doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Attaching forearm to a Winchester 21

Took it out of the case. Barrels connected to the receiver fine but the forearm won't close. It is an ejector gun.
What is the problem and how does it go on?
Thanks, Tom

Kind of tricky. They really just snap on. Make sure the little metal flange is properly engaged to barrel lug. When snapping on kind of pull down on forearm towards receiver and push forward toward the barrels at the same time. It should pop right on. I usually use both hands when doing this. Secure, but a tricky design. I like an Anson or Deeley forearm mechanism better. More user friendly, for sure.

Success!! Thank you.

For future reference, be sure the hammers are cocked before breaking down a 21. If the hammers are down, installing the forearm requires cocking the hammers too. Forcing the forearm closed as it cocks the hammers could damage the forearm, better in this situation to manually cock them first with some other method of applying force against the cams.

Jay

Thanks Jay. I should have mentioned that too. Very important info.

Handy video by Lou from CSMC on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX5TAQnKL5c

JR

The way I like to put the forend on a 21 is with both the ejectors & the hammers cocked. This puts the least stress on the forend & bbl lug and allows you to just guide the forend into place without having to compress any springs.

To do this (on an empty gun preferably with snap caps) drop both hammers & remove the forend & bbls. The ejectors will remain cocked.

Before reassembly cock the hammers by pressing the cocking levers against a block of wood (note that the top lever must be locked to the right for the hammers to cock) & assemble as you normally would. I find it much easier if neither the hammer or ejector springs need to be compressed in the process of assembly.

Like Buzz I find both the Anson & the Deely forend latch systems much nicer to use than the Winchester 21 which almost requires 3 hands to avoid dinging things up.

When I visited CSMC last year, they had this library full of beautiful Model 21 cocking mechanism wooden blocks.

How should a M21 be stored?
danc

Unloaded.
JR