Developed in the 1930s, the Johnson M1941 was an unique rifle featuring a ten-round rotary magazine which could be loaded with single rounds or by two five-round Springfield stripper clips and a recoil system in which the barrel recoiled backwards into the receiver after a round was fired. Though the rifle was unsuccessful at winning over the Army (which had spent a considerable sum of money developing and adopting the M1 Garand), it was purchased in rather large quantities by the Dutch government-in-exile to arm their troops in the East Indies at the beginning of World War II. When the Dutch colonial possessions were overrun by Japanese forces, the shipment of weapons was rendered moot. In need of arms with the US entry in the war, many Johnson rifles from the Dutch order were purchased by the United States Marine Corps for use by its Paratroopers and Raiders. After the war the Johnson rifle would appear again in the hands of the fledgling Israeli Defense Force in the 1950s and with anti-Castro Cubans during the Bay of Pigs.
anonymous693.
