Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Winchester Model 21 ?

... I am not good enough at the shotgunning sports to really tell it doesnt swing as well or it doesnt have the right MOI...

I grew up reading O'Conner. I hit the ripe age of 14 in '51. I grew up on a farm in the rolling plains of central west Texas. Loved guns. My dream gun was a Winchester 21. You could order a field grade from the Ward's catalog for $325. I had handled the live models in our annual trek to Ft. Worth to sell cattle. I had my eye on the 16 ga. I had pestered Dad for some time about buying one. We finally made a deal involving several projects and a lot of goals, both on and off the farm. Good harvests, reasonable commodity prices, and meeting or exceeding all the projects/goals brought this close to a reality in '52. Dad said the 21 was a "GO." Stepping back just a bit, one could get a drivers license in Texas (population under 6 million at the time) at 14 under certain conditions. At 15, I was beginning to eye a brown haired/eyed girl that lived a few miles away. When Dad said yes, I began to have second thoughts. Maybe I needed a car worse than a shotgun? To make a long story short, Dad was an easy mark for the second car deal. At my age and wanting to go and do, plus the utility of a second vehicle around the farm, Dad readily swapped my longed for 21 purchase for a shared interest in a used vehicle. Story ending: A few years later I married the girl, and 55 years later in a couple of weeks, I still have her. My only regret is that I never had a 21! Nice shotguns, yes-21, no. I may have made the better deal after all. The mother of my three children is still fairly trim, attractive, pleasant and has indulged my gun habits for lo these many years. Do not tell her that I traded a shotgun for her!!!! jt