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

Compare the barrel markings to the two guns on my Model 21 web page. The first gun is in my collection, the second gun was Jack O'Connor's. My gun was made before the 3-inch 20 gauge was announced to the public and the factory letter confirms the mfg date. Jack's gun was made after 'production' began. Jack's gun was marked with a roll die while mine looks as thought the '& 3 IN.' were hand stamped. Have you received a letter from Cody?

follow this link to my web site: Mike's Model 21 Page - 3-In 20 gauge

I have not requested a letter yet. But now that the dust of the holidays is settling I will. I am not a member at Cody so I'm not sure how long it will take. But I will post it once I get it.
I have not yet taken it out for ducks however I have knocked down several pheasants with it. Paul

To complete the information about Model 21 20 gauge 3" chamber markings, this picture shows the barrel flats and water table of a 'Custom Grade' Model 21 20 gauge 3" Magnum built in the Custom Shop in 1968. The barrels have no markings other than "Custom Built by Winchester' on the Rib.


The gun is a 26" barrel gun choked IC/Mod, so not a duck gun but most likely ordered with pheasants in mind. Schwings book lists 519 20 gauges made in the Custom Shop but does not indicate how many were 3" Magnums so a total count of Winchester Model 21's 20 gauge 3" Magnums eludes me!-Dick

Dick, Is that gun also a vent rib 21? Paul

No, standard rib.-Dick

dick,
the rust line on your 21 concerns me. were the barrels re-blued? the corrosion suggest blueing salts penetrated the barrel joint.

That rust line is very odd and as bird hunter said, concerning.

Dick,
Some of the Winchester Custom Shop Model 21s had salt wood. Don Criswell shared with me in a conversation I had with him 7-8 years ago that he personally had seen 5-6 M21s with salt wood, and he had heard about several others. I know of one M21 that had salt wood. Winchester will deny there was ever a problem with their guns, but if it was stocked in the mid-60s I would check the stock for salt. I recommend you take the stock off and verify if you have a problem or not.
Marvin

Not rust, just dried 'Sheath' protectant. When I saw the picture, I cleaned the joint and looked at the joint under 7X magnification. Thanks.-Dick