doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Win Mdl 21 Forearm ?

Other than the guns made in the early years of production most all of the Mdl 21's I have seen have a beavertail forearm. Did they not make them with a splinter forearm after the first couple years? Do most people that own Mdl 21's prefer the beavertail forearm?

Just curious why I hardly ever see a Mdl 21 with a splinter forearm.

Thanks for your comments

In my October 1946 Winchester catalogue the Standard or Field Gun Model 21 still came with a slim forearm, while all the others -- Trap, Skeet, etc. came with a beavertail. By the February 2, 1950, catalogue the Field Gun was standard with a beavertail. I don't find any mention of a slim forearm being available in that catalogue.

In a visit to CSM earlier this year, I saw a pair CSM Grand American grades in assembly with splinter forearms which had No's 1 and 2 inlaid in gold in the forearms.

Boy this is going to start a fight but I will tell you something, Classisioi, the 21 was not the only gun that people preferred a BTFE. Most people everywhere want BTFE on ALL guns. This board is about the only place where you will find people who want a skimpy little forend on a SXS. I have never been able to figure it out myself. Who wants to hunt with a gun holding onto the barrels? They get hot, your hands get sweaty to the point where they slide on the barrels and quickly wear the bluing off. Oh, that's right, let's wear gloves and let your hands get so sweaty that the dye seeps through them and stains the wood on a nice gun. (My buddy has two big red handprints on his $7,000.00 gun from those expensive BA gloves. There is no way to get it off since it has been absorbed past the varnish, into the wood. He hates it when we call his gun, "BIG RED".) They have even come up with this clumsy whatever it is (?) to clamp over the forend so you can hold onto the gun. Hey!! How about a BTFE to begin with, guy? Nothing worse than looking over a beautiful Parker or LC Smith and then looking down at the forend and seeing this teeny forend that is too small for a nine year old to hang on to. WOMAN'S GUN!! Look at how gracious a forend looks with all that beautiful checkering to match the buttstock. It shows class and craftsmanship. Then look at a SXS with a toothpick for a forend and you have to wonder what someone was thinking when they made the gun, "Hey Bob, that gun has to be out by Tuesday so just wittle down that skimpy piece of Birch over there in the corner, stick some brass thing-a-ma-jig on it and slap it on the gun. Hopefully no one will ever notice if we pretty up the rest of the gun, right?" Did you ever notice people call them splinter forends? That pretty much speaks for itself. You want to know what really burns my butt? I can't even put a SXS with a splinter forend in my safe without touching the barrels after I just wiped it off with an oily rag. Go figure. Good luck.

Not sure where I stand on this issue but I have and use both. I am tending to use BTFE's on skeet and high volume doves. My sense of practicality tells me the BTFE is better than a burned hand but my sense of aesthetics tells me the splinter looks better. I think practicality wins out. My Model 21 has both; I think I'll switch it back to the BTFE before I take it to the skeet range.

Tell us how you really feel, Jimmy. ;^)

I saw the same two guns too, George. A couple of women ordered them. That's why the old Winchester plant stopped putting them on their guns. They found out long ago that REAL men used BTFEs. And the women with their splinter forends liked the looks of their guns standing in the racks between rounds while they sipped their tea with their little fingers pointing up in the air.

Check out this Boss with a Vent Rib and Beaver Tail.

Surely you are saying that in jest?

Or better yet, how about one of those fabulous Model 21 Grand Royals or American Eagles? I can just imagine someone drooling over one as they run their hands over that gracious wood and being mesmerized by the elegant gold animals and the rich work done by the great Angelo Bee. And then, they run their eyes down along the fine lines of the gun, until they gasp in horror at a pimple of a splinter forearm. AAAAAAHHHHH!!