Johnson Indoor Target Gun: Part 2

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

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  The Johnson Indoor Target Gun is a catapult BB gun that was made in the late 1940s for youth target practice.

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

• Operation
• Cocking
• Trigger
• Serendipity
• Pat is not pending
• Adjustable sights
• Repeater
• Summary

I was going to write about something else today, but the response to Friday’s report convinced me to stick with the Johnson. Several of you said that you enjoyed the detailed photos. Today I will tell you about how the gun is constructed and how it operates, plus some special features. Grab your coffee cup and let’s go!

Operation

The Johnson gun is a catapult gun, and in Part one I showed you the broken surgical tubing in my new gun. Now, take a look at a gun with tubing in working condition.

This is how the rubber is supposed to look when it’s properly installed. The ends of this surgical tubing are held together with small cable ties. We are looking at the inside of the top cover of the gun.

Now allow me to show you how access is gained to that rubber. The top is pulled up out of the way for easy access. To release it the two spring steel “ears” in the front of the gun are spread apart and the top is raised.

This picture shows the top closed. The two spring steel “ears” on either side of the top are what hold it in place. The front sight is a post on a wheel that can be turned to move the post from side to side.

Here, the top has been pulled up out of the way. Lotsa surface rust on this older gun, no? This is not the one I’m writing about.

The top is flipped up. The rubber you saw before is in the top (blue arrow) and the launcher is at the rear of the bottom section (yellow arrow).

Cocking

To cock the gun and load the launcher, the launcher is pushed forward by the cocking device until the rubber band drops into the launcher’s slot. You can feel it. Then the cocking device ears are squeezed together, driving the steel hooks into the launcher’s slot and the whole thing is pulled back until the sear catches the launcher. That you can both hear and feel.

When the launcher is pushed forward, the rubber pops into the slot cut for it (yellow arrow).

The launcher is caught and held by the sear until the trigger releases it.

In this image, the cocking mechanism has pulled the launcher back into battery, just like in the previous picture. The rubber is not connected to the launcher in this image. If the top was down, one BB would have dropped into the launcher through that hole you see here. All that remains is to pull the trigger.

One hook has broken off this cocking device, on my older Johnson gun, making it impossible for this mechanism to cock the gun.

Trigger

The single-stage trigger isn’t adjustable, but it is light and easy to pull. The pull is quite long and there is no hint before the release.

Serendipity

When that hook broke it was a blessing in disguise, because it forced me to discover a different way to cock any Johnson gun that is much easier on the mechanism. That broken hook meant that the cocking device could no longer pull the launcher back to cock and load the gun. I thought about it a long while until it dawned on me that a ramrod will do the same thing. Use the cocking device to push the launcher forward and grab the rubber, then push the launcher back with the ramrod until the sear catches it. Not only is this a way to continue to use a Johnson that has broken, if you cock your gun this way all the time it won’t break to begin with. Right there is the one “secret” about operating this gun that’s worth what you paid for this whole blog.

Pat is not pending

Larry Hannusch once wrote that the greatest airgun designer of all time must have been named Pat Pending, because you see his name on so many airguns. Like the mythical German town of Ausfahrt that is the biggest city in the world (all over Germany every Autobahn exit leads there), Pat Pending was ubiquitous.

Every Johnson gun I have seen says Pats. Pending on its side. I wonder if any patents were ever issued?

Adjustable sights

Both sights on the Johnson are adjustable. You have already seen that the front post is on a wheel that can be turned to move the post side to side.

The rear sight adjusts for elevation by sliding it up and down a vertical post. Loosen the peep to slide the sight on the post. There are no detents for this, but there are index marks on the left side of the post. You pretty much guess where it should be and tighten it there.

Rear sight peephole slides up and down.

Repeater

The Johnson gun is a repeater, with the BBs in a channel in the top section. Slide the spring-loaded follower forward and lock it out of the way, then drop the BBs into a hole at the front of the top cover. When released, the follower pushes them back and when the launcher moves into the cocked position it opens a loading port, allowing a single BB to fall into the launcher. In this respect it is exactly the same as a Sharpshooter pistol. You don’t have to think about this when you cock the gun. As long as BBs are in the magazine, one will load.

BBs are pushed back to load by the magazine follower.

Summary

That’s a good look at the design of the gun and also how it operates. The next thing I want to do is repair the rubber, so we can conduct some velocity tests.

Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)

Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

See Full Bio