View source for M1941 Johnson machine gun

{{more footnotes needed|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox weapon
| is_ranged          = yes|
| image              = JOHNSONMG1.jpg
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = 
| name               = Johnson M1941 LMG
| type               = [[Light machine gun]]
| origin             = United States
| design_date        = 1940
| production_date    = 1940–1945
| service            = 1940–1961
| used_by            = See ''[[#Users|Users]]''
| wars               = {{plainlist|
*[[World War II]]
*[[Korean War]]
*[[Hukbalahap Rebellion]]
*[[Cuban Revolution]]}}
| weight             = {{convert|13|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
| part_length        = {{convert|22|in|mm|abbr=on}}
| length             = {{convert|42|in|mm|abbr=on}}
| cartridge          = [[.30-06 Springfield]]
| feed               = 20-round, single stack-column detachable box magazine
| action             = [[Short recoil]]
| rate               = 300–900 round/min variable
| velocity           = {{convert|2800|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}}
| range              = {{convert|600|m|yd|abbr=on}}
| variants           = M1941<br> M1944
| number             = 9,500
| unit_cost          = [[United States dollar|USD]] $265 (1941; {{Inflation|US|265|1941|fmt=eq}})
}}

The '''M1941 Johnson Light Machine Gun''', also known as the ''Johnson'' and the ''Johnny gun'',<ref name="Rottman2002">{{cite book |last=Rottman |first=Gordon L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y56Dut69s5UC |title=U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle: Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939-1945 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-313-31906-8 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=y56Dut69s5UC&dq=%22nickname%22&pg=PA516 516] |via=Google Books}}</ref> was an American [[recoil operation|recoil-operated]] [[Light machine gun|light]] [[Machine gun|machine gun]] designed by [[Melvin Johnson]] in the late 1930s. It shared the same operating principle and many parts with his [[M1941 Johnson rifle]] and [[M1947 Johnson auto carbine]].

== Design ==
The M1941 Johnson light machine gun was designed by a [[Boston]] [[lawyer]] and captain in the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps Reserve]] named Melvin Johnson Jr. His goal was to build a [[semi-automatic rifle]] that would outperform the [[M1 Garand rifle|M1 Garand]] the [[United States Army|US Army]] had adopted. By late 1937, he had designed, built, and successfully tested both a semi-automatic rifle and a prototype light machine gun. Each shared a significant number of physical characteristics and common parts, and both operated on the principle of short recoil with a [[rotating bolt]]. He took the parts of other guns, switching them out and creating the M1941 light machine gun.

Johnson's curved, single-column [[Magazine (firearm)|magazine]] attached to the left side of the receiver; company brochures list a 20-round magazine as standard. Additionally, the weapon could be loaded by stripper clip at the ejection port, or by single rounds fed 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 (firearm)|stock]] and a metal bipod, and the M1944 with a tubular steel butt and a wooden monopod.

The design intended the recoil forces to travel, along with the mass of the weapon's moving parts, in a direct line to the shoulder of the gunner. While this design minimized muzzle climb, the sights had to be placed higher above the bore.
[[Image:Machine gun M1941 Johnson 3.jpg|thumb|left|A USMC [[paramarines|paramarine]] Corporal firing a M1941 Johnson light machine gun in 1943]]

The weapon has many parallels with the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[FG 42]] [[Automatic rifle|automatic rifle]]. Both feed from the left side, and both fire from an open bolt while in automatic, and a closed bolt while in semi-auto. Both weapons were awkward to carry loaded, with a side-mounted magazine; the Johnson had an especially lengthy single-column magazine, and this feature tended to unbalance the weapon. Despite these similarities, there is no evidence that either weapon had any effect on the design of the other. Both weapons attempted to solve similar problems, and adopted similar solutions.

Prototypes of semi-automatic rifles, 20-round magazine-fed,{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} based on the Johnson LMG were also produced. The [[M1947 Johnson auto carbine]] is an example. A belt fed variant also existed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forgottenweapons.com/belt-fed-johnson-lmgs/|title=Belt-Fed Johnson LMGs|date=7 February 2014}}</ref>

== Deployment ==
Johnson sold small quantities of the Johnson LMG to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.<ref>Pikula, Sam (Maj.), The Armalite AR-10, 1998</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2023}}

During World War 2, Ally [[Special Forces|special forces]] demanded a more portable, lighter, more accurate automatic rifle that provided the equivalent stopping power of the American [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle|BAR]]. As a result, this machine gun was adapted as the BAR replacement for commandos operating behind [[Axis Powers|Axis]] lines. The [[First Special Service Force]] [[Commando|commandos]], raised jointly with men from both Canada and the United States (the famous [[Devil's Brigade]]), traded the Marine Corps 125 of the new Johnson light machine guns for plastic explosives. They were used in lieu of [[M1918 Browning automatic rifle|BARs]], but as they wore out and were lost in combat they were replaced by BARs.

The Johnson LMG was used by the Philippine Army and Philippine Constabulary during World War II under the Japanese Military Occupation from 1942 to 1945 and post-war from 1945 to 1960s including during the [[Hukbalahap Rebellion]] (1946-1954) and by the [[Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea]] (PEFTOK) from 1950-1955.

Shortly after the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]], the predecessor of the [[Israel Defense Forces]], [[Haganah]], developed a close copy of the Johnson, the [[Dror light machine gun|Dror]], in both [[.303 British]] and [[7.92×57mm Mauser]].  Israeli forces found the Dror unreliable as it was prone to jam from sand and dust ingress, and the weapon was discontinued after a brief period of service. [[Che Guevara|Ernesto "Che" Guevara]] notably used a Johnson in the Cuban Revolution.{{Cn|date=September 2023}}

== 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]] rifle with the U.S. Department of Defense, then with ArmaLite and Colt's Manufacturing Company as an advocate for the [[AR-15]]. Armalite relied heavily on Johnson's efforts and the AR-15 used a similar bolt design to the M1941 Johnson. One of Johnson's last postwar firearms ventures was a [[.22 Spitfire|5.7&nbsp;mm-caliber]] version of the [[M1 carbine]], aka 'the Spitfire'.<ref>Barnes, Frank C., Cartridges of the World, DBI Books, 1989</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2023}}

=== Liquid propellant prototype ===
A prototype using [[hydrazine]] for a caseless firearm was also developed. The firearms would have been very effective and pretty equivalent in performance to conventional propellants, while offering improved supply lines. The main concern was in the durability of pressure seals in field conditions as well as toxicity of the substance to the user.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 May 2022 |title=PROPOSED LIQUID-PROPELLANT CALIBER .30 AUTOMATIC RIFLE UTILIZING PRELOADED, CASELESS, HYDRAZINE, MONOPROPELLANT BALLISTIC SYSTEM |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a188575.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427143035/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a188575.pdf |archive-date=April 27, 2019 |website=dtic.mil}}</ref>

== Users ==
<!--READ FIRST: This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->

{{ref section|date=September 2019}}

*{{flag|Canada|1921}}: Known to be used by Canadian soldiers in the [[Special Service Force]]<ref name="F">{{Cite web|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/james-d-julia-johnson-lmg-history-disassembly/|title = James D. Julia: Johnson LMG History & Disassembly|date = 29 February 2016}}</ref>
*{{flag|Malaysia}}: Formerly used by the Royal Malaysian Police, now on display at the [[Royal Malaysian Police Museum|Police Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sadefensejournal.com/wp/royal-malaysia-police-museum/|title = Royal Malaysia Police Museum – Small Arms Defense Journal}}</ref>
*{{flag|Philippines|1936}}
*{{flag|United Kingdom}}{{Cn|date=September 2023}}
*{{flag|United States|1912}}

===Non-state actors===
*{{flagicon image|M-26-7.svg}} [[26th of July Movement]]<ref> [https://www.thefreelibrary.com/SMALL+ARMS+OF+THE+CUBAN+REVOLUTIONS+PART1%3A+%3FCuba+Libre%3F-a0651642318 SMALL ARMS OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTIONS PART1: ?Cuba Libre?] Firearms News. February 1, 2021. Paul Scarlata</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Sturmgewehr 52]]
*[[Kg m/40 automatic rifle]]
*[[FG 42]]
*[[Lmg 25|Furrer M25]]
*[[List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces]]
*[[M60 machine gun]]
*[[Model 45A]]
*[[Sieg automatic rifle]]
*[[MG 30]]
*[[Dror light machine gun|Dror]]
*[[TRW Low Maintenance Rifle]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
*Johnson Jr., Melvin, ''Rifles and Machine Guns of the World's Armies'', Fighting Forces, 1944.
*Smith, Joseph E., ''Small Arms of the World,'' Stackpole Books, 1969.
*Weeks, John, ''WWII Small Arms,'' Galahad Books, 1980.
*Barnes, Frank C., ''Cartridges of the World,'' DBI Books, 1989.
*Pikula, Sam (Maj.), ''The Armalite AR-10,'' 1998.
*Canfield, Bruce N., ''Johnson Rifles and Machine Guns,'' Mowbray Publishing, 2002.

== External links ==
{{Commons|M1941 Johnson (machine gun)}}
*{{cite web|url=http://milpas.cc/rifles/ZFiles/Semi-automatic%20Rifles/US/U.S.%20M%201941%20Johnson%20Semi-%20Automatic%20rifle/PROTOTYPE%20JOHNSON%20SEMI-AUTO.html |title=Johnson M1941 Prototypes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403213227/http://milpas.cc/rifles/ZFiles/Semi-automatic%20Rifles/US/U.S.%20M%201941%20Johnson%20Semi-%20Automatic%20rifle/PROTOTYPE%20JOHNSON%20SEMI-AUTO.html |archive-date=2012-04-03 }}
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2655837A/en]
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2386802A/en]
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2400422A/en]
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2383487A/en]
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2409568A/en]
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2146743A/en]
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2215470A/en]
*[https://patents.google.com/patent/US2181131A/en]

{{WWIIUSInfWeaponsNav}}
[[Category:.30-06 Springfield machine guns]]
[[Category:Firearms by Melvin Johnson]]
[[Category:Light machine guns]]
[[Category:Machine guns of the United States]]
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[[Category:Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1940]]
[[Category:Weapons of the Philippine Army]]
[[Category:World War II machine guns]]
[[Category:World War II firearms of the United States]]