What a treasure you have found. Commercial Johnsons were made briefly after WWII. They also were chambered in .270, 7x57, and .35 Whelan. They were not very popular, mainly because they were expensive, around $250, when you could get a Model 70 for about $70, and difficult or impossible to mount a scope on. They were made for many foreign government in different calibers. Sweden in 6.5x55, some South American countries in 7x57, and many given to Chang Kai Chek.
In 1954 Johnson went to work as an "advisor" for Armalite! He help design the AR rifle we all know today. If you look at the breaching system of the Johnson, it's the same as an AR!! The bolt assembly resembles a Browning Auto 5 shotgun. Very unique rifles for sure, and the history of these things is amazing. I know there's a book detailing the history of Maynard Johnson and his designs. but those are probably about as rare as the rifles!! The variations were amazing, they had a version that was a tri-pod mounted light machine gun with 20 round stick magazines, sort of like a BAR! They also adapted to Garands to use the rotary magazine. I probably forgot more about the Johnson than I can remember right now!!
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