After a quarter century Musgrave once again took the bold step in 2023 to produce a new bolt action hunting rifle design, the Model 21.

From the idea to the drawing board, through several prototypes tested to destruction, until it began rolling off the production line, the Musgrave M21 took almost six years to perfect. The process was deliberate slow and detailed, because it is one thing to machine a rifle action, but another altogether to develop the tooling and production line to achieve best economy, volume production capability and hundred percent parts consistency and interchangeability.

This applied to the M21 design in particular, because it is a radical departure from previous Musgrave designs. Until the advent of the M21, Musgrave bolt action designs followed the dual-opposed front locking lug concept with a 90° bolt throw.

The M21 was designed as a thoroughly modern frontal-tri-lug design with 60° bolt throw. The frontal position of the lugs is better than rear lug designs, because it prevents the bolt shaft from compression under both thrust. That combats case-head separation. The low bolt throw of the tri-lug is not only highly compatible with the installation of riflescopes with large ocular lens diameters as has become the norm these days, but offer other advantages. These include better alignment with the bore axis than double-lug designs which reduces vibrations. The extra lug also offers additional surface area and much higher shearing strength to prevent the bolt from being blown backwards into the shooter’s face in the event of a catastrophic cartridge failure.

Crafting custom stocks, particularly our exquisite Turkish Hydrate exhibition stocks, is a meticulous process. Each artisan selects premium blocks of wood, chosen not just for their beauty but for the nuances in grain that echo the experiences of the hunts they’ve undertaken. The skill involved is not purely technical. It requires an intuitive understanding of both wood and metal—elements that are as unique as the artisans themselves.

The action’s geometric features are well considered. Its footprint duplicates that of the Mauser 98. The reason for that is that most stockmakers offer finished and semi-finished stocks for the Mauser. By opting for the Mauser 98 footprint for the M21, Musgrave provides M21 owners with near total freedom in the selection of stock options and designs. It also ensures cost-effective stock manufacturing for its ongoing Mauser 98 line and for the M21.

The receiver top of the M21 is identical to the Remington M-700 Long Action. Gone are the days that Musgrave owners need to search high and low for bases, rails and rings to fit their Musgrave rifles. The Remington configuration is the most common and versatile base configuration on the market today. Not only that, more brands and styles of rings and bases are offered by commercial and custom manufacturers than any other, and all of those options are now useable on the Musgrave M21.

The Musgrave M21 bolt has a diameter of 21,8mm and is spiral-fluted, bringing the total weight to 1.36kg. The fluting is primarily decorative, but the flutes also reduce bolt-to-action drag and offers diversion potential for any dust, sand or foliage that may interfere with operation or reliability in a hectic situation. The bolt diameter also opens the door for chambering of cartridges with a large rim diameter such as the .416 Rigby or 460 Weatherby. The bolt face is fully enclosed for high integrity in both strength and gas sealing.

Being a push-feed design, both the extractor and the ejector plunger are recessed in the bolt face. It is a well-proven system common to most modern push-feed rifle designs.

The bolt handle is the traditional type with a round bolt knob, but has two features not found on most other bolt shaft designs. The bolt handle is an integral part of the bolt, not an add-on. It therefore is very strong. An unusual and innovative feature of the bolt is its ‘stalk-lok’ feature. This captures the bolt handle in a safe position between fully open and fully closed. The rifle cannot fire with the bolt in stalk-lok mode. The purpose of the stalk-lok feature is to enable hunters on final approach to an animal to feed a cartridge into the chamber push the bolt forward into the stalk-lok position, which leaves the bolt handle slightly lifted. This is a habit of many South African hunters, but on other rifle designs, it is risky, because the bolt can slip down into battery and discharge at an inopportune moment, or the bolt can flop open and spill the cartridge in the sand, or allow twigs et cetera to enter the action and cause a stoppage. Not on the Musgrave M21. All the hunter has to do when he is ready to take aim is to deliberately push the bolt handle from stalk-lok into the fully closed position and take his shot. It is safe, quiet and quick. and take the safety off, yet keep the rifle safe until the moment before taking aim. Musgrave added this as an extra convenience and safety feature, not a feature to replace the safety, nor to change the rules of safe firearm handling. No mechanical system or feature can ever replace common sense and discipline as decisive in gun handling.

The 2-position safety catch is in the same position on the right side of the bolt sleeve as it had been on the M-80 and M-90 Musgraves. It functions in the side-swing style and is very positive in that it locks the firing pin, rather than merely serving as a trigger block. It is safe when pulled to the rear and in battery in the forward position. A specific South African feature of the safety system is that the bolt can be opened while the safety is engaged. That means that one can unload the magazine by cycling the cartridges while the firearm is safe, as so many local hunters tend to do.

Lock time on the M21 is faster than it had been on any previous Musgrave design, but it is very positive. A great deal of consideration and experimentation had gone into the firing pin and sear assemblies, even since initial market release. Vibrations have been reduced to the bare minimum to ensure that the M21 offers way better precision potential in this regard than previous Musgrave designs.