MMJ 5.7 conversion - any value?

[travelinbob]

Hello all, just joined, shoulda joined long ago....

I have a vg+ Melvin Johnson Machining M1 carbine conversion in .22 Spitfire.
It's built on an Inland receiver. My question is, do these have value, or should I just put on the proper surplus barrel, make it correct, and sell of the old barrel?

Thanks to all.

Information

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[imarangemaster]

I am not a collector, but a shooter. In my opinion, though, it is more collectible than just another rebuilt Inland! There is more interest calibers like yours, especially with the new FN 5.7mm PDW round. You can get a CMP rack grade Inland for $419, and keep the Johnson as a collectable. If you shoot and reload, more the better.

[hipowershooter]

You might want to check out the JohnsonAutomatics.com forums....one section is dedicated to the very few people who own or want a MMJ 5.7 Spitfire

[jmoore]

Much more scarce than a rebuilt carbine. Wouldn't mind finding one myself.

[Smokehouse69]

I agree. Keep it .22 Spirfire. If I'm not mistaken in order to get the Spitfire to feed reliably it took some modification of the feed ramps of the receiver. Putting a standard carbine barrel on it might make it a no shooter or at least a poor feeder.

[imarangemaster]

BTW, anyone know how close the specs are between the 5.7 MMJ and the 5.7 FN PDW? Personally, i theink the 30 carbine is a better PDW than 5.7!

[Smokehouse69]

The 5.7 Johnson has about twice the muzzle energy of a 5.7x28FN round. Of course the 5.7 Johnson is out of an 18" barrel, versus a 4 inch pistol barrel.

[imarangemaster]

Even if you shot it out of a SBR, I think the 5.7MMJ is better!

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Welcome to the forum travelinbob!

As 'imarangemaster' said, I would leave it as it is because it's collectable in it's own way more than any rebuilt Inland. Very cool, and a rare example of carbine history.

[imarangemaster]

I need to check in my book "The Black Rifle" and see, but it seems to me that the Army experimented with something M1 carbine/5.7 MMJish during the 50s prior to the AR15 in R&D. I think the overall project was called Project ARPA. I'll look it up. When you think about it, the Colt XM177E2 11.5 inch barrel just does about 2600 FPS with the 55 grain M193! That puts the 5.7 MMJ in a new light.