Savage Model 21

[Bob Riebe]

 Savage Model 21

     Notes: The Savage Model 21 (also known as the Model 1921) was designed specifically to compete with the Winchester Model 12 shotgun, which was at the time enjoying phenomenal success in the hunters’ market.  It was possibly Savage’s first shotgun produced for commercial sales; at the time (1921), Savage was almost exclusively a rifle-making company, with a few pistol designs also on the market.  The Model 21 in fact looked virtually identical (externally) to the Winchester 12, though internally it was quite different and thus avoided any patent snares.  Unfortunately, Savage was not known for its shotguns at the time; since they were essentially an unknown quantity to fowlers, most of them stuck with Winchester shotguns, and the Savage 21 (and the mater Model 28) were by comparison dismal failures.  Today, they are mostly forgotten weapons.

     The Savage 21 was, like most shotguns of the period, constructed mostly of steel metalwork, with a walnut stock and pump lever.  The standard barrel was 30 inches with Full Choke, but barrels of 26, 28, and 32 inches could also be had, as well as Modified Choke or Cylindrical Choke; a riot/home defense version was also available, with a 20-inch barrel, Cylindrical Choke, and a solid aiming rib atop the barrel.  (For those who are wondering, Improved Cylinder Choke was virtually unknown until the early 1930s, and these Savage shotguns never had them, nor was it unusual that they didn’t have them.)  The chokes were fixed and had to be bought or ordered with the choke the shooter desired; there were no interchangeable choke kits (these were also quite unusual in shotguns at that time).  The Savage 21 came in Grades A, B, C, D, and E; A-grade was a basic no-frills field gun, B-grade added a solid aiming rib atop the barrel, and C-grade was the riot/home defense version described above. The D-grade was a trap version, with a stock of fancy-grade walnut that had more drop at the heel than the other grades, as well as a raised cheekpiece.  The stock also had a straight wrist, instead of the pistol-grip-wrist of the other grades.  (Straight wrists were common on trap guns of the period.)  Atop the barrel was either a ventilated or solid aiming rib.  They had exclusively 30-inch barrels, and almost all of them had Full Chokes.  The Model 21 D-grade also was one of the first shotguns which used overbored barrels.  The E-grade was also called the Model 21 Tournament Grade; it was a shotgun which was made to order, complete with measurements made to fit specific shooters.  The stock was of the finest American walnut available, with fine hand checkering on the wrist (which could be straight or pistol grip-type, according to the wishes of the buyer).  The pump lever could also be ribbed or fine checkered.  A Monte Carlo-type stock could be ordered for the E-grade, or any of the other stocks available to the Model 21 could be used.  The E-grade had a ventilated sighting rib atop the barrel with a bead at the end of the rib.  (All the grades are effectively identical for game purposes, though of course they are quite different in real life.)

     The Model 21 had a tang-mounted safety; it also had a pump-slide lock inside the trigger guard.  Internally, the Savage 21 is quite different from the Winchester 12 (though in a few cases, the parts are actually interchangeable with those of the Winchester 12).  Disassembly in particular is nothing like that of the Winchester 12, and the internal action, particularly the feed mechanism, is also quite different.

     In 1927, Savage made some improvements internally to the Model 21, producing the Model 28.  The differences were quite subtle, and even Savage didn’t make much of the changes in their literature.  The primary differences noticeable in the Model 28 are in the fore-end; takedown of the pump slide and magazine tube became much easier (and more reminiscent of the Winchester 12; in fact, it is quite easy to interchange the pump slide and magazine tube of the Savage 28 and Winchester 12).  In addition, the underside of the Model 21’s receiver is squared-off, while that of the Model 28 has rounded edges and excess metal has been removed, giving the underside of the receiver a V-shaped appearance.  The Model 28 came in the same grades as the Model 21; in addition, there was a Model 28-3, which was an E-grade with an engraved receiver and various other ornamentations.  In real-life terms, the Model 28 was actually less expensive than the Model 21, a rarity at that time, considering the rampant inflation of the period.  Though the Model 28 versions have somewhat different weights than the Model 21s, they shoot the same for game purposes.

     Both the Model 21 and 28 were able to shoot a very wide variety of loads and shells; 2.5-inch and 2.75-inch shells could be fired from these shotguns, as well as 2.625-inch shells, which were rarities even then.  They could fire slugs as well as shot of widely different weights and propellant charges; one company rep even demonstrated the Model 21 with a load of mere sand!  It is a mystery to most shotgun experts as to why the Savage 21 and 28 did not sell better; it is widely regarded as the better shotgun, and was also (in real-life terms) far less expensive at the time than the Winchester 12.  Nevertheless, while the Model 21 and 28 sold less than 20,000 units, the Winchester 12 sold almost 150,000 units in the same time period, and more later on.  Most old Savage 21s and 28s from that time period are still perfectly shootable, though they are considered by most to be “shootable collectibles.”  Regardless of why, Savage stopped production of the Model 28 in 1934.