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

Serial 23336. Not in the website's database.. Anyone help?

Well I'll take a stab....

If the gun has a lot of gold, fancy looking wood and a serial number that does not show in the Winchester book it could be a "Cash Custom" with a made up serial number.

According to Schwing, "Winchester's Finest", all I could find is it was apparently made in 1948.

We're not sure what you are looking for. What website? What database? What Winchester book?

Really no doubt which list you're on.
Merry Christmas lil' buddy

Thanks for the replies. I looked under Winchester dates of manufacture but that serial number was in a group that that website didn't have any info on. The party that has the gun for sale. calls it a field grade, but the stock is well figured.
And the gun has a beavertail forearm and it has a single trigger. Are the grades marked on the guns? Seems too nice to be a field grade.... Thanks for any thoughts.... Grant.

21's are almost impossible to date based on their serial numbers other than the very early guns. This is because the big-W made a bunch of action frames all at once in the beginning of the production run. They assigned & stamped serial numbers to them at the time and basically threw them in a bin waiting for their turn at the bench. Over the years when a craftsman needed to start a gun he would just grab an action without regard to serial number continuity.

The only definitive way to date or grade a model 21 is to obtain a letter from the Cody museum and even then they might not have the records or will have only partial information about it.

The best thing you can do is study up on 21's look at a bunch of them and use your best judgement. Keep in mind that over the years there has been many 21's made up from parts and represented as the real deal. 28ga's are the ones you really have to keep an eye on in this regard.

Normally the Model 21 Standard Grade was not marked. In the early years the Model 21 was offered in the Standard, Tournament, Trap and Custom Built Grades. When the Model 21 Skeet Gun was introduced it was offered in Tournament, Trap and Custom Built Grades. Similarly the Vent Ribbed 12-gauge Trap Gun was offered in Tournament, Trap and Custom Built Grades. By the 1936 catalog the Tournament Grade was dropped and the Model 21 Skeet Gun was offered in Standard, Trap and Custom Built Grades and the 12-gauge vent ribbed Trap Gun was offered in Trap and Custom Built Grades. Between the 1938 and 1939 Winchester catalogs the Model 21 Trap Grade was dropped and the Model 21 Trap Gun was introduced. Also the vent rib was now an option in all gauges and barrel lengths. In the 1941 Winchester catalog the 12-gauge 3-inch Model 21 Duck Gun was added to the offerings. Chambering any gauge for 3-inch shells had been an option from the get go. During the War years plain extractors and double triggers disappeared. The October 1946 catalog did still offer the Model 21 Standard Grade or Field Gun with a slim forearm and the Model 21 Custom Built Grade had become the Model 21 DeLuxe Grade. By the 1950 Winchester catalogs all Model 21s were single selective trigger, ejector, beavertail forearm guns and the entry level was the Model 21 Field Gun. By the 1952 Winchester catalog the Model 21 DeLuxe Grade reverted to being the Model 21 Custom Built Grade. The last change in the production years offerings was in the January 2, 1954, Winchester catalog when the Model 21 Duck Gun changed to the Model 21 Magnum Gun with the addition of the 20-gauge 30-inch barrel 3-inch chambered gun.