Joe Morales - Master Class Inductee

Joe Morales

My motto is " if it is worth doing it is worth doing right!".  Whether in business or a personal endeavor I give 100%. I want my customers to be fully satisfied with any product or work I sell and I only sell customers what they need to accomplish their goals. These work ethics have been a part of my life since I was a young man...  it is partly why I am such a fierce competitor. 

When that hunting season was over in 1979, I took Remington 870 to Trail Glades Range in Miami, FL, to try this thing called Skeet, something to do to satisfy my need to shoot.   One round and I was hooked!   I shot 18 rounds in a day to perfect the technique, practicing weekend after weekend.  Those who know me remember me reloading on the bench when I shot... I had the ‘bug’ bad!  

Fortunately a soon to be best friend called me to the side and introduced me to the game of International Skeet.  My natural ability to quickly mount the gun from a hunting position made me a prime candidate for skeet shooting.  The discipline and speed of  Skeet shooting gave me my basic technique which I used to excel instantly in the new game of Sporting Clays in 1988.  My first competition in Sporting Clays was at Migdale in up state New York, where I began a long career in the Sport. I took first place and was hooked again!  I am recognized in this country as one of the top 10 Sporting Clay shooters and also I am an All-American.  During my Olympic "Skeet" shooting career I made the top 100 cut invitational to make the Olympic shooting team.  In addition, I am an accomplished rifle and action pistol shooter.

When I was not shooting, I worked in the marine industry in Ft. Lauderdale as an aluminum welder.  My engineering and designing mind lead me to create my world famous aluminum gun cases which allowed me to travel to California to the Olympic Skeet Team Tryouts in 1984 without worrying about my guns being damaged by the baggage handlers.  Thus, the Rhino Gun Case was born.  The name came to me one day while traveling up the Florida Turnpike on the way to Ft. Benning, GA to shoot International Skeet.   The Lion Country Safari billboard featured a large rhinoceros which caught my eye.  As I looked at the sign I thought...’My gun case is just as strong as that rhino and the same color.  The word ‘RHINO’ is a good descriptor of both, thus the world famous ‘Rhino Gun Case’ was born. 

As my shooting career continued into the early 1990’s, I felt my beloved Beretta  O/U shotgun was just not performing to it’s full potential.  I put two of the same named Beretta chokes in my barrel, but hit only one of the two targets.  Fortunately, another soon to be friend suggested that I measure the size of the two chokes.  Upon doing that, I found they were labeled alike, but different sizes.  Now I understood the relation of barrel size to choke size and saw a great need for correct chokes.  I then set out to find a way to improve upon what was available. 

I needed a way to control the pattern to its optimum performance.  Upon much testing I found that a longer taper produced a more uniform choke.  Then I wanted a way to strip the wad so nothing disturbed the pellets as they left the barrel to produce a more uniform pattern.  After trying various sizes and styles of porting to slow the wad, I finally settled on three rows of 6 ports, offset, to deliver equal pressure on the wad as it passed under them.  This produced suction on the petals of the wad, causing them to open quickly upon exiting the choke, letting the shot continue without the wad hitting the back end of the shot, causing flyers and holes in the pattern.  Polishing the choke to make a mirror finish was the final touch to his new design, the "Rhino Ported Choke", to produce the best pattern possible.  After repeated testing, a unique byproduct of this design became apparent; a significant decrease in recoil and muzzle jump was noticed!  Since these two factors are experienced individually, we can safely say that a 10-20% noticeable difference is achieved.  What a nice surprise!   I felt so strongly about this design that I applied for a patent in July 1992 and began to produce the first radically different choke.  I decided the best way to prove there performance was to use them myself, so I set out to travel the Sporting Clays shooting circuit to show them off.  The patent was issued in January 1994 and nothing to this date out performs them.  These chokes were tested in the fall of 1994 in the UK.  The University of England  did a thesis on choke tubes.  After 25,000 rounds were fired through every choke tube known to man it was proven that the Rhino Choke shot 33% more uniform and more consistent patterns than any other choke tube sold in the world.   This test was done again in 2002, the findings are still the same.   

With the introduction of a new concept in chokes, many other manufacturers and individuals have tried to duplicate and copy this design.  The patent has been tested and prevailed in court numerous times. 

With the great success of the Rhino Choke came the need to control manufacturing and quality control.  In 1993 I opened my first shop in Davie, FL.  After relocating several times, I have now  settled in Williston, FL., where the Corporate Headquarters of Rhino Gun Cases, Inc. opened in Spring of 2002, situated on 107 acres.  The new facility allows me to test  the turkey guns quickly and easily.  My hunting expertise has made me the authority in shotgun customizing for the Turkey and Slug Industry as well as in the Sporting Industry.

‘RHINO OUTDOORS’ is has several sporting courses and 5 stands.   I offer individual and group shooting lessons.

A full service Pro Shop  gives the shooter a unique service:  you may select a shotgun, have it fit to you and shoot it before you leave. Rhino offers  complete machine shop and Gunsmith services making available to the shooter a wide range of services from industry professionals.

Rhino has been importing a new shotgun manufactured by Renato Gamba, the CARRERA Gold Sporting, with several new shotguns on the way.  Our Beretta 391 Package has been well received in the industry, allowing the shotgun to be customized and still retain its manufacturer’s warranty.  

I am currently working on two new products which will have a patient applied for and should bring true versatility to both O/U and Auto shotguns. The new facility coupled with  new products will ensure that our customers will have the "Success of the Rhino".