Article 01: Johnson M1941

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Johnson M1941 was a late-coming competitor to the M1 Garand. When Melvin Johnson introduced his rifle to the U.S. Military, the M1 Garand had already been adopted. Rather than trying to convince the military to forgo the Garand entirely - considering the tooling for the M1 had just been completed - his goal was to convince the U.S. Military to accept the M1941 as a supplement to be used alongside the Garand. Johnson banked on the Ordnance Department’s doubts over the reliability of the anticipated first batch of Garand rifles. Johnson’s hunch was well-founded, and his rifle - alongside its complementing light machine gun - was brought in for testing and evaluation.

Unfortunately, the short-recoil locking system meant the Johnson Rifle was not suitable for mounting bayonets, as any additional weight on the reciprocating barrel would affect the cycling of the action. Ultimately the Johnson Rifle was never officially adopted by the U.S.

While Johnson was unsuccessful in getting his rifle adopted by the United States, he successfully secured a contract for 30,000 units to the Dutch government for use in the Dutch East Indies. Unfortunately, the Japanese invaded before the order could be completed; with many rifles being left in U.S. shipping crates.

Seeing these perfectly serviceable rifles gathering dust, a handful of U.S. Paramarines decided to personally procure these rifles for their own use alongside the Johnson Light Machine Gun. With the Paramarines the M1941 saw limited - but well-documented - use during the earlier parts of the Second World War; even being utilized by Medal of Honor recipient Cpt. Robert Dunlap during his service.

Thanks to Ian McCollum from Forgotten Weapons and Robert L. Lamoreaux for the information!