrum2 Reloading this rifle is not as easy as the Garand, BUT it is really not that difficult either, in fact it is simple. The downfall of this rifle was its complexity, the rejection of it by the US military had very little to do with its performance. In fact, when the Garand was first designed and about to enter the competition for the government contract, it (the Garand) was designed to shoot ten rounds of the win 270 cartridge, while this rifle was shooting ten 30.06.

[Icandrum2]

@mag30th wow sweet. i learned somthing new today. thanks :)

[BlackEcho24]

you should've showed how to load/reload it, since it looks more complicated than the M1's design with its rotary magazine. other than that, i'd say i'd prefer the M1 since, like i said, the johnson looks to be more complicated, so i'd imagine it's alot harder to clean/maintain than the M1.

[11251309]

how much do you pay for ??

[Schultz98]

very cool gun! you have a great collection of classic firearms!

[augdog18]

Folks need to make sure to clean their Johnson. Regularly.

[the41guy]

The rifles and Lmg depicted in these videos are originals. I've shot my rifles and LMG numerous times. Every time I go the range with them they always bring a crowd. The Johnson is faster to target than the M1. All it takes is practice.

[bsrman36]

Is this rifle original or a reproduction?

[mag30th]

This is an original.

[druisteen2]

never heard that they have reproduction of this

[SuperTelecom]

Good video, quite informative. I was always curious about how it was loaded too, its an interesting mechanism. Probably not practicle in battle but it would certanly be a great rifle to collect and shoot. Especially one in that condition.

Cheers.

[MoonRing]

its my understanding that its shortcomings weren't in how it loaded but in how it was disassembled or "field stripped" for quick cleaning by a soldier having smaller parts it was easier to lose a screw or something in a battlefield as compared to the garands construction.

[SuperTelecom]

Ah ok. I don't know all that much about the M41. this is the first video I've seen showing how it was loaded. It looks a lot more complex than the Garand was on the outside let alone internally. I can guess how easy it was to screw up during a field stip (probably worse than the AVS-36, which was bad enough) I guess they just wanted the all round best rifle. I like the look of the M1 more than the Garand though.

[kiwitedferny]

My Johnson rifle arrived today! Do you know where you can purchase the stripper clips? And how did you lock the working parts to the rear?

[Mr2ndAmendment]

Wow, I was surprised to see that you had a Johnson rifle... I want to get one eventually but I have no idea where to even start... As usual, nice video and the rifle is in amazing shape!  Good shooting. I'm coming back to Valencia in December for about a week and I'm going to try to bring out my K98k and Mosin Nagant and go shooting with my friends, maybe we can meet at a place to shoot sometime? Nice vid!

[hijodelnop]

Which is the reason that the m1941 was used in Bay of Pigs invasion????

Was a cheap rifle???

Or they wanted a rifle that don´t look so american like de m1???

[243rem]

where the heck did you find a Johnson? I've never found one.

[MrRifleman5]

i want 2 know how an m1 garand beat it this does no make the infamous ping of death.also you have made it seem like an acurate gun the thing i could take from it is that i dont know how reliable it is will jam easily does it need constant repair in the pacific would come to a halt on the beaches of normandy these thing i need to know

[mag30th]

1 of 2 The "ping of death" is more of a rumor that started after the war, in fact many would manually ping a spent en-bloc to draw out the enemy. The ping could work both ways and both side quickly determined that.

Yes, the Johnson was accurate, but not as accurate as the Garand. It has a floating barrel that cycles the entire barrel with each shot. When the bayonet was mounted it became even more inaccurate.

.

[mag30th]

2 of 2 It doesnt jam any more than the Garand, but its internal complexity is a nightmare, toss some sand or water into it and forget it, it had gone from a rifle to a shovel. The Garand can be completely taken apart without tools, while most owners of this rifle are afraid to disassemble them inside their workshop, let alone a So. Pacific Island.

While this is a beautiful collectable, the Garand is a indestructible and easily produced battle gun.

[legogunreplicas]

@mag30th yes i know, i think that we can all agree that we know alot about weapons and the wars they were in

[Bl0odVomit]

The johnson sux... its larg, heavy, hard to aim, and, well just a terrible rifle. The m1 would just own the johnson anyday. Thats y they picked it

[mag30th]

While I agree that the Garand is the better rifle, the Johnson is also a very capable rifle as well.

The Garand is 43.6 inches, while the Johnson is 45 inches, wouldnt consider that "large."

Both the Garand and the Johnson weigh 9.5 pounds, so I dont know why you call it heavy.

Hard to aim? The sight picture is nearly identical to the Garand's it is actually as easy as the Garand to aim, and the sight picture of the Garand was one of its strong points.

[Bl0odVomit]

When i say the the johnson is large, i mean bulky. It is a fatter rifle and therefor larger.

When i said it was heavy, i know they weigh the same, but wen i felt the johnson, it just felt heavier to me idk

When i said it is harder to aim, it is. The rear sight hole is a lot smaller and it takes longer to line up a shot. Also that gives it a lower visability level.

[AlienZygote010]

@mag30th - that's what happens when people who only have video game experience comment - they spew nonsense.

[viperboost931]

@mag30th If I'm not mistaken the number one con to the Johnson, and what could have dogged it, is that the magazines are complicated and dent easily. And as we all know, dented mags don't usually work like they should. That Aside, like you said, capable.

[Thatevilmidget]

@viperboost931 The easily dented magazine was one of the main issues cited when the Johnson was rejected, but the biggest issue was the complication and expense involved in building the rifles. Garands could be cranked out much faster and at much lower cost while providing similar firepower, so the military chose them over the Johnson. It's something of a shame because the Johnson is an excellent rifle...

[TheDudeMan130]

@Bl0odVomit lol you just got OWNED by this dude

[legogunreplicas]

@Bl0odVomit the johnson rifle has a magazine that you can top off unlike your boyfriend the m1

[legogunreplicas]

@Bl0odVomit the johnson rifle has a magazine that you can top off unlike your boyfriend the m1 garand

[Bl0odVomit]

@legogunreplicas what are you stupid? You can top off the M1, open the chamber, and press the button on the side and the clip ejects, Then insert another and keep on keepin' on

[legogunreplicas]

@Bl0odVomit  thats not topping off the magm, topping off the mag is when you add ammo to the magazine that your firing with out removing the unfired bullets from the gun

[Bl0odVomit]

@legogunreplicas Ok, what evr, but most magazined rifles can't be topped off, and also the Johnson uses striper clips instead of an en-block. Stripper clips are a bit harder to load into a rifle, they are loaded into the right side which you have to take the time to find the stripper clip guides, and you have to move your head to see it. Plus you need to use 2 clips insted of 1 with the m1. And you have to extract the stripper clips after you load the rounds. So the Johnson takes longer to load

[legogunreplicas]

@Bl0odVomit the only reason that we didnt make the johnson rifle standard issuse was because we already had a contract with springfield and that we would have to retrain our men in the middle of combat zones, our marine 1st parachute division used them and liked them and the m1 had the unmistakeable sound of the clip popping out wich alerted enemys close by that there was a guy with an empty weapon

[Bl0odVomit]

@legogunreplicas The "ping" from the en block wasn't really a problem. Think about it, most squads have 6 men. Maby one of them has a thompson or grease gun for being a sergent or officer. Then you maby have one soilder with a carbine because he is a radio op, or a B.A.R. gunner. The other 4 have Garands. So even if one does run out and the "ping" ocures, you still have 3 guys that are loaded and still shooting, plus the 2 other soilders are still loaded and are shooting/ ready to shoot.

[legogunreplicas]

@legogunreplicas lets just agree that we both know alot about ww2 guns and battles that they were in

[roopr]

@Bl0odVomit Have you ever fired an M1941 SA Johnson Rifle? Size and Weight of the rifle are actually comparable to one another. Accuracy is also comparable, but the Johnson has a 10 shot rotary magazine while the M1 Garand is an 8 shot clip fed magazine. The US Military chose the M1 Garand because or two main reasons:1, Manufacturing time; 2, Ease of maintance on the M1 Garand vs. the Johnson.

[airsoftloverusp]

@Bl0odVomit Dude fuck you they did not pick it over the johnson they already had thousands of garands ps your prolly ten you cant even spell large.

[Bl0odVomit]

@airsoftloverusp Actualy I'm not 10, I'm Icelandic so English spelling isn't exactly the easyest thing for me to do... And yeah they did pick the Garand over the Johnson as the standard issue rifle. Stop trollin'

[airsoftloverusp]

@Bl0odVomit NO they didnt they already had the garand and did not want to wast them all but yeah the Grand is better im just stating the obvious about why they didnt pick the johnson.

[cogger44]

the johnson rifle had a number of problems compared to the garand, such as too much of the barrel was exposed on the johnson and it could bend or break in combat. but the major factor was it needed lubricated rounds which are terrible in a combat situation as they jam in dusty conditions much easier than a non lubricated round.

[seanaverypwns]

omg i want one but i bet there really hard to find. i like how the mag is loaded its pretty cool.

[JJR93]

I think I remember reading about the USMC using these early on in the War, in the Pacific.

Cool video.

[rarfuls]

That's a nice rifle! I'm a lucky owner of a M1 Johnson as well and they shoot great. Whenever I bring mine to the range, I always get a small gathering of people asking about it.

Good shooting, great vid!

[DrakrSlyr]

BAD ASS

[gragrn]

Beautiful rifle, I'd only read about them but never seen one in action. Many thanks!

[gamerkid1177]

@gragrn I saw one in a gun shop for $6,000. I wish I had $6,000 :(

[DivineMaddog]

lol 420, but what a nice looking rifle

[mag30th]

I profile most of the rifles at the same shooting range, thats why they are all at 420 yards.

[DivineMaddog]

I know but I get a chuckle every time I see that #

[joseph299]

Loser...

[88pie88]

my nabor was in the korean war and he used one, he bought it after the war bacause he liked it more than the m1. he only payed 80$ after the war XD

[DonMeaker]

I thought it looked like a pregnant guppy. Shoots well, but didn't work so well with the bayonet. The light machinegun version was very promising, but the odd decision to have a very long single column side magazine made it unwieldy.

[youBeppe90]

Good rifle... In my opinion it is more beautiful than Garand...

[kakashi010203]

Next time, could you please make a video of you reloading the gun? I know that the Johnson has a 10-round cylindrical magazine, but I never really understood how you were supposed to reload the rifle. Do you put in one round at a time or do you stuff in some stripper clips?

[mag30th]

It uses two five round stripper clips.

[chakicheese]

im 16 years old and im volantiear at the police and i shoot this gun...

[kjsh987]

the big johnson right?

[mag30th]

Yup!

[xxxjastaticxxxx]

the thing is this gun is sooooooooooooooo.... hard to find

[vinstorm4]

simply beautiful and amazing gun....lots of luck!!!!

[vinstorm4]

where did you find this rifle!!!

[kiwitedferny]

Fantastic! I haven't seen this rifle before, let alone seen one firing. Any idea of current value?Cheers

Ted

[mag30th]

Thanks! The cheapest one Ive seen, in poor condition, had a starting bid on it for $4,700, I dont recalll what it closed at. This rifle Im guessing would run between 6-8 thousand, possibly more.

[Milithane]

A Big Johnson eh? How much did that run you?

And, great video.

[STEELPOT1]

Looks like a design ahead of its time.Did they ever considered a drum or stick mag for this weapon?

[PHXSJAZ]

Boy that's a fine example of a M1914. Thanks for sharing.

[1kperday]

Very cool! I'd love to see a vid on loading the Johnson. I understand you can top the mag off with loose rounds also. Maybe next time!

[MosinDragunov1891]

Wow, what a beautiful rifle! I hope to own one of these one day but I don't expect to seeing as they're rare and expensive.

Wonderful video. Thanks for posting and thanks to your friend for loaning you the rifle.

[jmk0309]

m1 garand or a 1903 springfield for me probably the springfield.

[Zeanu]

I don't care what the others say, that rifle looks by far more modern than the Garand. I love both things but this one's just awesome.

[majorporpoise]

It's official, you have EVERY US military rifle EVER.

All you need is a Krag & a 1903a4.

I've actually held one of these before, they jam all the time, but they're pretty interesting.

[mag30th]

Oh GEZZ!!! I wish!! Although most are mine, many (including this one) are owned friends,

And as far as jamming, the owner has been in possession of it for nearly 40 years, and never had any jamming or feeding problems with it. So long as it is clean, using the proper ammo, and nothing is making contact with the barrel when fired (the barrel actually moves, cycling the next round) it will shoot like clockwork every time, or at least this one does... :-)

[majorporpoise]

I guess when they were talking about jamming, they meant in combat terrain, & in Guadalcanal.

[mag30th]

Yes, I could see that happening... the rifle is very complex, too complex in my opinion.

[majorporpoise]

Indeed. I would rather have a M1917 Enfield or an M1921 Thompson.

[batbag12]

Did you have it rebarreled??? I thought it was chambered for the .276 Pederson?

[mag30th]

No, this is original 1941, 7,000-8,000 serial number range.

To the best of my knowledge, the Johnsons were chambered for the .30-06 Springfield and the 7x57mm Mauser

[batbag12]

I just looked it up and you are right. I thought I had read somewhere that the Garand switched from the .276 to the 30-06 but the Johnson was never switched over. I just got the original Pederson rifle and the Johnson mixed up. The Johnson is a very interesting rifle, and was sadly, kind of lost to history because it was never heavily fielded. I am still happy the Garand won out though. :)

[mag30th]

I like the Garand too, much simpler, and un-failing rifle.

[swansandtyphus]

After the war ended why were the Americans slow to adopt a fully automatic rifle? I read that the Soviets developed the AK-47 after studying the German 7.92mm assault rifle soon after 1945. Why didn't the US military see the benefits of a less expensive easy to produce and easy to use semi and fully automatic weapon rather than continuing to use the M-1in Korea and later the M-14 and the initially problematic M-16 in Vietnam. Surely copying and improving the AK would have been a better approach?

[randomusernamemygod]

Soviets did not study the German 7.92 assault rifle. A rifle of its kind was long in the process of being made widespread.

The Russians already had an assault rifle, they created the first one before ww1 the "federov avtomat" but because of the Russian Revolution and Stalinisation this idea went into void for a period of time. The Federovs were put into storage only to be re-issued in the winter war to elite units.

[Gorbachev]

I love ugly guns. Never heard of this one actually.. how wide spread was its usage?

[dutchdelights]

The Dutch colonial army in Indonesia ordered the Johnson, but got overrun by the Japanese prior to delivery. The US marines then bought the batch, i'm not sure if more where made in large quantaties.

[mred6554]

ahhh ive seen these before. i didnt know you could buy them. to my knolege they were never used in combat. im pretty sure they were one of the many prototypes for the m1 garand. i could be wrong tho. but i would love to own one

[Gorbachev]

From what I've gathered so far it was in direct competition with the M1 Garand. Garand was made by none other than Mr. Garand and this was obviously made by Johnson.

Sounds to me like some Marines ended up using some in the Pacific.

[hathcocked]

Man what a neat rifle. Thanks for showing it in action!

[batbawls]

Not much of a looker, but the magazine design is very interesting! That rifle is also in amazing shape.

[OgamerNL]

Damned nice!

That gun makes me remind of the M1-Garand[ The Butstock], and also makes me remind of the Sten [Where the barrel begins and the end of the wood]

What calliber does it fire?

Oh, and as usual, realy nice video mate :D

[Gorbachev]

.30-06

[weaponeer]

I love the Johnson design, but never could afford one of the original rifles.

I'm currently in the process of bringing a Johnson 1941 LMG back to life that was built in Israel in 8mm as the DROR. it's like a cross between the Johnson and a BAR (mag fed johnson) with the 8mm version having the mag on the bottom (the original 30.06 had the side mag). Great weapons with unique designs

[kylmrtn]

I was wondering when you were going to get your hands on one of these

[jubbles2343]

an odd looking rifle, how reliable was the feeding mechanism? lovely bit of kit either way

[SavageArms357]

Surprisingly, I've never seen that rifle in my life.

Good shooting.

[shevrock]

Where did you find that beauty i love all the "odder" WWII rifles.