For the Jersey boys who frequented Ray's Sport Shop....

[Frank237]

I know there's a few of us here who frequented one of the largest and best stocked gun shops on the east coast back when it was still up and running.

They were a big S&W Dealer and had contracts with dozens of Police Departments in NJ and NY for their firearms, ammo and even uniforms.

Last week I was in NJ visiting my Mom and went one evening to The Anchor Bar in Ocean Gate for a pizza. I Walk in and whose sitting there but Dwight Shamp. The Gun counter Manager from Ray's. Alive and well. Despite some of the rumors I'd heard.

He and his wife Janice are living in Maryland . They were back to NJ to visit friends. Hadn't seen Dwight in years and years.

Thought this may bring back some memories for the east coast S&W enthusiasts. I'm sure Dwight sold hundreds if not thousands of S&W's to NY/NJ Smith lovers over the years. He always seemed to have something of interest back in his Office. I bought a lot of S&W's from RSS over my years in NJ.

FN in MT

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Good to hear. Got quite a few of my guns at Ray's and spent many pleasant hours on their range.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I lived in NJ for 12 yrs. in the town of Westfield, just a few miles from Ray's. During those years I was commuting to NYC for work, traveling a lot and raising 4 babies with my wife. Guns were low on the priority list then but I did visit Ray's a time or two. One of my neighbors was a shooter and introduced me to Ray's.

 

[COULT D]

Frank was Dwight the guy who carried primarily a nickel plated S&W Model 59 while working in the gun shop. I remember him as the only openly armed store employee. They used to sponsor a juvenile rifle club on Saturday mornings before the range opened to the public.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Never will be a store like that in New Jersey again.

 

[Frank237]

Coult D,

Dwight was maybe 6' had a small moustache and had sandy blonde hair. Almost always behind the gun counter. He dealt primarily it seemed with the LE customers. I almost always recall him with a 2 1/2" M-66 on his hip. At least in the mid 70's to mid 1980's. I was a very occasional visitor after that.

They seemed to always have a few amazing Smiths stashed in the mythical "back room". I bought my first 4" M-66 there in the early 70's. Still have it. Still have a few sets of Fuzzy Farrant grips I ordered through the store too. Have my original 6" K-22 and 2" M-60 too.

And I DO know I got the first 2 1/2" M-66 that came into the store. Bought it on a LE letter for $141.00 ! Those were the days!

Sad that such a great store was unfortunately in gun hating New Jersey. I heard rumors that towards the end they were getting harassed by the local Fired Dept about ammo, primers and powder storage. NO idea if that was true, simply a story I heard a few times.

 

[COULT D]

Frank, that would be the man I remember. You are right he did also carry the Model 66. I heard the "family" members that owned the store but did not run the day to day operation wanted to sell. I heard Dwight was the Son-In Law. The real estate price on such a large parcel I guess finally was the tipping point. All the BS regulation New Jersey imposed also had to be a factor. Watched Dwight unload a few clips of a Smith Wesson Model 76 sub gun on the range. It was quite a place.

 

[federali]

Memory Lane

Thanks for the poke. I too have been to Rays but it seems like a million years ago.

 

[DannyinNJ]

Missing Ray's more than anyone!

Saw this was an old thread but couldn't resist. Ray Lueddeke (who owned Ray's) was my cousin. I grew up in the store (although my first gun came from Herman's sporting goods, ha!) and miss it immensely. I loved the range (it didn't hurt that I shot for free) but now that I'm going other places I realize how much it needed an update. His girls didn't want to spend the $$ and Dave & Dwight couldn't win that argument. It's nice that the newer ranges allow rifles; the distances are too short to be serious but it beats guessing about the wind, freezing or getting rained on!
Dave indeed carried a 66; my Dad (a Newark cop) used to tease him that it was just a "foo-foo" version of the 19 he carried. But there were a few guys in the store over the years that carried openly. Being just a Citizen I never could do that here in Democratic New Jersey. Bill of Rights apparently doesn't apply here.
Would love to hear from anyone who also has memories of the store. It was heaven.

 

[JCase]

Miss the place

 

[Frank237]

Lot's of good memories from Ray's and my old friend Dwight. He showed me so many items I wished I could have afforded. Some of the guns that went through that place were amazing.

Saw SEVERAL noteworthy WW2 "bring homes". From an SS engraved Walther PPK ,to a complete Luftwaffe Drilling survival rifle in case. With far too many P-38's and Lugers to even count.

I remember MANY red and gold box Smith revolvers in the used guns case. Recall a few Registered Mags too.

Maybe it was the huge population base in northern New Jersey and the close proximity to NYC? But they surely had a tremendous array of guns go through their doors.

Danny do you remember a BIG kid who worked there in the mid 1970's George Fink? He later left the store and was a Guard at the Doris Duke Estate by Somerville. Quite a few tricks played on poor Mr. Fink.

I still have a few Smith revolvers stashed in the safe with a Ray's Sport Shop receipt in the box. I recall buying quite a few Police trade in Smiths in the 1980's as the backroom was awash with used revolvers.

Wish I had a time machine! I'd go back for a visit with a pocket full of cash.

 

[bushmaster1313]

An outstanding gun shop and a decent range.
When I needed scope caps one of the salesmen opened a drawer and we tried them out till we found two that fit.
When I needed a JP trigger and a sling swivel installed the gunsmith did a nice job.
I heard he sold to the car dealer next door for a wad of cash.

 

[DannyinNJ]

Frank:
The amount and breadth of the things he had was amazing. Ray himself loved shotgunning, and was an amazing skeet shooter almost till the end. If you remember when you went into the gun room, tucked in the far left was a case of amazing shotguns - he had Parkers that were worth more than I made in a year back then. He had a matching set of engraved Grade AAH's I used to drool over. They had a private storeroom that lay between the back room (reloading stuff mostly, remember?) and the range filled with the unusual pieces. And the cased used Smiths? One was mine - a sweet Mod 27 I'd give my right arm to get back. Oh well; needed the money back then.

I remember George very well! A good guy, good heart. My friend (a Woodbridge cop and avid shooter) had a brother who was a guard at the Duke Estate that helped George get that job. We used to sneak in when she was out of town to fish her lakes (easiest fishing I ever did). They even had a water trough with a bubbler near that little guard shack filled with some of the biggest bass you've ever seen. And when we were fishing the lakes the deer would walk right up to you like a Disney cartoon. Amazing. Right now I'm trying to track down a guy named Sonny; he was a rangemaster at Ray's for years, former Irvington cop and a friend of my late father.

Ray made his fortune on all the LE stuff; for years he sold to most every PD in Central Jersey. The deals with cities like Newark, Irvington and the Oranges dated back to the mid-50's.

 

[DannyinNJ]

Bushmaster - unfortunately like all of us will, Ray died about 5-6 years ago. His wife Myrtle had died years before, and his two grown daughters wanted to cash out (both their husbands - Dwight and Dave - worked in the store). Can't blame them I guess; all good things come to an end.

 

[adwjc]

Funny, I was just organizing my old paperwork the other day and I was looking at the receipts for some of the guns I bought in Ray's.
A model 59 for $139 in 1975. A model 15 for $128 in 1978, a Model 67 for $168 in 1979. All were countersigned by Dwight as LE priced sales.
When I was getting ready to retire I went there to buy a 342 as my "retirement gun" and they talked me out of it and into a Kahr PM9 for $619 (that was in 2003). Fixed that - traded it away and got 342 here on the forum.

 

[Frank237]

Frank:
The amount and breadth of the things he had was amazing. Ray himself loved shotgunning, and was an amazing skeet shooter almost till the end. If you remember when you went into the gun room, tucked in the far left was a case of amazing shotguns - he had Parkers that were worth more than I made in a year back then. He had a matching set of engraved Grade AAH's I used to drool over. They had a private storeroom that lay between the back room (reloading stuff mostly, remember?) and the range filled with the unusual pieces. And the cased used Smiths? One was mine - a sweet Mod 27 I'd give my right arm to get back. Oh well; needed the money back then.

I remember George very well! A good guy, good heart. My friend (a Woodbridge cop and avid shooter) had a brother who was a guard at the Duke Estate that helped George get that job. We used to sneak in when she was out of town to fish her lakes (easiest fishing I ever did). They even had a water trough with a bubbler near that little guard shack filled with some of the biggest bass you've ever seen. And when we were fishing the lakes the deer would walk right up to you like a Disney cartoon. Amazing. Right now I'm trying to track down a guy named Sonny; he was a rangemaster at Ray's for years, former Irvington cop and a friend of my late father.

Ray made his fortune on all the LE stuff; for years he sold to most every PD in Central Jersey. The deals with cities like Newark, Irvington and the Oranges dated back to the mid-50's.

I was a cop in Somerville when George worked at Dukes. I remember when he was on his liquid protein diet. I was at the Gate house when a pizza was delivered for George and he washed it down with a bottle of diet drink. He was a BIG boy back then.

Remember Sandy Sage? He was one of the guards and his wife worked for Doris as well. He and I and another Somerville cop all used to shoot Trap together. Sandy had a heck of a collection of shotguns too.

Remember the DEER they had on the grounds!! It was nothing to see 150-180 inch B&C bucks, especially during the rut. I agree on their fish ponds too. What a place.

 

[DannyinNJ]

OK, I know this is a S&W forum but one of my favorite possessions is a Ray's receipt dated 1965 made out to my Dad. A brand new Ruger .256 Hawkeye with a box of ammo from his "old stock" - $25. Both gun and receipt are in my safe along with the box of ammo from that night, 10 rounds fired - 5 by Dad, 5 by me (I was 8).

 

[rayssmith]

I remember all the posts. I was the head Gunsmith from '78-'88. Moved on due to death in my family. Incredible place.

 

[AJ]

Never been to Ray's. I do have at least one more of these in my stash of .38 Special boxs. Thought those in the thread would like to see it.

 

[K Frame Keith]

I grew up in Westfield and had a long association with Rays. Bought guns, ammo, fishing equipment and reloading supplies there. Shot at the indoor range frequently. That was the burbs so no shooting in the back yard.
Later I purchased my uniforms from the uniform shop upstairs. I ended up Rangemaster for my department and we made purchases from Ray’s annually. They were a S&W and Winchester distributor. They had a great staff. I remember Dwight well. A good friend from high school by the name of Bob was a rep for years there before moving to Alaska.
Thanks for the post. Brings back memories!

 

[tomahawk223]

I still remember the day I found it it was gone, I was bragging about the place to a co-worker from south jersey telling him how good it was and we were driving up and down rt 22 looking for it and I was saying to " Hmm. I thought it was right here" very disappointed to learn they were gone. I do remember my first handgun purchase from Centaur firearms on rt46 in lodi.