Bruce Canfield

A M1941 Johnson Light Machine gun sold at the December 2023 Rock Island Auction for $141,000 shattering the previous record in September 2023 of $68,400. Of course, one auction doesn't set the prevailing market price but it is indicative of the strong demand for a genuine transferable Johnson LMG.

You are absolutely correct. The overwhelming majority of trench guns on the market today are either outright fakes are have varying degrees of "problems." When genuine trench guns sold for $200 or $300 years ago and weren't very popular with many collectors, fakes weren't as big of a problem. Now with prices ten, twenty or thirty times as much (if not more) and the actual scarcity of the real guns is now obvious, fakes are a growing plague and lots of people are spending lots of money on bogus pieces. A little research can save a lot of money. Google or Wikipedia don't cut it, lol.

Nope.

Don, it looks like your model 12 was produced in 1941, according to the tables linked below. Besides trench and riot guns, model 12s were procured for use in air gunnery training. These guns had the full-length barrels seen on your Model 12. Good looking gun! McHenry Sportsmen's Club - Winchester Model 12 Serial Numbers (mchenry-sc.org) Like most of the Winchester production date/serial number tables floating around today, this one is badly flawed. When WWII Model 12 production ceased in 1944, serial numbers were into the 1,036,000 range. The table shows that those guns were made in 1947. It is just as bad with the WWI Model 1897 trench gun serial numbers. Most of the tables show the WWI guns being manufactured in 1920-1922.

Yes, total fantasy piece.

That makes sense. I couldn't figure out what would make the cartridges "specially adapted." for the Reising SMG.

Fascinating info.

I hadn't seen that. Thanks.

Very interesting. The cartridges listed in the article are exactly what is currently in the box. I always assumed someone had just put them in as a filler and didn't realize the company sold reloaded military cartridge cases. Great info. Thanks.

I acquired to box of ammunition years ago as I thought it would go nicely with my Reisings. I've always wondered what made the ammunition "specially adapted" for the Reising. The box contained various .45 ACP military ball cartridges dated from 1941-1943 (mostly FA and WCC) so I don't have any of the original head-stamps to go by. I assume it's commercial ammo but can't find out anything about the Dairt Co. Any ideas?

Buy the gun, not the story. In this case I wouldn't do either!

It appears to have all the attributes a real gun. They don't come on the market very often. The four row handguard/bayonet adapter dates from mid-WWII so the six row type is correct.

Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm glad the book has been helpful.

Glad to help. It should have a black plastic buttplate marked "Ithaca Gun Co. Inc."

The post-WWII trench guns were not marked with flaming bomb insignias.