5.7 Johnson and M1 Carbine

[tiriaq]

Come to think of it, I have a Plainfield barrel which had an extension installed to comply with previous Canadian law. As is, it is worthless. It would be a good candidate to alter into a 19" .22 barrel.

[painter777]

Guys on the CMP Forum brought up the 5.7
5.7 Spitfire carbine - CMP Forums

One linked a barrel from Numrich for sale:
Barrel, Conversion, .22 Cal. Wildcat (5.7mm Johnson) | Gun Parts Corp.

BARREL, CONVERSION, .22 CAL. WILDCAT (5.7MM JOHNSON)
$242.00

FWIW

[Croste515]

Hi all! This is my first post. I've gotten a ton of great info so far. I really appreciate all the knowledge that is shared here. To the Johnson spitfire thread... I should have figured the feed ramp would be different. Kind of making me rethink re-barreling to .30 cal when the ammo for the spitfire runs out. Great gun to shoot but the ammo right now, if you can find it, is pricey. 50 rounds are around $100 plus shipping. I have the cartridges and bullets but no idea how to reload. Might be time to figure it out.

[jimb16]

You will find that you can reform existing cases to make new Spitfire cases once you get into reloading. A basic set-up can be had for around $150 dollars. Once you learn reload, you'll find it doesn't really save you any money, but you'll do a lot more shooting for the same $! Warning....reloading is addictive! BTW, you should be able to cut the cost for your ammo to around 25 to 30 cents per round. Won't take long to recover your initial costs. You may have to custom order your dies. They might be a bit more expensive than standard dies, but they will be worth the money.

[Croste515]

You will find that you can reform existing cases to make new Spitfire cases once you get into reloading. A basic set-up can be had for around $150 dollars. Once you learn reload, you'll find it doesn't really save you any money, but you'll do a lot more shooting for the same $! Warning....reloading is addictive! BTW, you should be able to cut the cost for your ammo to around 25 to 30 cents per round. Won't take long to recover your initial costs. You may have to custom order your dies. They might be a bit more expensive than standard dies, but they will be worth the money.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I have a ton of johnson cases already and a whole lot of .30 cal cases as well. I'm going to look into getting the dies.

[floydthecat]

Mister Johnson figured out a long time ago that the M1 carbine action can handle many other calibers. I have been fortunate enough to build a 9x19 that runs wonderfully. It was really fun when 9mm could be had for as little as 10-cents, but it’s still fun to shoot. I am pondering taking the leap to the Spitfire.

[eb in oregon]

5.7 Johnson firearms and reloading supplies are still available, but rare. Only about 200 original Johnson "Spitfire" carbines were made by Melvin Johnson's son's. The market to convert rifles never panned out and the cartridge never caught on. It was before it's time. CH4D makes reloading dies and case forming dies. You'd have to contact them about current price and delivery date.

There is an IAI 5.7MMJ being offered on Gunbroker, but the company (or guy) want's more than twice what it's worth (IMHO), so it won't sell anytime soon. Iver Johnson made a few, but the quality of those carbines (as well as IAI) is suspect. There were issues with both manufacturers regarding barrel twist and quality control. It's not a straight forward conversion. The feed ramp of the .30 Carbine receiver needs to be modified and if done incorrectly your receiver is ruined and it won't feed properly. Then too the twist rate of the original 5.7MMJ Carbine was 1/16 and the others have a faster twist rate which doesn't stabilize 40 grain projectiles well, which is about the heaviest bullet that the cartridge was designed to handle. Wikipedia's information is incorrect in that regard as Ed Johnson himself has stated that the twist rate was 1/16 for Johnson's Carbines and it was originally designed for 40 grain projectiles, 50 grain at the absolute maximum.

Forums - Johnson Rifle Site Bulletin Board

[AlexRod85]

As i know 5,7mm was 40gr bullet @ 3000 fps and that was published

[Trooperdan]

5.7 Johnson firearms and reloading supplies are still available, but rare. Only about 200 original Johnson "Spitfire" carbines were made by Melvin Johnson's son's. The market to convert rifles never panned out and the cartridge never caught on. It was before it's time. CH4D makes reloading dies and case forming dies. You'd have to contact them about current price and delivery date.

There is an IAI 5.7MMJ being offered on Gunbroker, but the company (or guy) want's more than twice what it's worth (IMHO), so it won't sell anytime soon. Iver Johnson made a few, but the quality of those carbines (as well as IAI) is suspect. There were issues with both manufacturers regarding barrel twist and quality control. It's not a straight forward conversion. The feed ramp of the .30 Carbine receiver needs to be modified and if done incorrectly your receiver is ruined and it won't feed properly. Then too the twist rate of the original 5.7MMJ Carbine was 1/16 and the others have a faster twist rate which doesn't stabilize 40 grain projectiles well, which is about the heaviest bullet that the cartridge was designed to handle. Wikipedia's information is incorrect in that regard as Ed Johnson himself has stated that the twist rate was 1/16 for Johnson's Carbines and it was originally designed for 40 grain projectiles, 50 grain at the absolute maximum.

Forums - Johnson Rifle Site Bulletin Board

Eric, is the Johnson Forum active? I have tried to log in there but haven't been able to. I have one of the original 5.7 Johnson built carbines.

[W5USMC]

Dan, there was a recent discussion about the 5.7 Johnson on the CCC forum. See the below link.
5.7 MMJ Carbine PMC - The Carbine Collector's Club - Page 2