doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Model 21, 30" Skeet Barrels???

I suspect that these 30" M/F Skeet guns(if the serial #s match) were originally Skeet Grades with two sets of barrels and the skeet choked barrels went missing somehow.

There are Skeet Grade Model 21s, both prewar and postwar that deviate from standard choking and barrel length. My wife owns a postwar 20 gauge Skeet Grade bored Improved Cylinder and Modified. I also had a post war Skeet Grade 12 gauge bored Cylinder and Improved Cylinder.

You have a good question. I have seen two 20 ga 21s that were marked skeet and had 28" M&F barrels on them. They could have been two barrel sets in which case the choked barrels would have a 2 on the forend lug.

What most people don't know is that skeet was never a grade of gun only a type of gun and there fore there is no reason for these guns.Before 1940 if you wanted somthing better than a standard skeet gun you ordered a tournament grade, trap grade or custom grade and after 1940 these were replaced with the deluxe grade and the trap, duck,skeet and field became types of guns.

So you have a good question.However it doesn't hurt the value of the gun.

AC

Yes there was/is a Skeet Grade 1936-1959. Those stamped SKEET are Skeet Grade(standard skeet if you will) and had higher grade wood. As you say, there were also Custom Built-Skeet 1936-1941 & 1953-1959, Deluxe-Skeet 1942-1950, Custom Deluxe-Skeet 1951-1952, Trap-Skeet 1933-1940 and Tournament-Skeet 1933-1935.

Check out Ned Schwing's "MODEL 21" book, if you don't believe me.

Show me in winchester material where it says skeet grade. I told Ned this when he was writihg the book, He also calls Duck guns Duck grades.

AC

OK, you win. I couldn't find anything about a Skeet Grade in my Model 21 stash. However, those of us who have been buying Model 21 Skeet Guns for some time (for me, 44 years), we know a Skeet Grade from a Field Grade from across the room. Now we know enough to call them Skeet Guns. Even later Trap Guns are not Trap Grades. How about that. However, it is hard to tell the difference since both are stamped TRAP on the floorplate. I have never heard anyone refer to the DUCK as a Duck Grade since it is indistinguishable from a Field Grade except for the chambers.

Remarkable. My 'Cody' letter says "Skeet Grade" right under G2186B.

How can the 'factory records' record a Skeet Grade if Winchester never used the term?

The gun is stamped 'Skeet' on the floorplate, where one would expect to find other 'grades' also stamped.

Very interesting that they never used the term 'skeet grade', guess you learn something new every day.

A bit OT, but don't Schwing in his Mod 42 book and Riffle in his Mod 12 book refer to "Skeet Grade" for those two guns? I would think the marketing guys at Winchester would be somewhat consistent in their use of the term "grade." If one has a Mod 12 stamped "SKEET" on the bottom of the frame and choked WS2, with decent checkered wood, is that a "skeet grade" or is it a "skeet gun?" I think I know that there was some confusion about the Mod 101 skeets, with a designated "Skeet Grade" as well as field grades that were choked skeet/skeet and sometimes confused with the "Skeet Grade" guns (usually by sellers).

Well, I am of the opinion that the stamp on the bottom of the frame was a grade designation. However, I'm not sure all grades were stamped as such.
Bill,
Schwing referred to the DUCK as a Duck Grade, but we have been told he may have been wrong!

Has anyone ever seen a Model 21 with CUSTOM BUILT, CUSTOM BUILT-FIELD, CUSTOM BUILT-TRAP, CUSTOM BUILT-SKEET, CUSTOM BUILT-MAGNUM, OR CUSTOM BUILT-20MAGNUM stamped on the bottom or was the CUSTOM BUILT part stamped on the top rib?

Same question for the CUSTOM DELUXE, C D-FIELD, C D-TRAP, C D-SKEET?

And has anyone seen a DELUXE-FIELD, TRAP-FIELD, and MAGNUM or 20MAGNUM so stamped?

Don, I have a friend who owns a DELUXE FIELD two barrel set. This gun has 30" and 28" barrels and is configured with a stright grip stock. A very nice gun. I have seen one other DELUXE FIELD. They are out there.