Improving the M1 Garand--Did We Think Of It? What's Holding Us Back Now?

Eventually the "M1 Garand Sr." became the "M14 Garand Jr." with Detachable box magazines and top-load from stripper clips--it could have been this way from the get go

American ordnance stupidly rejected detachable 20-round magazines for the M1, so Garand defaulted back to the 8-round en bloc. Their absurd excuse was that the magazines would get lost and somehow get in the way of "From Here to Eternity" BS parade ground drill & ceremony. FYI, if you want to be a fucktard and do D&C there is nothing stopping idiots from removing the magazine (imagine that) so you can do left and right shoulder, arms all day long with today's M16s, M14s or a M1 Garand had it been loaded by detachable magazines. The tragedy is BAR magazines could have been shared by both automatic riflemen and riflemen to great effect in WW2.

WW2 Japan Copies--and Improves the M1 Garand Shooting from 10-Round Stripper Clips

http://nramuseum.com/the-museum/the-galleries/ever-vigilant/case-63-world-war-ii-allies-and-japan/%27%27japanese-Garand%27%27-wwii-semi-automatic-rifle.aspx

Japan's wartime production of semi-automatic rifles was restricted to experimental and prototype models. Shortly before the war's end, the Imperial Navy produced the Type 5 rifle, a 7.7mm caliber copy of the American M1 Garand which featured a 10-round box magazine rather than the M1's 8-round en bloc clip. These were also manufactured in extremely limited numbers; perhaps as few as one hundred were produced. Limited resources and shortages of suitable arms caused some of the earlier prototypes to be committed to combat. Assembly number 58 on minor parts.

Arisaka-type bolt-action rifles served as the mainstay of Japanese infantry troops during the Second World War. These arms trace their origin to 1897, when a commission headed by Tokyo Arsenal superintendent Colonel Nariaki Arisaka developed the Type 30 rifle to address deficiencies of the Murata Type 13 11mm caliber single-shot and Type 22 8mm caliber tubular magazine military rifles then in use by Imperial forces. The Type 30 rifle, so designated because it was adopted in the 30th year of the reign of Japan's Emperor Meiji, utilized the Mauser turning bolt mechanism and was the first Japanese rifle to chamber the 6.5mm caliber smokeless cartridge. These rifles were adopted as Japan's standard service rifle and were the principal arm used by Imperial troops during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.

Minor modifications to this design yielded the rare Type 35 rifle, introduced in 1902. The Type 38, which followed in 1905, employed the one-piece turning bolt mechanism and five-round staggered-column non-detachable box magazine of the German Mauser Model 98. Unlike the German rifle, these arms cocked on forward movement of the bolt, a feature common to British military rifles. Type 38 bolts were hand-fitted, which produced an extraordinarily smooth pull.

This feature increased the workload of ordnance technicians who were required to repair and maintain them, as bolts were not interchangeable. These rifles chambered a 6.5mm caliber semi-rimmed cartridge and featured extremely strong actions with locking lugs, gas ports, and shields which effectively contained and diverted exhaust gasses from ruptured cartridges with little or no resulting damage to the receiver and associated mechanisms. Post-Second World War tests showed that the Type 38 action was of superior strength to the Mauser, and to the U.S. Model 1903 and 1917 rifles.

The design of Type 38 arms differs from the Mauser in the action of their safety mechanism, which consists of a large rotating knob on the rear of the bolt rather than the Mauser's tab-style rotating safety. These and later Japanese rifles also feature a sliding bolt cover similar to that used by Britain's Lee-Metford rifle. Although useful for keeping foreign matter out of the chamber, covers were generally removed by troops in the field to reduce noise. These rifles also featured a graduated rear sight and a two-piece mahogany pistol-grip butt stock, which served both to strengthen the grip and to conserve materials as the Japanese had difficulty in obtaining blanks of suitable size for one-piece stock construction. Beginning in the 1930s, both the bore and bolt face were chrome-plated to prevent corrosion and to reduce wear.

The Type 38 was produced in long rifle, short rifle, and carbine variants. Included were standard models with bayonet lugs, and the Type 97 rifle, a sniping version of the Type 38 with a turned-down bolt handle and wire monopod, which made its debut in 1937. Carbines included a hinged/folding buttstock version for use by airborne troops, and the Type 44, which was introduced in 1911. These were essentially identical to the Type 38 carbine but with the addition of a permanently-attached folding bayonet, Type 38 rifles served with Japanese troops from 1907 through 1945. These arms saw limited action with Japanese troops during the First World War, and were used extensively throughout the Second World War. In addition, many were purchased by other nations including Britain, Imperial Russia, Mexico, Brazil, and Siam as training and as primary- or secondary-issue arms. Some of these are chambered for other cartridges and bear the crests of the purchasing nation on the receiver in much the same way as Mauser rifles produced under license outside Germany.

In addition to the Type 38 and its variants, the Imperial Navy also possessed about 60,000 6.5mm Type "I" rifles which had been produced in Italy both by Beretta and at government arsenals. These arms are seldom encountered today, and little is known about them. Similar to the Type 38, the Type "I" combined the Japanese-type two-piece stock with a Mannlicher Carcano action and Mauser-type magazine. These arms saw action in the hands of Japanese Naval infantry who opposed the U.S. 4th Marine Division at Kwajalein Atoll in 1944. Japanese troops were also armed with Manchurian-produced Mausers, as well as with Czech Vz24 rifles that had been captured when Nazi troops occupied Czechoslovakia. Captured American and British .30 caliber rifles were used to arm garrison troops.

Japan's wartime experience in China and Manchuria during the 1930s provided the impetus for development of a larger-caliber military rifle, as the 6.5mm (.25 caliber) cartridge was outclassed by the Chinese 7.9mm Mauser. Several designs based on the Type 38 but chambered for a 7.7x58mm caliber rimless cartridge, roughly equivalent to the U.S. .30 caliber military cartridge, were introduced for testing.

Field trials brought about the 1939 adoption of the Nagoya Arsenal-designed Type 99 rifle, which took its name from the Japanese calendar year of 2599. The Type 99 was slightly shorter than the earlier Type 38 and included a folding wire monopod, a hinged magazine floorplate, side-mounted sling swivels, and an graduated rear sight equipped with folding arms which could be used to defend against air attack. The standard Type 30 bayonet could be mounted to the Type 99, as could a grenade launcher. These rifles first saw limited action during the Solomons Campaign of late 1942, and by the Aleutians campaign, entire Japanese regiments were equipped with the new arm. Although they never replaced the Type 38 rifle, the Type 99 was used to a greater degree as additional copies became available.

As with the earlier Type 38, these rifles were produced in both long and short rifle, sniper, and carbine versions, as well as a take-down version, designated the Type 2, which was used by Japanese paratroops. Sniper variants employ a 2.5- or 4-power fixed-focus telescopic sight mounted to the side of the receiver. While standard-production rifles feature bolt handles that extend at a right angle to the body of the rifle, bolt handles on sniper arms are bent downward to allow them to function without interference from the offset-mounted scope. The Type 2 paratroop rifle employs a screw fastener and a sliding wedge/dovetail assembly below the receiver ring to secure the barrel and fore-end to the receiver/stock assembly.

Arsenal pressure test guns were produced for use in ammunition development and for quality control purposes during the manufacturing. These are extremely rare today. Smoothbore training rifles, patterned after both the Type 38 and Type 99 service rifles but which used special cartridges, were also produced. These are often identifiable by the lack of markings on the receiver and by their crude finish, although these same characteristics may also be observed on late-war "last ditch" production arms. Trainers also lack the gas port and front locking lugs common to standard service rifle bolts.

Japanese military rifle production was restricted to government arsenals. The Type 99 was manufactured at the Tokyo, Kokura, and Nagoya Arsenals, and at various arsenals in Osaka, Fukushima, and Hiroshima. Rifles were also manufactured under Japanese supervision at Mukden Arsenal in Manchuria, and at Jinsen Arsenal in Inchon, Korea. Production was carried out with much of the same equipment as that used to manufacture the Type 38. To conserve resources, simplify production, and reduce costs, forged and machined components were replaced with metal stampings where possible. Further cost-cutting measures were introduced in 1943, when the Type 99 rifle was produced without a cleaning rod, bolt cover, sling swivels, monopod, or a chrome-plated bore, and with fixed rear peep sights and a wooden butt plate. Earlier rifles featured front sights with protective "ears", but even these were eliminated late in the war.

Unlike the Type 38, the action of these late-production rifles was of inferior strength and construction, a situation that only worsened with the declining fortunes of Japan's military forces and the corresponding increase in American aerial bombardment of industrial centers. In some cases, desperate Japanese munitions-makers even resorted to producing rifles with cast-iron receivers. Consequently, Type 99s manufactured near the end of the war were extremely suspect and could, under adverse conditions, be equally if not more dangerous to its Japanese user as it was to Allied troops. This situation is not indicative of the quality of earlier-production rifles, which were well-designed, quite reliable, and very effective in combat. Even in better times, however, the Type 99 was not as well-made as its predecessor.

At the start of the Second World War, the United States was the only country that produced a semi-automatic rifle as its standard infantry arm. The Japanese Army had been evaluating semi-automatic rifle designs as early as 1931, when the Nambu Rifle Manufacturing Co. received a contract to design and test both a semi-auto rifle and light machine gun. Nambu produced several designs, none of which were satisfactory. During this period, two 6.5mm caliber gas-operated semi-automatic rifle designs were introduced, both of which were based on foreign models. Both the Army's Tokyo Arsenal and Nippon Special Steel Co. produced experimental rifles based on the American J.D. Pedersen-type toggle action, and a rifle patterned after the Czech ZH-29 was produced by Tokyo Gas and Electric. The Japanese Pedersens suffered from the same cartridge-feed problem as their American-designed cousins, and the ZH-29s proved to be inaccurate.

Japan's interest in semi-auto military arms waned due to their increased cost over comparable bolt-action rifles, the inability of Japanese industry to manufacture sufficient supplies, and a belief among conservative military officers that semi-automatic rifles were wasteful of ammunition. The outbreak of war in China during 1936 increased demand for the Type 38 rifle, and as military production took up available resources, the semi-automatic rifle program was shelved until 1941.

As the war progressed, other nations followed America's lead in developing and adopting semi-automatic rifles, but Japan's production of these arms continued to be restricted to experimental and prototype models. Shortly before the war's end, the Imperial Navy produced the Type 5 rifle, a 7.7mm caliber copy of the American M1 Garand which featured a 10-round box magazine rather than the M1's 8-round en bloc clip. These were also manufactured in extremely limited numbers; perhaps as few as one hundred were produced. Due to limited resources, the Type 5 quite likely would never have entered production even if Japan had managed to prolong the war. Shortages of suitable arms caused some of the earlier prototypes to be committed to combat, including two Pedersen-type rifles that were captured by American troops on Okinawa.

All Japanese armament production ended with the country's surrender in August 1945. Occupation troops destroyed all production equipment and tools and confiscated all military arms. The Imperial seal was ground off of the receivers of captured arms, with some sources indicating that this was done under order of General Douglas MacArthur, while others claim that the Japanese received permission to remove the chrysanthemum prior to surrendering them to Allied troops.

Based on the presence of absence of these seals, Japanese military rifles may be identified either as captured in combat or as post-war surrendered arms. Many captured rifles were later used by Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Burmese, and Indonesian troops, while others were brought home as war trophies by returning Soldiers and marines. Total production figures for Arisaka 6.5mm and 7.7mm rifles are unavailable, but estimates run as high as 10 million, including those manufactured for export.

M1 Garands Were Supposed to Shoot 20-Round BAR Magazines All Along! (and load from stripper clips).

Honestly at the time the U.S. Army Ordnance published their requirements for a semi-automatic rifle they didn't want a box-fed magazine infantry rifle. In fact their exact words were that "a detachable magazine was acceptable--but not desirable". If you were a weapon designer and read that; what kind of rifle would you send to the Ordnance Department dinosaurs? If you go back and study the history of the U.S. Army's quest for reliable semi-auto rifle you will see they were very concerned about Soldiers wasting ammunition. Not only that, but a rifle with a magazine would be more expensive as Soldiers would loose them. Also remember the big selling point with the M1941 Johnson was that it didn't have a magazine nor a clip and its integral rotary magazine could easily be topped off by single rounds and the commonly available stripper clips. Hell, even the FN-49 had a non-detachable magazine and by then it was clear to a blind man that detachable magazines were the way ahead.

Some of John Garand's early versions used detachable box magazines.

He switched to the en bloc clip when he saw which way the wind was blowing in regards to the military's preference for non-detachable mags.

I've heard that one of the reasons they didn't want a detachable mag is that they wanted a more "streamlined" rifle without a protruding mag so that it wouldn't mess up the "manual of arms." I've read that in a couple places, but have no way to know if it's actually true or not.

Garand was a smart guy. He not only designed the rifle, but the fixtures and machines to manufacture it as well. That's one of the reasons it was accepted is that it was developed with an eye toward manufacture all along, unlike many private designs that were submitted before then.

I remember there was a later variation of the Garand. It used hi-cap mags. I Just dug the article out of my closet. It was called the Beretta BM59. Chambered for .308 NATO.

Notice the Pistol Grip to Improve Assault Fire Speed & Accuracy

There are also a few prototype M14s floating around out there somewhere. The first attempts to improve M1 Garand were made during the Second World War, and numerous experimental modifications in .30-06 were built, mostly using the 20-rounds detachable magazines from Browning BAR M1918 automatic rifle. One of such prototypes was the T20 of 1944.The T20 was basically the M1 Garand rifle fitted with 20 rounds BAR magazine and with selective fire capability.

Source:
http://world.guns.ru/assault/as15-e.htm

Jim Watson

June 13, 2009, 06:52 PM

According to W.H.B. Smith, the 1944 - 1945 T20 rifles used modified BAR magazines. The magazine for the final T20E2 could be used in a BAR but the standard BAR magazine would not work in the T20E2. That rifle was not a converted M1, it was built on a new receiver designed for the removable magazine and selective fire. The Army ordered 100,000 of them for the invasion of Japan, (along with the 25,000 T26 "Tankers") but neither was delivered due to the atomic bomb and early VJ Day.

T20E2 Garand with Pistol Grip and Selective-Fire; no Magazine Attached

Remington worked on a similar rifle, the T22, of which Smith says: "...used a BAR magazine but were not too successful and it was decided a new magazine should be designed."

The original prototype Garand of 1920 had a box magazine that looks an awful lot like a BARs, plenty available to work with after WW I; but I have seen nothing to say whether it was modified or used as is.

Can You Top-Off M1 Garand 8-Round En Blocs?

So you are stuck with a M1 Garand shooting 8-round en blocs. You can and should upgrade to a pistol grip stock and have load bearing equipment to carry multiple en blocs. What about topping off rounds if you have shot a few?

www.biggerhammer.net/manuals/Garand/m1.htm
www.biggerhammer.net/manuals/Garand/tm9-1275.htm

Technique 1

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8C0KdP6BdI

 

Chapter 3.

OPERATION AND FUNCTIONING

12. Loading the Rifle

(a.) Single round. To load a single round, pull the operating rod all the way to the rear. While holding the muzzle below the horizontal, place a round in the chamber an seat it with the thumb. With a knife edge of the right hand against the operating rod handle, force the operating rod slightly to the rear. Push down on the follower assembly with the right thumb and allow the bolt to ride forward. Remove the thumb from the follower assembly and release the operating rod handle, allowing the operating rod to go all the way forward.

(b.) Full clip. To load a full clip, hold the rifle at the balance with the left hand and pull the operating rod handle all the way to the rear. Place the butt of the rifle against the thigh or on the ground. With the right hand, place a full clip on top of the follower assembly. Place the thumb on the center of the top round in the clip and press the clip straight down into the receiver until it catches. Swing the right hand up and to the right to clear the bolt in its forward movement. Note that the operating rod is not held to the rear during loading since there is no danger of it going forward as long as pressure is maintained on the top round in the clip. It may be necessary to strike forward on the operating rod handle with the heel of the right hand to fully close and lock the bolt.

(c.) Partially filled clip. To load a partially filled clip, hold the rifle in the same manner prescribed for a full clip. With the operating rod all the way to the rear, place an empty clip into the receiver. Place the first round into the clip and on the follower, to the left of the follower slide. Press the second round into the clip, exerting a downward, turning motion until the round snaps into place. Load the remaining rounds in the same manner. With the knife edge of the right hand against the operating rod handle force the operating rod slightly to the rear. Push down on the top round with the right thumb, allowing the bolt to start the top round forward. Remove the right hand and allow the operating rod to go forward.

Technique 2

www.youtube.com/watch?v=--NbefyN0-M

jeepsmorejeeps

- Jul 12, 2008 - This is in response to the two videos of the guys toping off the grand, just a different technique that holds the bolt for you so you right hand is free to load. as always this is a one take video an old man told me "once you have one you'll never be without one." (the previous owner of this particular gun) all matching Springfield "except the stock and no lockbar rear sight" I'm here to tell you he is right buy one while you can great collector and even better shooter recoil is minimal for the huge 30-06 round, the biggest U.S. service round used in infantry service rifle.

CONCLUSION:

Either the BAR or the Johnson LMG could have been improved upon to be sustained-fire LMGs to give American infantry squads at least equivalency--if not the edge in battle over the heavier German MG42s.

Moreover, the Johnson rifle--and particularly its LMG--could have been developed to be a pistol grip assault rifle capable of selective-fire feed by magazines shared universally by everyone in the squad and fed by 5-round stripper clips or single cartridges in dire emergencies. We could have even improved the M1 Garand by feeding it with 20-round box magazines. Why wait for the M14?

Although the M1 Garand 0.30 rifle had long since passed from operational use with the U.S. armed forces and others, large numbers remain stockpiled in the Philippines, where their use is limited by a shortage of 0.30-06 ammunition and the necessary eight-round feeder clips. The Floro International Corporation proposed that these stocks could be modernized to M14 standard, firing standard 7.62 × 51 mm NATO ammunition from 20-round magazines. The conversion procedure includes changes to the barrel, trigger and receiver assemblies as well as the introduction of the 20-round magazine. During the conversion, the barrel is reduced in length by 40 mm.

www.floro-intl.com/garand.html

We could also have been the first Army to have assault rifles--not the Germans--had we listened to Johnson.

Today, M1 Garand stocks with pistol grips are available...I guess better late than never?

The M1 Garand should have had a pistol grip added to speed assault fire--but it's 8-round en bloc feeding system could not be expanded by drums or magazines. A whole new weapon would have had to be designed, and this manifested itself later into the superb M14 in 7.62mm x 51mm NATO which is in combat today with the U.S. military with designated marksman.

In actuality, the M14 is a magazine-fed M1 Garand and there's even a new, more compact bullpup version which can be still be stripper clip feed that's quite brilliant. Should come in a TAN finish for better weapons camouflage--and with a SureFire muzzle flash and sound suppressor--as all U.S. weapons should: combatreform.org/camie.htm

The 5.56mm M249 "SAW" has been a dismal failure as a sustained-fire LMG to suppress the enemy. Even if mechanically reliable, its puny 5.56mm cartridge does not intimidate or suppress enemies at long ranges behind urban cover and mountain rocks. It's being replaced finally by the reliable, belt-fed Mk.48 7.62mm x 51mm NATO LMG---something we have needed for over 6 decades!

Progress Needed: Muzzle Flash Suppression for LMGs

Suppressed M240B 7.62mm x 51 NATO Medium Machine Gun

Now that we are finally catching up with the Germans to where we should have been before WW2 began....it's time to face the fact that machine guns are key targets for the enemy to knock out, aiming in on their muzzle flashes. If you doubt this, read the 2008 account of the battle for Wanat village in Afghanistan:

The Battle for Wanat After Action Review (AAR)

The answer is Surefire's suppressors which at about $2, 000 each maybe are not cheap enough to give to every rifleman--but we can certainly supply them to protect $10, 000 machine guns and their gunners so we can have their battle-winning suppressive fires..Just dedicate a barrel to being connected to a suppressor...

DETAILS:

Pricing

FA762MG p/n $1,985.00

Description

surefire.com/pdfs/FA762M.pdf

Source

surefire.com/contactus

SureFire, LLC
18300 Mount Baldy Circle
Fountain Valley, CA 92708

Toll Free: (800) 828-8809
Outside the US: (714) 545-9444
Fax: 9537

Lessons for Today: Use 7.62mm Light Machine Guns Backed by Riflemen in M16A5s in the Same Caliber

The U.S. Army Infantry's Base of Fire (BOF) or Support-by-Fire (SBF) element should engage with long-range 7.62mm x 51mm NATO fires from a belt-fed, quick-change barrel Light Machine Gun guarded by riflemen shooting the same cartridges--at the same ranges--with modular M16A5 Assault Rifles. Maneuver elements would have 5.56mm M16A5s for maximum number of rounds to fire & maneuver and do individual movement techniques (IMT). All weapons should be suppressed and come in a TAN finish for visual and sound camouflage. All barrels would be fluted to increase surface area for cooling while lightening weight.

Fluted Barrels, Good

PKM Medium Machine Gun with Fluted Barrel

M249 Light Machine Gun with Fluted Barrel

While a bullpup 7.62mm rifle like the Bulldog or Kel-Tech KFB18 would superbly shorten the length without barrel length loss, it would entail a change to the M16/M4 manual-of-arms that would be institutionally disruptive to combat efficiency during on-going conflicts if adopted force-wide. Small units that want to employ bullups could on a trial basis.

Bullpup vs. Traditional Lay-Out

To shorten the M16/M4 length we should adopt a gas piston system over the barrel to eliminate the buffer assembly and action spring in back so a sturdy-enough-for-butt-strokes, side-folding stock can be employed like on USSOCOM's FN-SCAR series. A gas piston system would solve the M16's direct gas system propensity to get dirty and jam. For more M16A5 Assault Rifle details:

The 21st Century Rifle

"The Americans will always do the right thing . . . After they've exhausted all the alternatives."

--Prime Minister Winston Churchill

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M1941 Johnson LMG History

http://anonymous-generaltopics.blogspot.com/2010/02/m1941-johnson-rifle.html

http://anonymous-generaltopics.blogspot.com/2010/02/m1941-johnson-machine-gun.html

The M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun was an American recoil-operated light machine gun designed in the late 1930s by Melvin Johnson. It shared the same operating principle and many parts with the M1941 Johnson Rifle.

Design

The M41 light machine gun was designed by a Boston lawyer and Captain in the marine corps reserve named Melvin Johnson Jr. His goal was to build a semiautomatic rifle that would outperform the M1 Garand the Army had adopted.

By late 1937, he had designed, built, and successfully tested both a semi-automatic rifle and a prototype light machine gun (LMG). Each shared a significant number of physical characteristics and common parts, and both operated on the principle of short recoil with a rotating bolt.

The Johnson LMG was one of the few light machine guns to operate on recoil operation and was manufactured to a high standard. The Johnson was fed from a curved, single-column magazine attached to the left side of the receiver. Additionally, the weapon could be loaded by stripper clip (charger) at the ejection port, or by rounds fed singly into the breech. The rate of fire was adjustable, from 200 to 600 rounds per minute. Two versions were built: the M1941 with a wooden stock and a bipod, and the 1944 with a tubular steel butt and a wooden monopod.

When firing, recoil forces along with the mass of the weapon's moving parts all traveled in a direct line with the shoulder of the gunner. While this in-line stock can be seen in the M16 rifle today, it was a novel idea at the time. Since recoil was directed back into the shoulder, muzzle rise was minimized. Due to this design, the sights had to be placed higher above the bore.

The Johnson LMG has many parallels with the contemporary German FG42. Both had in-line stocks, fed from the left side, and both fired from the open bolt in automatic mode and closed bolt in semi-automatic mode. Both weapons proved somewhat awkward to carry with a loaded, side-mounted magazine (especially the Johnson, which had a magazine with an unnecessarily lengthy single-column design), and this feature tended to unbalance the guns. Despite these similarities, there is no evidence that either weapon had any effect on the design of the other. Both machine guns attempted to solve similar problems, and adopted similar solutions.

Users

Johnson was successful in selling small quantities of the M41 Johnson LMG to the U.S. Army and marine corps. One notable unit that used this weapon was the U.S. Army's 1^st Special Service Force, a special operations unit composed of half Canadian, half American troops (nicknamed "the Black Devil's" by the Germans). The U.S. marine corps' "Raiders" and "Paramarines" also used the Johnson LMG. Unlike the Paramarines who were hated by the USMC bureaucracy, the 1^st SSF actually parachute jumped into combat in the 1944 invasion of Southern France, Operation DRAGOON.

Israeli Dror copy of the Johnson LMG was not successful in desert conditions

Shortly after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the predecessor of the Israel Defense Forces, Haganah, developed a close copy of the Johnson LMG, the Dror, in both .303 British and 7.92x57mm Mauser calibers. Israeli forces found the Dror prone to jam from sand and dust ingress, and the weapon was discontinued after a brief period of service. Ernesto Che Guevara notably used a Johnson repeater in the Cuban Revolution. Free Cuban Brigade 2506 used the Johnson LMG during their Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

Aftermath

Melvin Johnson continued to develop small arms. In 1955, he was asked to assist Fairchild/ArmaLite in (unsuccessfully) promoting Eugene Stoner's AR-10 7.62mm x 51mm NATO rifle with the U.S. Department of Defense, then with ArmaLite and Colt's Manufacturing Company as an advocate for the 5.56mm x 45mm AR-15. Armalite relied heavily on Johnson's efforts and the AR-15 used a similar bolt design to the M1941 Johnson. The AR-15 is still manufactured today in the guise of the M16 rifle and variants. One of Johnson's last postwar firearms ventures was a 5.7 mm-caliber version of the M1 Carbine, aka "the Spitfire".

Users

Canada

United States

Cuba

Israel (Dror variant)

Johnson M1941 LMG

Type: Automatic rifle

Place of origin: United States

Service history

In service: 1940 to 1961

Wars: World War II, Arab/Israel war, Bay of Pigs Invasion

Production history

Designed: 1940

Produced: 1940 to 1945

Number built: 9500

Variants M1941, M1944

Specifications

Weight: 13 lbs. (5.9 kg)

Length: 42 in (1,067 mm)

Barrel length: 22 in (559 mm)

Cartridge: 7.62mm x 82mm (.30-06 Springfield)

Action: Short recoil

Rate of fire: 200 to 600 round/min variable

Muzzle velocity: 2,800 ft/s (853.6 m/s)

Feed system: 25-round, single-column box magazine

itsg@hotmail.com