New User First Post - Ray Morgan Rifle

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Catfish1713

New member
Hello, this is my first post on this board; I hope I’ve placed it in the correct forum.

I’m trying to learn some information about a Ray Morgan rifle I own –
My father was a firearms dealer who competed in NRA tournaments in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the Forbes Rifle and Pistol Club in Albany, NY. He was left-handed.

I have a Ray Morgan .22 LR rifle, which was one of the rifles that he used, and it has a left-hand action.

What I don’t know is if he had this rifle custom-built for himself, or whether he acquired it through one of his many firearms dealings.

Do any of you know how I might find out this information? Any help is appreciated; thanks very much.
 
Welcome to the forum. Can't help you with the rifle but, somebody here should know something. I used to shoot Palma and 1,000 yard matches at Forbes.

Ken Henderson
 
Lawrence F. Moore/ Morgan rifles

glynn angle said:
I believe Art Cook, former Olympic Champion shot a Morgan Rifle.
Click to expand...

Larry Moore was a great smallbore and high power rifle champion that I got to know in the early 1960's while shooting smallbore prone in Illinois. Larry shot left handed as I do, and he shot a Morgan .22 prone rifle that had a left hand bolt. This was years before Anschutz came out with their match 54 in true Lefthand action. It is my understanding that Larry actually had two such Lefthand rifles. Whether they were custom made for customer orders in lefthand, I don't know. The Morgan rifle was highly thought of and I believe friend Glynn is correct that Art Cook also shot one. Art won the Olympic SB championship in the 1940's, although I do not know if he was shooting the Morgan.

The workmanship and accuracy of the Morgan's was excellent, but unfortunately I did not have the resources in 1963 to acquire such a prized piece. That didn't keep me from drolling over Larry's Morgan every time I saw it!
Bill Schertz
 
Morgan rifles

I just "googled" Ray Morgan .22 rifles and was surprised that some information came up. Worth your time to read.
Bill Schertz
 
TangoTwo said:
Welcome to the forum. Can't help you with the rifle but, somebody here should know something. I used to shoot Palma and 1,000 yard matches at Forbes.

Ken Henderson
Click to expand...

Ken,

What years were you active with Forbes? My father was in from the late 1940's through about 1965.

Larry
 
Eric Johnson barrels

Catfish1713 said:
Bill,

Thanks. I see some of these posts now when the name is googled.

Larry
Click to expand...

Eric Johnson 5 Star barrels were the ultimate in the small bore prone game in the 60's! Your Morgan rifle with the 5 Star barrel and that 24 power scope would have been the envy of every prone shooter, not just the southpaws. Please let me know if you are able to find out the previous owner, I'd be very interested. I don't have a clue as to the value of this set-up today, but there should be some collector value for sure. I'm pleased to even see the pictures!
Bill Schertz
 
Larry,

I shot at Forbes during the mid-late 90's. It's really gratifying when your own target goes down a couple seconds after the shot. Not so much when the next one over goes down!:(

Ken
 
TangoTwo said:
Larry,

I shot at Forbes during the mid-late 90's. It's really gratifying when your own target goes down a couple seconds after the shot. Not so much when the next one over goes down!:(

Ken
Click to expand...

Ken,

I fired on the 1,000-yd line only once, in the mid-1960's, using my father's .30-06 Remington Express. Can't recall how accurate I was, but I know I hit the target!

By the way, does Forbes still have a little dark wood cookhouse at the side of the road behind the line of fire? It used to have a propane-powered grill and an ice box (with real ice), and sold hamburgers, hot dogs and sodas during matches. I'd take orders and money. Sold Royal Palm soda for $0.10 per bottle.

Larry
 
BRS1965 said:
Eric Johnson 5 Star barrels were the ultimate in the small bore prone game in the 60's! Your Morgan rifle with the 5 Star barrel and that 24 power scope would have been the envy of every prone shooter, not just the southpaws. Please let me know if you are able to find out the previous owner, I'd be very interested. I don't have a clue as to the value of this set-up today, but there should be some collector value for sure. I'm pleased to even see the pictures!
Bill Schertz
Click to expand...

Bill,

Thanks for your info. I'm uncertain as to whether or not there ever has been a previous owner; it may have been made for my father, which is what I'd like to determine, if possible.

Larry
 
BRS1965 said:
Larry Moore was a great smallbore and high power rifle champion that I got to know in the early 1960's while shooting smallbore prone in Illinois. Larry shot left handed as I do, and he shot a Morgan .22 prone rifle that had a left hand bolt. This was years before Anschutz came out with their match 54 in true Lefthand action. It is my understanding that Larry actually had two such Lefthand rifles. Whether they were custom made for customer orders in lefthand, I don't know. The Morgan rifle was highly thought of and I believe friend Glynn is correct that Art Cook also shot one. Art won the Olympic SB championship in the 1940's, although I do not know if he was shooting the Morgan.

The workmanship and accuracy of the Morgan's was excellent, but unfortunately I did not have the resources in 1963 to acquire such a prized piece. That didn't keep me from drolling over Larry's Morgan every time I saw it!
Bill Schertz
Click to expand...

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I am currently looking at Anschutz Model 54 that I have reason to believe was Mr. Moore's. Do you happen to know approximately what range of serial numbers his match rifle would have been?
 
Larry Moore Anschutz rifle

tzachary said:
Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I am currently looking at Anschutz Model 54 that I have reason to believe was Mr. Moore's. Do you happen to know approximately what range of serial numbers his match rifle would have been?
Click to expand...

In fact, I didn't know that Larry Moore had an Anschutz, although I'm not surprised. I'm not sure what year Anschutz came out with a true lefthanded bolt, but would guess it was the late 1970's. That would have been the model without the wing safety. The prone rifles were designated 1411 series with the wing safety, and 1711, the later model with left bolt option, without the wing safety. I make this distinction because I doubt Larry would have purchased a right handed bolt Anschutz model after shooting the easy loading lefthanded Morgan, when that was all Anschutz was offering up until that time.

If my memory is correct, (and its often in question), the true lefthanded model 54 Anschutz rifles came out with the new 1700 series model's, after they dropped the wing safety on the 1400 series versions. So I'm going to guess with you, if Larry had a left hand Anschutz prone rifle, it would have been the 1700 series, and he would have been shooting it in the late 70's through the end of his shooting career, probably into the early 90's. Anschutz may be able to give you serial number ranges. Keep in mind, this is all guess work!!
Hope this helps some!
Bill Schertz
 
Larry Moore had a true left hand Anschutz Model 1811

I was a friend of Larry Moore and shot quite a bit in the 80's with him when I lived in Knoxville.

Larry had two left hand Morgans. One is pictured in the American Rifleman article he wrote on Barrel Contour (actually barrel fluting) and you can see that he had fluted its barrel. Larry also made the stocks on both rifles.

He also had an Anschutz 1811 true left hand, which I am pretty sure he bought in the early to mid 80s. The 18xx series does not have the wing safety. He also had a right hand Anschutz in a left hand stock, but by that time he was not shooting it much.

He liked the Morgans better btw. For years we tested lots of ammo at Oak Ridge together and the Morgan with the Eric Johnson barrel routinely shot better than the other Morgan with a Douglas barrel, and outshot the Anschutz. IN lot testing the Anschutz would normally shoot as well as his backup Morgan.
Most of the lot testing he did was with these 3 rifles.

Bill Guinn
 
Catfish1713 said:
Hello, this is my first post on this board; I hope I’ve placed it in the correct forum.

I’m trying to learn some information about a Ray Morgan rifle I own –
My father was a firearms dealer who competed in NRA tournaments in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the Forbes Rifle and Pistol Club in Albany, NY. He was left-handed.

I have a Ray Morgan .22 LR rifle, which was one of the rifles that he used, and it has a left-hand action.

What I don’t know is if he had this rifle custom-built for himself, or whether he acquired it through one of his many firearms dealings.

Do any of you know how I might find out this information? Any help is appreciated; thanks very much.
Click to expand...
Howdy Larry,

This is a loooong shot bringing an 8 year old thread back up.

Check you Personal Message please.

Take care,

Greg
 
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