The Johnson Marine Corps. Rifle - P and US Markings

To view high resolution photos of the Johnson rifle, sight details, and all drawings by PVT. Treadway and letters to Melven Johnson please visit the following link: Johnson Rifle

In response to a question about the P and US markings on the Johnson Rifle:

1)      The P stamped on the barrel is evidently a proof mark. The final stage of firearms manufacture is to fire a proof load in the rifle to test its strength. These are in the range of 55,000 lbs per sq. inch. The barrel on my rifle is not the one that it had when it left the factory and may have come from another rifle or been a replacement barrel. In Europe, this proof testing is sanctioned by the government and various stamps are used to make sure that the firearm has been proofed.

2)      My rifle does not have a proof mark on the receiver.

3)      The US mark on my rifle remains a mystery and may always remain so. It was certainly not put on at the factory as I mentioned in my article.

4)      If the Marine Corps had placed an identifying mark on the rifle it certainly would have been USMC.

5)      If Johnson Automatics would have purchased this rifle after the war, it would certainly have been reconditioned with a new barrel, stock, etc. as he had plenty of parts on hand. In his advertisement he states that the rifles were reconditioned. Thus Johnson Automatics certainly did not mark the gun with the US.

6)      If a firearms owner had wanted to show possession of the rifle I expect he would have stamped his name or initials on some spot on the rifle. Who ever did this certainly had a mission in mind.

7)      The stamp was placed on the rifle well down the line, after it left the factory. The barrel in the rifle is not the one that was on it when it left the factory as I found the original manufacturing records and took down all of the numbers on the bolt, barrel, magazine, etc. when it left the factory.

8)      So where did it come from? Who knows who did it or when. I mention it in the article because it is on the rifle and that is all. Sometime dreaming about the history of a firearm is part of the fun of collecting. I have never seen another mark such as this on any Johnson rifle so it was a very localized form of identification.

9)      The US marks were on the rifle when it came into my possession in 1961. I did not add them to enhance the value of the firearm. I would not have done this as even back then I knew that working over a historical firearm to your liking is a good way to ruin the monetary value, if not historical value of the firearm. To put false stamps and identification of firearms is fraud in my book!

10)  When I went through the records which were compiled by Johnson Automatics, all three legers were at my disposal. These included the non-prefix numbers, the A and the B. I have been told the only one left at the non prefix ledger. The others have been lost. It is unfortunate that I didn’t have then photo copied for posterity. So soon we get old…so late we get smart!

11)  As luck would have it, the serial number of my rifle appears in Bruce Canfield’s excellent book on the Johnson Firearms. It appears on page 249 on the second edition of the book entitled: Johnson’s Rifle and Machineguns published by Andrew Mowbray Publishers in 2006. There are serial numbers for 29 rifles that are known to have been shipped to the marines and mine is one of them. How many survived the war or are sitting in someone’s closet, undiscovered, will never be known.

If I can be of further assistance in your search for information on your Johnson rifles or mine, do feel free to contact me.

 

Clyde Cremer