I have always thought the early pre- 1960 M21's with the arrow shaped bolsters- unengraved but deep blued, fine walnut well checkered-were the Vade mecum of American boxlocks developed after 1930--The late Cactus Jack O'Connor was a big fan of the M21- I believe he said something like: "I'd rather have good blueing on unengraved metal and great walnut well finished and checkered than all the engraving extant". He also felt, as do I, that the pre-WW11 Model 70's, 12's and 21's were better fitted and finished than the post-war ones-
This 16 was built in the early 1950's- has the "kidney" or field style skeet beavertail- a friend has a 20 gauge M21 skeet his granddad bought new for quail in 1938-- straight grip, two triggers, ejectors, small forearm- also marked skeet ahead of the trigger guard, also 26" std. rib barrels choked WS-1 and WS-2, also solid red WRA pad with the June 1922 patent date and the two plugs to cover the screw access holes--It is a real sweet bird gun, but heavier than a Parker 20 on the O frame with same barrel length.
The M21 is about 15 ounces heavier than the PH 16 on the O frame I have-The M21 is a Baldwin Acrosonic, but the Parker PH is a Steinway Concert Grand--wonder if the same PH with 26" Parker Steel barrels would weigh about the same, or slightly more- the stamp is 3 and then 8- which I take to mean 3 lbs. 8 oz. and has the K stamp on the lug and flat as well-
I'll use the 16 M21 with No. 8 1 ounce loads when I hunt preserve birds over pointing dogs- but when over flushing dogs, either the 12 GHE or a 12 Smith 3E-- my "go to guns"-- I always wanted a 21, for years around here you could usually pick up a 16 for less than a 12 or a 20- that's changed a bit--
The man who owned it was an avid grouse/woodcock and sometimes pheasant hunter- and none of that Dick Baldwin/Gene Hill/Bill Tappley close quarter combat jungle canopy stuff either- as the stock and the barrels are unscarred at all- just the usual carrying wear on the receiver floorplate- It does have the non-automatic safety, but that can be converted to an automatic style via installation of the proper pushrod mechanism I believe-
