T.C. Johnson

Thomas Crossley Johnson was an American firearms designer. The son of a President of the Yale Safe and Iron Company, Johnson was trained as an industrial engineer and worked for several companies before coming to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1885. While working for Winchester, Johnson was responsible for some of Winchester's most memorable gun designs, including the Model 1903 and Model 1905, respectively the first commercially available rimfire and centerfire self-loading rifles, Model 1911 self-loading shotgun, the Model 12 slide action shotgun, the Model 21 double-barreled shotgun, the Model 51 "Imperial" bolt-action sporting rifle, the Model 52 bolt-action smallbore match rifle, and the 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.