Morgan 20 bore

It seems that the Turks are getting better and better at turning out reasonably priced shotguns these days, indeed, rumour has it that they make parts for some European manufacturers now as well. The test gun is a pretty plain little Morgan 20 bore over and under, but it has a selling in Vic Chapman’s (one of my local gunshops) at just £365. For that, you get 28” barrels with a ventilated rib, multichokes (3 come with the gun) and a single, selective, trigger. There are extractors rather than ejectors though.

First Cosmetic Impressions

Honestly? Pretty average, though the quality of finish is good for the price, The barrel blacking is competent, though the silver action looks a bit sparse. The wood is a couple of grades up on plain and even has a line or two of what an optimist might describe as figure. There is neat, almost certainly laser cut, chequering. I did not like the swirly borders on the panels, however, nor the thin (acid or laser) etched game bird engraving. The form of the birds, a couple of pheasants on either side was not too bad.  The belly of the action is plain save for the name ‘Morgan.’ There is a touch of scroll to the rear of the hinge pin and on the trigger guard.

Built To Do The Job

The general integrity of manufacture of the Morgan seemed sound, it must be said. It is a basic non ejector gun and purports to be no more. Bring the gun to the shoulder and you note a point of balance way forward of the hinge pin – about 2”.  This makes the gun feel heavier than its 7lbs 3oz (weight is the same as my 32” Guerini 20 bores, but they are barrel heavy too and shoot very well). One could do something about the balance by weighting the stock, but I do not think that I would bother. The rear of the butt is adorned by a simple black rubber recoil pad about 3/4” thick. There is nothing wrong with the design of this, so I will not bother with further comment save to note that there are some lines on the back to make the pad more secure in the shoulder, and, its heel is radiused as a mounting aid.

The Morgan has 76mm (2 ¾”) chambered barrels, and, bears British Superior proof marks for its monobloc barrels (I do not believe that Turkey is a member of the International Proof Commission – not yet at least). Proof pressure is 1200 I believe. The action is what you would expect, the standard ‘euro-gun’ design even when it is made in Turkey. There is a Browning type bolt coming out at the bottom of the action face to meet a Browning inspired slot bite beneath the bottom chamber mouth. The gun hinges on – guess what?  Studs just like a Beretta and a dozen others.

The coil-spring powered action has a mechanical trigger rather than an inertia one which can be a useful feature if one wants to use light loads. The trigger pulls were indifferent with a bit of creep, the trigger blade itself was a bit crude in shape, but what can one expect for three hundred and fifty odd quid NEW.  General quality of construction is sound as noted. The barrels are reasonably well put together. There are solid joining ribs and the vented top rib is about 7mm wide and has a centre bead. The front sight is one of those cradles into which a bit of plastic is inserted, but none of this offended, indeed, of its type it was ok.

Some file marks are noticeable on the barrels. The blacking was pretty good, and the internal presentation of the barrels too. The bore diameters are 15.7 – within the industry standard but a little tight in my opinion. Forcing cones were a smidgen longer than average – good. There were no signs of rivelling inside as one sometimes sees on guns in this price rage.

Returning to the stock, the wood to metal fit seemed rather good. The shapes of the grip and forend were not bad at all either, nor were the proportions. The stock comb had some taper – something I certainly like to see in a game gun – and the overall form of the stock was not bad at all. The gun does look a little different in some respects – but this is mainly down to the chequering (which is not that extreme) and the sling swivels which have been fitted.

A Lot To Like

Although there were a few slightly eccentric details on the test gun, such as the sling swivels, the basic spec was fine apart from the forward balance. I liked the rib, and the grip radius and size for example. On the dimensions front, unlike some foreign (and specifically Turkish guns of old) the measurements were very sensible. The design of the stock was as good as many coming out of Italy (if a whisker short) with an overall length of 14 3/8”, a length to heel of 14 5/8” and a length to toe of 14 7/8”. That equates to a classic plus 1/4” and plus ½”. Drop dimensions were very sensible too at 1 ½” to comb and 2 1/4” to heel.  Timber quality was average but the finish was fine as noted.

Good Value

I shot the gun with Neville Chapman of Victor Chapman Guns at Marks Tey, near Colchester in Essex. Well, you are not going to win the Olympics with it, nor, would you take it to Molland, but, it broke the birds. The trigger had a bit of creep, there was some recoil with Express 24gram 20s, but I did not miss much, although I must confess to sticking to a skeet range with a few non-challenging incomers. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a utility gun this might be it.

You won’t beat it on price, and do you know what? If you brought the barrel weight down a bit (perhaps going for 70mm instead of 76mm chambers), this would be quite a gun. As it stands, I will call it tidy and good value.

My thanks to Lyalvale Express for supplying the cartridges used in this test and to Neville and Victor Chapman for the loan of the gun.

PRICE: £365