My Johnson 1941 LMG To Keep my Johnson 1941 Rifle Company

**samnev** · 08-22-2012, 08:02 PM

Back in the late 60's I acquired a nice Johnson 1941 with the original bayonet and scabbard. I always wanted a 1941 LMG to keep it company. I believe (not sure) only 7,000 were made and were used by the US Marines in the Pacific for a while and the US Army in Italy. It is select both semi and fully automatic. It is a real hand full ( 30-06) when fired in full auto as it is only 12 or 13 lbs IIRC. The 25 round left side feeding magazine also makes it very ungainly. An interesting note the mag can also be topped off with 5 round stripper clips in tha same manner as the Johnson rifle by inserting the clip in the right side of the receiver. A few photos of my buddy Steve shooting the Johnson on his visit to Arizona a few years ago.

**António Fragoeiro** · 08-22-2012, 08:06 PM

Outstanding photos mate.
That is a really beautiful LMG.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers.
Nuno

**samnev** · 08-22-2012, 08:15 PM

You are welcome. Thanks for the compliment Nuno it is appreciated.
Cheers,
Sam

**lithgow** · 08-22-2012, 08:37 PM

A rare bird indeed-in the excellent Ken Burns documentary 'The War', the Johnson LMG was shown in footage with the US Rangers at Anzio-you're a lucky and dedicated collector to have one!

**samnev** · 08-22-2012, 09:36 PM

Thanks Lithgow. It took me 25 years to find the LMG after I got the rifle. I missed the Ken Burns documentary but I also have seen footage of their use in Italy.

**KradSpam** · 08-22-2012, 09:55 PM

What a lovely little LMG. It reminds me very much of the modern 'minimi' M249.

**MarkV** · 08-22-2012, 10:16 PM

What a beauty!! I'd love to fire one of those!!

**samnev** · 08-23-2012, 04:36 PM

Thanks Mark for your kind reply. The Johnson LMG is really a very hard recoiling rifle. It's not a very pleasant rifle to shoot in 30-06. My buddy shown shooting it really wanted to shoot it but after 1 25 round mag on full auto decided that was enough. I tried to have a barrel made in 308 but could never find a spare front LMG site and barrel collar to do it. A good friend of mine who recently passed away (Robert Faris) had a 308 barrel for his and it was manageable in 308. One quirky feature about the Johnson LMG is, if you are firing it in semi (closed bolt) and switch to auto you must retract the bolt to the open position which ejects the chambered round.