And low on ideas for posts. I did a post on the odd looking WWII submachine gun. Here is a tidbit for a odd looking and rarish light machine gun, the M1941 Johnson.
Look at the magazine. It looks single stack! .30-06. And HUGE.
Not to be confused with the M1941 Johnson. A similar looking semi-auto rifle that competed for selection with the Garand. (I had no idea there were 2 Johnsons in 1941.) Same designer, commonality of some parts, but one was to take the place of the BAR, the other the rifle role. But look at that hump on top of the stock.
If I read this right, there is a spring in there, just like on the AR. Interesting.
Melvin Johnson worked for Stoner as a consultant on the AR-10.
ReplyDelete> Melvin Johnson worked for Stoner as a consultant on the AR-10.
ReplyDeleteYep. And the bolt locks into a barrel extension in much the same way. And it rotates to unlock on a cam-pin. And and and... Yeah, the Johnson is pretty much the direct-line predecessor.
One oddity though, is how the barrel recoils part-way to actuate that cam unlocking system (in contrast to the AR's gas-impingement system). It's very Browning A-5-ish, with a spring under the barrel. Weird to think that the ultra-reliable A-5 shotgun system may be an ancestor to the AR; but caution, that's pure speculation on my part.