Arms, Armor and Militaria Online

.218 Bee Improved. 26" barrel length. SN: 9550. Blued metal finish mounting walnut semi-pistol grip stock with bordered multipoint checkering to the wrist and forend, and a cheek pad to the left comb. Single shot Martini action rifle mounting a J. UNERTL/OPT. CO. marked 10 X scope, serial number 73770. Left barrel exhibits the maker marking C.C. JOHNSON near the frame. Underside of the barrel struck DOUG/XX, indicating it mounts a replaced Douglas Premium Barrel. Rifle features a deeply engraved frame and small parts with oak leaves and acorns over beaded grounds framing vignettes on each side of the frame. Left vignette shows three silver plated rabbits running. Right frame adorned with a hissing bobcat. Rifle features front and rear sling swivel studs with no iron sights. Triggerguard shows the initial P on a stippled ground. Oval plate to the stock is engraved with the initials JGP. Charles C. Johnson was best known for building custom rifles in wildcat chamberings, with .219 Bee Improved fitting nicely within his purview. However, the engraving does not match his style, and was most likely applied by a master engraver whose signature does not appear on the final piece. The naturalistic shapes and hunting scenes are evocative of the work of Paul Jager and Franz Marktl, both contemporaries of Johnson.

Charles C. Johnson produced a bevy of custom hunting and target shooting rifles beginning in the 1930s. From his shop in Thackery, Ohio, his collection of high performance and Wildcat chambered rifles found their way into hunters across the United States. In the case of this rifle, the choice of a Martini action as a starting point was unusual for him, but yielded a very compact and light firearm chambered in a speedy cartridge of the day. {C&R}