These rifles were seriously considered by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps as an alternative to the M1 Garand Rifle in 1941. Although the Army never adopted the Johnson rifle, after Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies, the U.S. Marine Corps obtained some of these rifles as a war expedient model, that were subsequently issued to the Marine Parachute and Raider Battalions and used in the early island hopping campaign in the South Pacific in 1943. The Johnson rifles have two unique features. One is a removable barrel for easy storage in a parachute jump bag and the second being that it has a rotary magazine which held ten rounds that could be easily topped off with either single or multiple rounds before or during a battle; something that the M1 Garand rifle did not have the capability to do. The receiver is marked with the standard five line patent dates followed by the four line "JOHNSON AUTOMATICS/MODEL OF 1941" logo, address and the serial number "A0435". The barrel flange is correctly marked ".30-06" above the barrel and "41" below it, and the top rear section of the barrel is also stamped "JA/30-06". The right rear side of the receiver behind and below the rear sight is stamped with a small five-pointed star/"CRANSTON/ARMS/CO." in a triangle. The right side of the rear sight is correctly stamped/marked "METERS" with "M2" stamped on the left side. The bolt has been stamped with manufacturer's part number "C2645".

Very fine as partially refinished (wood) with 97% of the original dark green parkerized finish remaining overall with edge and high spot wear. The stock and forend are very good with handling marks and scratches and the raised bulbous area directly behind the magazine having an old reglued repair present on both sides of the buttstock. The forend has also been lightly sanded and both pieces now have a dark oil finish look. There is one screw missing on the lower sling swivel base. A solid example of a scarce WWII Johnson semi-automatic rifle.