Once in a lifetime or crazy stupid ??

Winchester Model 21 28 gauge
“CUSTOM BUILT BY WINCHESTER”
Cody Museum records affirm all facets of this gun.



Slightly Rubenesque at 7 lbs 8 oz

I'm not stopping you

Wow- 7 lbs. and 8 ounces?? That's like a 7 &1/2 lb. M21-- wait, I'm not into the high dollar/small bore double guns- besides, the 12 gauge std. grade M21 (28" Imp. cyl. & mod.) field gun, SST, AE- my late father left me in 1980 weighs 7lb. 6 oz. unloaded. I thought WRA made the custom shop order guns in 28 and .410 bore on a lightened 20 gauge size frame. Am I missing something here?? RWTF

Well beside that I think M21 are over rated in general, what the hell would I want a 7 1/2 pound 28 gauge for. I have plenty of 12 gauge guns for that.

That gun is a collector for sure. Having said that, they used the same barrel material they used for the 20’s but bored for 28 ga, so very thick barrel walls and very heavy barrels. As a collector it would be pretty cool, but for a shooter 28 ga, it would be non-utilitarian for me. RE collector, it would depend on the price imho. If it’s a real good deal, I’d go for it. If they want a fortune, I’d pass.

Those barrels are way too thick.

I've never seen a Model 21 Custom Grade with a bullet frame. The letter that shows this gun as a Custom is not the first letter Cody wrote on that gun. The records are rumored to have been monkeyed with a few years ago. What is the serial number?

Shoots like a 28; carries like a 12. What's to like about that? Gil

What a dove gun!

More like a Dangerous Game Gun.

Bore the chambers to 3” and use it to shoot steel shot reloads.

Or, not.

Best,
Ted

some guys are shooting clays these days with heavy 28 gauge guns, with shells loaded with one ounce of steel...

after 100 rounds, they tell me the heavy gun absorbs a lot more recoil than does a lighter gun...and their shoulders dont hurt...

I see a lot of potential here...

Have the bores of those heavy varmint/bench-rest barrels rifled, add a set of express sights, machine some nice brass cases, order an appropriate paper patch bullet mold and loading dies, and viola... you have a sweet Winchester .550 caliber double rifle!

Did not start life as a Custom. Started in 1938 as a Trap Grade. The 26" barrels take it out of the serious shooter category. This gun would be hard if not impossible to resell. The market for this gun is to someone who has a set of 30" 20 gauge barrels to fit to it. Not long ago, I bought one of this fellow's long barrel 21s, a great Custom Grade. When I went to pick up the gun, it had grown a set of Briley choke tubes. I voided the sale, but sure liked that gun and its factory gold inlays.

"Ooopsie--one little detail omitted can sure make or break a sale, right Mr. Murphy?? RWTF

And that's surely the best news of the day, Edwin. RWTF

Yikes, I’d run from this gun if this is true and the gun is not original! I wonder who doctored up the Cody records if that is indeed the case? Did CSMC ever have anything to do with this gun?

Could it have been Doctor bOb ?

If it had double triggers and was a pound and a half lighter....

Actually, the Cody letter does explain the gun's history, in part. I like the double rifle idea.

Could have the bores rifled and made into a handy .577 Express! Lagopus.....

If you're ok with 6" crossfiring @ 40 yds. Got regulation?
JR

Well if you have a 28 that carries like a 12 why not use one rifled narrel

John, honest to God, as I typed that somewhat facetious post, I just knew someone would confront me about it. I actually thought it would be some comment about just how someone would manage to rifle the tubes of an assembled double barrel set. But I imagine there is some talented machinist/gunsmith that could accomplish that.

I do indeed know a bit about regulation. A few years ago, I bought a .450 BP Express double rifle to celebrate being done paying college tuition for my kids after they graduated. That felt like getting a really nice raise. Little did I know that it would have been smarter to be irresponsible, and have them bury themselves in student loan debt... and then wait for the anti-gun Democrat Biden to dump their repayment obligation onto hard working taxpayers like you.

I did not have any idea what the regulation load for this rifle was. The owner had died, it was consigned to a dealer, and it looked almost unfired anyway. So I had to develop a load that would shoot both barrels to the same point of aim. After buying dies and a supply of .450 Nitro Express brass, I bought a third edition of "Shooting the British Double Rifle by Graeme Wright". I also read all that I could on the subject in the archives here, over on the Nitro Express forum, and DGJ articles by Ross Seyfried and others. Then I decided to abandon the Nitro for Black 4198 smokeless loads with compressed Dacron filler I worked up, and switch to Black Powder. I also have decided to switch from 300 grain Hornady bullets and use paper patch lead bullets, so there will be more regulation work. My gun is fairly light for a .450 double rifle, and I was concerned about the reports of smokeless NFB loads ringing the chambers. I like Black Powder anyway, and cleaning up after shooting is not hard at all.

I wonder then, just how you know that this heavy barreled 28 gauge would give 6" of cross-firing at 40 yards? What if it was more, or less? Could we perhaps make it shoot to a desired point of aim by changing powders or charge weight, bullet weight, etc. It's all just something to think about, because we can be pretty certain that any motivation for buying this Model 21 would be to upgrade or flip a rare variation for a quick profit.

To me, the most interesting point made in this thread is the revelation by eightbore that a Cody Letter is not sacrosanct, and this thing isn't Kosher anyway. I think most of us were under the impression that they were one of the best ways to determine originality of many guns. I'd be very interested in hearing more about this subject.

Probably make a good fence post.
Hard decline.

It was what is better known as a wild-ass guess, Keith, not that I thought you were remotely serious. But those barrels are a joke, regardless. Another w.a.g would be .060 +/- wall thickness at the muzzles. Talk about muzzle heavy.
JR

IMO, John, you have put forth a S.W.A.G. regarding this freakish M21-- Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess. RWTF

SCIENTIFIC wild ass guess, Fox. Gil

Here is one from today's auction --

https://bid.guyetteanddeeter.com/lots/view/5-HWOZN/rare-early-winchester-model-21-28-gauge-deluxe

Small bore Parkers,Lefever and Superposed brought big money.

I stand corrected, Suh!! save yo confederate $, Dixie will rise again!! RWTF

Youre going to just sell it any way bOb