5.7 Johnson and M1 Carbine

[eb in oregon]

i thin k this one just got lost in the cracks of time. The cartridge wasn't a success at the time when they had just passed the .30 cal and were trying 7.62, and 5.56 was just looming too. All this and three wars in a short time, over a twenty year period and it was forgotten. I would like to try a carbine in that chamber but they are all but unobtanium here in Canada and a registered trial experiment isn't much fun here, not with our overseers.

It didn't get "lost," the main issue was (and still is) the lack of available commercial ammunition. Ed Johnson couldn't get any major ammunition manufacturer to produce ammunition. Ed tried to make it himself but couldn't produce it fast enough. He had quality problems with several smaller producers, and due to the lack of ammunition orders didn't come in fast enough to stay in business. The cartridge is a good one, but the ammunition problem hasn't gotten any better. Even if today a guy tried to re-introduce the carbine it suffers from the same issue, lack of ammunition. And rifles where one has to "roll his own" have a very small market.