1941 Johnson Automatic Rifle troubleshoot and repair: Anvil 0140

"There are a lot of guys that know their way around a Johnson" Great to watch as always

i am a gunsmith with 2 shops, 1 in communist NJ the other in PA, i absolutly love your vids..they are always fun to watch informative and educational..if i have a question about something and can not find answer thru books or other means, i go straight to your library and see if you have a vid on said fire arm...thank you for keeping our craft alive

I acquired my M1941 rifle 35 years ago and it also did not come with a bolt catch (hold open). I wrote a letter to Mr. Canfield about this and he sent me the part which I installed in my rifle. However he wrote that Melvin Johnson did not not like the idea of a bolt hold open catch and did not want to install it in the rifle. Some rifles apparently had the device installed and some did not. There is a discussion about this on page 253 of Mr. Canfields book under the heading Bolt Catch..

"I'm sure there's a lotta guys who've had a lot more time around a Johnson than I have." - Mark Novak

My dad's Police Sargent was a retired Marine from WWII and Korea who LOVED his Johnson so much that after the war, he bought it from the government. He said it had saved his life more times than he could count and was his best buddy in WWII. Even retired for years and 20+ years past VJ Day he cleaned it meticulously every Sunday afternoon during his BBQing time. Sadly, PTSD and Alcoholism stole him away too soon from his family and friends. ....he was a Sapper who de-mined the caves of Penemunda where Von Braun ordered the execution of thousands of workers to keep his rocket secrets safe, and was one of the Frozen Ones from the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Sarco and Numrich - Where would WE Be Without Them...Books Never Change the Screen or Go Dark, Just When You Need Them...Stay Safe, Folks...Interesting History and Facts, Thanks, Mark...

"Don't trust the electrician that doesn't have any eyebrows."

It's always good to see Mark handling someone else's Johnson.

Thank you for avoiding the obvious, sophomoric johnson jokes. I've seen (and laughed at) videos that eschew that avoidance. Thanks again for doubling or tripling your workload to share with us.

Something I've learned the hard way is that you can't worry too much about how many times you'll have to disassemble and reassemble something if you want to do the work right. I'm not a gunsmith, but from repairing vintage airguns to vintage fishing reels and all manner of other vintage examples of why they don't make 'em like they used to, the dread of extra disassembly and reassembly is a hard thing to overcome but it's necessary. The instinct may be to take everything apart once and work on both the cosmetics and function to save steps, but more than once I've made the mistake of putting effort into cosmetic issues only to determine that I couldn't actually restore function properly.

I would not have guessed that the 24h-Johnson-parts-store would save the day on this one!

There is nothing sadder than a flaccid Johnson. Glad you got it working again.

The Johnson is one of my Holy grail guns, if I ever win the lottery. The other is a Webley Fosbery

As noted on an earlier episode, the mag follower spring can be installed backwards. It will still work, but the capacity will be reduced. IIRC, the bolt hold open spring was prone to breakage, so many were left out.

Mark has the GREATEST job on earth.. God Bless you and your loved ones

Ran across one of these long time ago in upstate ny, along with a wwii skeletonized jeep. Story was the old farmer had managed to "mail home" a whole lot of stuff while he was over there!

I'm not a gunsmith, but I can relate to using a logic, like a detective, to discern the actions, the take apart and how it all should work. You show this, and point out the not-so-obvious and demonstrate a profession result. Always a pleasure to watch your videos on teaching us the why and how, and the what not to do.

Love the design and the visual of the Johnson. Way out of my reach but love to see them. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Mark and Bruno. Im stuck at work babysitting some minions in a warehouse and really needed a new video from you!!

A notable absence of reference to the 24 hour Johnson spare parts store at 3 mins in. Turns out it's still in business.