Thomas Crossley Johnson (1862–1934) was an American firearms designer. The son of a President of the
Yale Safe and Iron Company, Johnson was trained as an
industrial engineer
Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...
and worked for several companies prior to employment with the
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...
in 1885. While working for Winchester, Johnson was responsible for some of Winchester's most memorable gun designs:
*
Model 1903, first commercially available
rimfire self-loading rifle
*
Model 1905, first commercially available
centerfire
Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center
A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i. ...
self-loading
A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm (automatic firearm, fully automatic and selective fire firearms are also variations on repeating firearm#Autoloading, self-loading firearms), is a repeating firearm who ...
rifle
*
Model 1911
The Colt M1911 (also known as 1911, Colt 1911, Colt .45, or Colt Government in the case of Colt-produced models) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered primarily for the .45 ACP cartridge.
History
Early hist ...
, self-loading shotgun
*
Model 12,
slide action
Pump action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge and typically to cock the hammer or st ...
shotgun
*
Model 21, double-barreled shotgun
* Model 51, "Imperial" bolt-action sporting rifle
*
Model 52 bolt-action smallbore match rifle
*
Model 54 bolt-action hunting rifle (which evolved into the renowned
Model 70).
From beginning employment with Winchester in November 1885 to his death in 1934, Johnson was named on 124 patents assigned to the company.
Sources
# Madis, George, ''The Winchester Book''. Houston: Art and Reference House 1971
# Williamson, Harold, ''Winchester, The Gun That Won the West''. Washington: Combat Forces Press 1952
External links
* https://centerofthewest.org/2017/03/03/t-c-johnsons-bolt-action-experiments
* https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/12/14/guns-t-c-johnson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, T. C.
1934 deaths
Firearm designers
1862 births