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Unfortunately, the Johnson never saw large-scale acceptance, as the 1918
Browning Automatic Rifle already had its foot in the door as America’s
automatic rifle. Much like the Johnson Rifle, the machine gun was
accepted as a substitute weapon by the United States Marine Corps due
to a shortage of BARs in the early days of the war, seeing use with the
Marine Raiders and the Paramarines. The Johnson also found fans with
the famous First Special Service Force, which found that the agile weapon
was a good fit for their fast and aggressive tactics. The five-line, two-block
address and patent marks are present on top of the receiver, with the
Cranston Arms “triangle” marking on the right side near the buttstock.
The walnut foregrip, grip panels and buttstock on this factory retained
example are hand selected walnut. A rectangular metal tag marked “W
121” is affixed to the left side of the trigger group, an inventory tag for
the Winchester Factory Collection, once used as a study piece for their
engineers; an included copy of “Inventory of the Winchester Firearms
Reference Collection” by Johnson, Burton, Pugsley, Hall, et. al., identifies
this scarce Johnson LMG by its serial number “2881”, along with its barrel
number “8492K”, as item number 2017 in the Winchester Collection
(page 296). A prominent blade front sight is installed on the barrel with
“30-06/’41” on the flange. The trigger housing is numbered to match the
receiver, with a right side mounted selector switch with “AUTO”, “SAFE”,
and “SEMI” markings. Internally, the housing contains both a hammer
and a bolt sear, switching between them for semi-automatic and full
automatic operation, respectively; switching from semi to full causes
the bolt to lock back next time it is retracted, and switching from full to
semi causes the bolt to immediately fall closed. Included with the lot
are thirteen (total) stick magazines, tan canvas sling (proper length for the
Johnson), instruction manual and an extra barrel.
CONDITION: Excellent, with 95% plus original parkerized finish, showing
mild wear and spotting. The wood is also excellent, with some scattered
dings and scuffs. The grip safety is absent, with a small filler piece in
its place; otherwise, the item is mechanically excellent in both semi-
automatic and full automatic modes. NOTE: This weapon is a National
Firearms Act (NFA), fully transferable Class 3, which is registered with
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (BATFE) that
is classified as a “Curios or Relic” as defined in 27 CFR, 478.11. These
weapons are still subject to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44 and
27 CFR part 479.
Estimate: 75,000 - 95,000
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