I swear, Ian gets to play with all the fun (and obscure) firearms the world has created. While I enjoy my modern doo-dads, sometimes the old designs just look fun to work with. Latest up in Ian from Forgotten Weapon’s ever expanding catalog of old guns is the Johnson LMG

Our own Alex Capps has a M1941 that he has gloriously field-stripped for all nostalgic-oriented firearms owners, and while the self-loading rifle saw some action with the Marines, it was never as popular as the Garand (as it was formally adopted). As a companion to the rifle, Johnson created a functionally similar machine gun adding in some features including a side-feeding box magazine. Like the self-loading standard rifle, the LMG is recoil operated clocking in at only 14 lbs (fantastic for its day).

The Johnson LMG was originally sold to the Dutch, delivering weapons to the the Dutch East Asian colonies until the Japanese captured the territory. Stuck with inventory, Johnson sold the weapons the US Marines, who used the weapons to generally high praise, especially the paratroopers who were able to break the weapon down.

For the full history and discussion on the rifle, check out Forgotten Weapon’s video below, including comparison to the well known Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR).