Excerpt from Military Handbook of the Johnson Semi-Automatic Rifle With no necessity for bolt manipulation, the plane can be led as one would a flying bird with a shotgun. So intense a concentration by a number of rifles would render the tracks of vehicles and all but the heavier types of armour vulnerable. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

While the M1 Garand is the iconic US rifle of the WWII era, it had a strong competitor, the Johnson Semi-Automatic. Developed as a possible replacement for the Garand, it addressed several of the drawbacks of the M1: a larger 10-rnd magazine that could be topped up with strippers, the ability to take a vertical external magazine and had a fully automatic light machine gun version as well. This 'handbook' seems to actually be a long form promotional booklet created by Johnson to help promote and sell its virtues to various government customers about the advantages of his rifle vs. the M1 Garand. There is even a section comparing the two point by point. It covers description, a detailed explanation of functioning, operation and disassembly (with diagrams/photos). It is a terrific resource for the historian or for those with in interest in military arms. Of note, the Johnson while not adopted by the US Army was used in small numbers in the early Pacific campaigns by the US Marines, and one USMC Cap. Robert Hugo Dunlap carried one into battle on Iwo Jima, subsequently winning the Medal of Honor based on his actions. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in the Johnson rifle and how it works.

2012 Reprint of 1948 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Julian Sommerville Hatcher was a noted firearms expert and author of the early twentieth century. He is credited with several technical books and articles relating to military firearms, ballistics, and auto loading weapons. His premier works are "Hatcher's Notebook" and "Book of the Garand." He was also a pioneer in the forensic identification of firearms and their ammunition. Hatcher retired from the United States Army as a Major General. Afterward, he served as Technical Editor of the National Rifle Association's "American Rifleman" magazine. Hatcher's "Book of the Garand" is the definitive chronicle of the rifle General George S. Patton called "the greatest battle implement ever devised." Hatcher follows the evolution of the M1 Garand from the first semiautomatic hunting rifles to the devastating U.S. infantry weapon of WWII.

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