eric johnson guns

T

Tom C.

Guest
there's a heavy barreled 22 bolt action rifle that i
saw at an auction marked with eric johnson on it.
i've seen the name mentioned a couple of times in passing
in precision shooting articles but no one seems to know
anything about him around here, i think maybe he was a
barrelmaker or gunsmith, i thought you guys would probably
know something if anyone would. thanks.
 
The American Single Shot Rifle Association has his shop records and for $10 will TRY to research a rifle. archivist is Rudi Prusok for further info
rprusok@nmu.edu
I'm pretty sure he was a well respected barrel maker/gunsmith in the 1960-70's
 
thanks i just did a search

and found a few items on him i'll have to take a good
look at the rifle possibly a w52.
 
I have a 219 donaldson that eric bilt on a 44 stevens action . Probaly in the 60's. In their day they were the gun.
 
I believe that was C.C. Johnson's son. C.C was one of the great smiths of the 40's and 50's working on lots of single shot varmint guns, he did great work. I believe from Indiana.Not much of his work escaped the midwest. His son was less well known but respected as a smith.
If you do a search over on the ASSRA site C.C.'s grandson is there and does have records- might be able to tell you something about the gun.
 
52?

If it's a Winchester 52, it will say so on the side of the reciever. The serial number will also tell you which model. Eric Johnson was an excellent gunsmith.
 
Eric & Charlie Johnson

Eric was a Hamden CT RF barrel maker of the famous 5 Star 8 barrels.I had three.He only did RF work.He was the man also National SB Prone champion .
His barrels were 8 grooves part of the 5 * 8.

Charlie Johnson was a Lawrenceburg Ohio smith.He worked on S.S. and bolt rifles. HE was an artist with a single shot.He like Diller barrels,Dayton OH I think. :)
We are truley dimished
 
thanks all

if this is the same gun i saw before it's
coming back to the local auction here
i think it went the first time for 5-600
looked to be in very good condition. i'll
have to take a better look this time,
my curiousity is getting to me on this one.
i like the old guns. did the old pope guns
really shoot well or was that part of the
legend. anyone have any pics of one?
 
You bet they do. I've shot a couple Pope's and own a Stevens-Pope 32-40 and if you put a scope in the bore it looks like a modern lapped BR barrel. The hard part is making a quality cast slug that fits the bore properly. Last year in Precision Shooting a guy had a really nice article about shooting a Pope-Ballard 32-40 and his best 100 yard 10 shot group was in the .4's I believe.
 
Here is a pic of an Eric Johnson he smithed in 1948 - this is a 5-star barrel also stamped "Special" - it is a smooth bore up til the last six inches where there is a 5 groove 1/9...also the barrel has a series of vents in it - GREAT shooter - If I can find my USB adapter for my camera I can put up some pics of a Pope later -

bal8.JPG


bal2.JPG


Also, I have a copy of EJ's shop records so I can provide some info if you have his serial no from the barrel - most of his records show just the date it was produced, what type of gun it was, and the customers name/address;

bal9.JPG
 
01511 is the number i believe

beautiful rifle, folks took a lot of pride in their work.
it shows.
 
Eric Johnson Barrel

Hey all,
Just showing off my one & only Custom Rifle :

BSA 12/15 : 22 LR
Custom Stock : " Eric Johnson Barrel "

IMG_1047_edited.jpg

IMG_1045_edited.jpg



" Louie M.: I found your Johnson barrel in his shop notes; on the last page, after having started the search on the first, so it was one of the last barrels he made (September, 1951).

It was shipped on September 12 to Frank K. Eichter, 87-25 62nd Road, Rego Park, NY. (It's in Queens on the Long Island Expressway) Johnson lists the action (No. 0145) as being a BSA International, which is different than the 12/15, but it's the only Martini with that serial number listed among his notes.

Since many of Johnson's barrels also were ordered by Al Freeland for his International action, that hooked buttplare probably is a Freeland.

If you want, I can try to find some Freeland catalog pages that show his rifles and the buttplate and send them along to you.
I'll send you a copy of the shop note listing.
Rudi Prusok, ASSRA Archives, ".

http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1205209082

J.P. aka: Louie.M
 
EJ added a serial number to the barrel, generally on the underside of the barrel - see the "810" in this pic for an example...
bal6.JPG
 
Thanks Oz Customs, will remove the stock and take a look.
Glen
 
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52 pre A

I have an Eric Johnson gun, that was bought 9 yrs ago for $650. Johnson barrell, & according to the previous owner his grandfather had Johnson build the gun in the 40's. It's a 52 pre A w/ a speedlock conversion? I personally haven't done any background work on it, but with the link mentioned before I hope to know soon.

The rifle shoots outstanding, its in a Marksman style stock so I don't compeate w/ it, one day my son can call it & the other's his.

I could'nt get the pics up so PM me and I'll try e-mail.

Mark
 
JUNKYARD PERRO said:
Hey all,
Just showing off my one & only Custom Rifle :

BSA 12/15 : 22 LR
Custom Stock : " Eric Johnson Barrel "

IMG_1047_edited.jpg

IMG_1045_edited.jpg



" Louie M.: I found your Johnson barrel in his shop notes; on the last page, after having started the search on the first, so it was one of the last barrels he made (September, 1951).

It was shipped on September 12 to Frank K. Eichter, 87-25 62nd Road, Rego Park, NY. (It's in Queens on the Long Island Expressway) Johnson lists the action (No. 0145) as being a BSA International, which is different than the 12/15, but it's the only Martini with that serial number listed among his notes.

Since many of Johnson's barrels also were ordered by Al Freeland for his International action, that hooked buttplare probably is a Freeland.

If you want, I can try to find some Freeland catalog pages that show his rifles and the buttplate and send them along to you.
I'll send you a copy of the shop note listing.
Rudi Prusok, ASSRA Archives, ".

http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1205209082

J.P. aka: Louie.M
Click to expand...
He made a barrel for me>
8/52
6/54
 
Oz Customs said:
Also, I have a copy of EJ's shop records so I can provide some info if you have his serial no from the barrel - most of his records show just the date it was produced, what type of gun it was, and the customers name/address;

Oz Custom,

I have a Winchester 52B in a Freeland stock, smithed my Eric Johnson; his name is stamped on top and date stamped on the bottom of the bull barrel. Date is 1946. Serial number on receiver
is #4 6876 B

It has a Wayne Thomas trigger and Al Freeland's name is signed in pencil on the inside of the forearm.

I am really trying to find out everything I can about this rifle. It is the most accurate rifle that I have ever shot and one I plan to hand down to my grandson. It has all the correct period sights, including a unertl scope but has never been drilled and tapped for modern scope mounts.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

don gill
Click to expand...
 
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Eric Johnson

I don't want to take the forearm off the Ballard..I feel it will read 8/52.
A 5 Star 8.
I talked to Eric at Perry now was it 52 or 53...thinking 52 over Labor Day.
He won the Bent Barrel Trophy. He lapped a tight bore.
 
Boy, thanks guys for putting up some great single shot history. Some of you should really put up these photos over on the ASSRA site as well, lots of knowledge there.
 
Okay, I contacted Rudi Prusok at ASSRA and found out my Eric Johnson Winchester 52 tack driver was built for a guy named John Sullivan in 1946.

Has anyone ever heard of a Camp Perry smallbore competitor named John Sullivan from New London, CT? He would have competed in 3 position national matches in the late 40's and later.

Any suggested links to try and research this shooter?
thanks
 
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