doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Schwing! Now maybe I can find out what all the fuss is about....

At the local library sale a copy of Ned Schwings Model 21 book - $2.00. Probably the closest I'll ever come to actually owning one.

I will study it judiciously an try to discern why they cost so much....

Let me save you some time. Conclusion: One never knows for sure if the thing is original, custom shop gun, you know, and they went out of their way to please the buyer. He refers to stock checkering as carving, that dude must have never seen Suhl Schaftverschneidung!

Hope it wasn't a soft-cover edition......that'd be an oxymoron.

Sam

I've met up with his son once or twice...I think he still lives here in Houston.

Proponents of the M21 like to point out that it is the most 'sturdy' made of all the American doubles. It better be - it was developed late in the game and had the shoulders of all the other guns to stand on. Plus all the advances on manufacturing and metallurgy.


IMO the field grade guns are solid guns, the custom (engraved) guns are usually pretty outlandish and in the words of one well known gun writer, circus-like. Winchester never should have given carte blanche in the ordering of decoration.

The gaudiest of the factory engraving patterns was the #6 with gold, or the Grand American after 1960. It was very similar to the classic Arnold Griebel patterns, full coverage scroll with a dog or bird in gold on each side and on the floorplate. Arnold was recognized as a contemporary of Kornbrath and about the best in the country after Kornbrath's death. The circus like decoration would be all aftermarket stuff being examined by someone who barely knows what end the shot comes out, obviously. Most factory Model 21 engraving in the lower numbered grades was of only average execution, but hardly gaudy.

The circus like decoration would be all aftermarket stuff being examined by someone who barely knows what end the shot comes out, obviously

Tell that to Ed Muderlak, not me.

Some of those guns are quite special. Roger Bain Esq had a wonderful piece engraved in Germany for some Washington "Big Bwana", no doubt. The deep relief engraving was vastly superior to most vintage Winchester stuff. It looked like work of maestri Werner Hofmann. I couldn't collect 50K in change to get that one.
PS. Check out Larry Brown's 'How Good is the Model 21?' on SSBBS. With > 150 responses, I suspect full broadsides are being exchanged between wealthy ones who have a few vs. some who can't afford one, or choose not to buy one. Basically 21 12br is a nice light 8br you many not be able to carry all day.

Where in the world does one come up with the M21 being a light 8 ga ,or 10 ga when one of my M21 12 ga is 7 lbs 14 oz and the other is 7 lbs 7 oz (my #3 L.C. Smith comes in at 9 lbs 10 oz)? They were and are the best hardware store guns made in America.And,if too heavy,carry 6 less shells or you need to see your cardiologist.

Hard cover, First Edition, did it ever get a second printing?

I use one of mine as a beater for pheasant, squirrel, and rabbit. Another for turkey. And another one or two for trap shooting. I didn't have to buy eight of them to fall in love with them. And when I handle my 20 gauge or open the Custom Grade and hear those ejectors sing, I know it is the only gun the good Lord put his whole heart and soul into.