doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Winchester Model 21

I have sworn off M21's but Bob, looking at your 2-bbl 16 ga Skeet I am definitely tempted�. Beautiful gun.

Some of you have seen these pics before on an engraving thread. In 1990 I bought the gun from a friend -- a standard post-war 16 ga. field grade with non-original buttstock. Galazan's restocked it to my specs about 10 years back. The engraving is recent, by Ray Cover, done as a remembrance of a very special dog. I like the way it turned out.

At 6-3/4 lbs. the gun carries easy for all-day pheasant hunting, and is pleasant to shoot with 1-1/8 oz. loads. The hinge pin screw was correctly re-set to horizontal since these pics were taken. My cheap auto-focus camera doesn't do justice to Ray Cover's work. His scroll is beautifully cut, perfectly shaped curves, and the shadowing he uses gives it depth and texture that's mostly lost in these pics.

Jay

Bob, Your guns are very nice. Is your 16 ga with the checkered side panels a 'deluxe' model? Jay's 21 with his dog engraved is neat too.

Strong & dependable, but I do not care for the looks.

And too heavy for an upland carry gun, IMO.

Brittany used a phrase that I think should be copyrighted - "solid and purposeful." There's not a better description of the 21.

To my eye, the exterior finish reminds me of a blued Ruger Red Label, nice but not special. The working surfaces that I have seen are top notch and we know the materials are good. Like all of the other classic American makers, the gun really starts to shine when it goes upscale.

If you handle enough of the old guns, there's something different about the 21. Try to imagine picking one up when they first hit the market, the new-fangled blued receiver that did not require case hardening, the incredibly tiny bottom rib, and some pretty nice wood. It would have made an impression as "solid and purposeful." People must have thought so back then, because Winchester sold a cart load of them during the Depression when everyone else was sucking air.

16 ga. 21 with 28" barrels IC&IM, splinter, extractors, single trigger that weighs 6lb. 4oz. just right for me.


16 gauge with 28" barrels IC&M...custom stocked but engraved by Ulrich

Scroll on my no. 6 engraved 21...engraving done by Pauline Muerrle in the Winchester custom shop.

Bob your 20 was about what I was looking for back them. Perhaps in 16 or 12 as a young man thinks bigger is better. Now I would limit my search to a 16 or 20 most likely.

I did find a 12 with the proper number of triggers, two, which had lots of wear and had been altered quite a bit by previous owners. Best of all someone had changed the chokes to .005 and .035 which was a very useful combination. An old recoil pad had been smoothed by use so much it went up like a glove and just fit into my shoulder like a second skin. I lament selling it but used the money to purchase a Superbrite which I lusted for at the time. In the end it was the worst fitting double I ever owned and taught me several good lessons. Most of all the next gun is often not the upgrade you envision and perhaps is the worst mistake you can make gunwise.

KY, do you still have the Superbritte? I would be interested. I am so stupid.

No Eightbore, I sold it about six years ago. Make that ten years upon reflection. Time flies when you pass 50. The one I had was the side opening O/U which I first saw in Gun Digest maybe 20-25 years ago. It just looked like a cool gun to shoot. I never figured out why I shot is so badly. Not fair, nor poor it was bad. If I had used that gun to commit suicide I would have needed to reload at least once. Perhaps it is like a Darne which you either shoot well or never will.

I paid about six and sold it for ten to a Dr. in Lexington KY who had more money than I did. He could not hit the barn door with it but he did not care. It was a unique gun and you just looked good missing with it. I think G&H found a unfinished stash of them and had them finished in the 90's. Like I said in the earlier post I learned that the next gun was not the upgrade but could be a big mistake. I never lusted for another one of them but I seemed to find solid rib Superposed very attractive right now. I just never learn I guess.

buzz,
Kerrs in Beverly Hills was owned by Alex Kerr, one of the greatest Skeet Shooters ever. I have a model 21 that was restocked by Kerrs in a beautiful stripped stock. I used to visit the shop back in the 70"s when I lived in CA.
Interesting story is that one day Elvis was at the gun counter and was buying a Model 12 Winchester. He ended up buying one for everybody else who was at the gun counter.