The most I ever had in the safe at one time was five. Never owned a flatside... Always was partial to the boss on the sides.

From an old Double Gun Shop posting:

"One of the reasons the boss stayed on the 21 so long was because John Olin liked it so much. He thought when the gun was engraved, the boss was the perfect place to put a dog or other animal. I like the 21s with or without the boss. It does resemble the Fox like Larry said, but without one is OK, too. But the 21s with the boss filed off (and the slight bulge showing) are just as collectible as any other one."

All of the frames were flat sides when I was in the Custom Shop. We would occasionally get an older one in to upgrade. To me the older patterns, which were still being used, never fit quite right on the flat sides as they were originally designed for use with the panels. The only one which was adapted at all was the No. 1 which was referred to as the Custom Grade on the flat sided frames.

Pauline, did you engrave under WRA or USRA or both? If both, was it the same or different and when did the custom shop officially close? Thanks

I worked for both. When USRAC took over nothing changed as far as the Custom Shop and the M21s. The Custom Shop as I knew it was moved a few years after I left, mid 90s I believe, to another floor across the street from our building. At this point they were mostly only working on M70s. The M21s were basically all finished up and no more orders had been taken for a while. Sad to see the whole place go. They tore my building down around 19 years ago. Haven't had the heart to go near there since.

My mistake...the engraved custom grade that I pictured was a flatside.

This is the twenty gauge I previously spoke of. After I bought it, the receiver and barrels were reblued by Connecticut Shotgun.