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

As luck would have it a Model 21 comes my way and I have just loaned my book to a friend. So I'll ask you gentlemen for help. This is serial # 30521. It is a 20ga.,vent rib gun with 3" chambers and ejectors. It has 28" barrels choked FULL/FULL. About how many of these were produced? I can have a better pic posted today but I tried to show the barrel stamping. Paul
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Hi hammerback. I don't think anyone knows for sure how many Model 21s were made for sure. Many of them were scrapped during their production process. Plus, serial numbers jumped all over the place. The serial numbers went up to (W) 32,000+ and I have seen a few of the older guns with higher serial numbers. People say that there were probably less than 30,000 of them made. Just taking a guess, I would say yours was probably made around the late 50s to early 60s. A 20 gauge with three inch chambers is kind of rare. Enjoy your gun.

It is a very rare gun 3 inch mag, with a vent rib it is probably worth $12,000.00. I would love to have it myself. Thanks Cowboy

A pre 1960 vent rib 3" 20 is very rare. Yours would be a special order because, as I recall, the 20 gauge Magnum model was only catalogued in 30". You ahould get a letter on your gun to document its originality and possibly its original purchaser.

[quote=hammerback]As luck would have it a Model 21 comes my way and I have just loaned my book to a friend. So I'll ask you gentlemen for help. This is serial # 30521. It is a 20ga.,vent rib gun with 3" chambers and ejectors. It has 28" barrels choked FULL/FULL. About how many of these were produced? I can have a better pic posted today but I tried to show the barrel stamping. Paul
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Your gun was probably made in the 1950's period from the serial #. About 123 20 gauge 3" Magnum are known from the Winchester archives in this period and 519 20 gauge guns were produced during the 'Custom Shop' era of which it is not available how many were 3" Magnums. Most Pre Custom Shop I suspect were the regularly cataloged 30" barrel gun and many Custom Shop guns were 3". At 28" barrel your gun is undoutably a custom order not only for the 3" Magnum but combined with the 28" barrels and Vent Rib. Does the rib say 'Custom Built by Winchester'?
Winchster would make anything you wanted and your gun could have been ordered as a 'Custom Built' or simply as a Magnum gun with the two options of 28" and VR. The distinction is somewhat important as the 'Custom Built' will have engine tuning on the action surfaces and was a higher level of gun. The 'Custom Built' morphed in the 'Custom Grade' in 1960 with the advent of the 'Custom Shop' and then had #1 engraving. Double line bordering on the checkering shows that this is not a 'Custom Shop' gun unless someone specifically ordered the gun that way and in any event will still say 'Custom Built by Winchester'.
In any event as already mentioned, obtain a letter from the Cody Historian for this gun. Very nice gun, please additional pictures.



Here is my 'Custom Shop' 20 gauge Magnum with 26" barrels choked IC/Mod for comparison.-Dick

As an aside, the 20 gauge 3" Magnum shell in lead was an effective Waterfowl load and widely used and available during this period. The advent of non-toxic, initially steel shot just about killed this cartridge for waterfowl. Bismuth and Kent TM are now available and usable and even though I have both for waterfowl, I use a 12 gauge 3" Magnum with HeviShot instead.

Dick, a fifties vintage Custom Built gun would have a rounded frame and a different checkering pattern. Paul's gun is most likely a special order 20 Gauge Magnum model, which was a standard catalog item, not a custom order gun. The vent rib and 28" barrels would be special order features of the standard catalog gun. I would be very surprised if it has engine turning on the flats and a rib inscription. However, on occasion, Winchester would build a gun on a standard non rounded frame with Custom Built features in the period after the Deluxe Grades were discontinued. I think the serial number is way too high to be a Deluxe marked gun.

I've got a 20Ga. Skeet grade M21 (which doesn't say "Skeet" on the floorplate, but the Cody letter calls it a Skeet Grade) - it does have the longer BT Skeet forearm. SN 316XX. 1955 Frame, according to Schwing It has two sets of barrels - 26" and 28", both with 3" chambers. The Cody letter doesn't call it a Special Order gun, but it did call for a stock with 1/4" cast off, so it obviously was ordered specifically

I can't add more that the gentlemen above already stated. You have a very desirable gun.
The barrel lug is not engine turned as far as I can tell from the picture.
If you will, post pictures of the bottom of the frame, water table, barrel flats and the top of the rib if it has any markings on it.

Don, I will post them tomorrow. Paul

Hammerback,

That is a very nice model 21.It is a standard grade model 21, 20ga of the late fifties. Price in 1955 was $390.00, the vent rib was an additional $90.00 and the 3" chambers were $15.25 extra. If it has a pad that was $7.00 extra.

Your sn of 30521 is 1000 less than my 21 20 which is 31521 which I order in 67 with 3" chammbers. Price was $1000.00 and $25.00 extra for the chammbers.

Last Sunday there were four 21 20's in my duck marsh all using TM 5's 1oz.

Enjoy AWC