Ed, as a gun dealer you should know that only 30,000 Model 21's were made and they were well made with chopper lump barrels, hence their expense. The market has a way of figuring these sort of things out.
I'm pretty sure you mean "dove tail lump" if you are talking about WInchester model 21s.
Something to keep in mind is the 4140 steel used in a model 21 was more difficult to solder than other gun steels. This, combined with a problem designed into the fore end hanger on earlier guns caused them to shed ribs somewhat regularly. There exists documentation of Olin being made aware of the problem by a customer.
I'm convinced the problem was identified and corrected by Winchester, but, I'm not sure when. If I was in the market for a 21 (I'm not) I'd spend more time trying to pin down hard information about that issue.
If Klunk was still around we would all get to see the special treat that was his opinion of a model 21.
And, the pissing match that would follow.
Best,
Ted
