1905 ross rifle questions with pics!

mrclean89

mrclean89

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So I picked this up the other day. Sadly someone drilled some holes in the receiver and the stock markings have been removed poorly.

My question is what model of 1905 is this as I think are are a couple ? Also the bayinet lug seems to be way longer than all the other ones I have seen pictures of.

Thanks in advance :)

 
Four holes toward the rear of the receiver, two on each side? They aren't bubba's handiwork, they are for the bridge for an aperture rear target sight.
You've found a good one. That is an issue Mk.II** target rifle. Too bad the marks were defaced. You might try a "black light" to see if you can make them out.
The extended bayonet lug is the result of complaints at Bisley that the rifles Canadians were shooting were not really service rifles, because the bayonet wouldn't fit. The result was the extended bayonet lug.
How is the bore? If it is decent, you will likely find that the rifle shoots like a house on fire.
 
Awesome thanks tiriaq here are some pics of the holes. I want a nice ross rifle for my canadian collection. Hard trying to find a good military one. Also I believe this one is missing the rear sling swivel in the buttstock but then there would be 4 swivels on the gun. 3 seems like too many already haha

 
Yes. That is why the extended bayonet lug is need. The barrel contour will also be different. In addition, the barrel threads will be right hand, standard square cut, rather than the unusual quick twist left hand thread on other 1905s. The safety is a rotating flag, rather than a sliding button.
No as-issued Rosses are common; you have one of the less common variants.
 
You also need a front sight and front sight hood. Because these rifles were used for target shooting I wouldn't bother with a bayonet. From the look of the muzzle and bayonet lug was one ever fixed?
 
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Got another ross in the mail tonight 1905 sporter cut right at the barrel band but the barrel is full length. It's totally different than the other ross.

So couple questions what kind of ross is this and how do I translate the stock markings.


 
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If the splice can be covered by the band, that Mk.II*** (say mark two, three star) is an ideal candidate for restoration. Unlike the Mk.III, Mk.II nosecaps can be had. 611BB is the serial number, made 1909.
 
Yes it has the band covering it she would be perfect for that. Now where might someone find that nose cap ? Or perhaps repro wood for the fore end as apposed to making it from scratch ?
 
mrclean89 said:
Yes it has the band covering it she would be perfect for that. Now where might someone find that nose cap ? Or perhaps repro wood for the fore end as apposed to making it from scratch ?
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Yes, it's a 3 Star. They're very distinctive.

How is the bore? That's the bottom line.

Talk to Flying Pig re a forend extension.
 
What makes them distinctive? I've a MK II with an uncut bbl, but the chamber is so enlarged that fired brass reminds me of my ex-wife....
Takes some of fun out of it, I've wondered if reaming it out to an Epps wouldn't be a plan. And before the purists get a crazy, it got an unbelievably generous chamber folks...really. IIRC a caliper inserted into the mouth of a fired case throws a number like a .323. Perhaps even a Epps reamer wouldn't even help it.
 
The improved reamer would recut the body, not the neck. And the shoulder is often blown really far forward with these LC alterations. Probably easiest to just toss the brass in the recycle after one firing.
On the other hand, my II** target rifle is so tightly chambered that I had to make a base sizing die so that I could use brass fired in a Lee Enfield. FL die just wasn't enough.
 
tokguy said:
What makes them distinctive? I've a MK II with an uncut bbl, but the chamber is so enlarged that fired brass reminds me of my ex-wife....
Takes some of fun out of it, I've wondered if reaming it out to an Epps wouldn't be a plan. And before the purists get a crazy, it got an unbelievably generous chamber folks...really. IIRC a caliper inserted into the mouth of a fired case throws a number like a .323. Perhaps even a Epps reamer wouldn't even help it.
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3 things- It says 3* on the buttstock markings, the shape of the handguard with that triangular ramp and the rear sight.

They're the most commonly seen of the Mk II Rosses in my experience. Tons of them south of the border.
 
Close to 20,000 went south, then many were sold surplus through the NRA. Probably more II*** in the US than here.
 
It's too bad there isn't an easy process to rechamber barrels back into .303 with a perfect chamber and perfect bore. (kind of like a .22 liner)

Having a new barrel made doesn't make sense, plus it wipes out the history.

There are so many Rosses that are shot out, dark bores, with grossly enlarged chambers etc.
 
tiriaq said:
Close to 20,000 went south, then many were sold surplus through the NRA. Probably more II*** in the US than here.
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After WW1 the Rosses were kicked around like red-headed orphans. I'm reading a book on the Spanish Civil War, and the author mentions Ross rifles being issued to the Republicans, ie to the Canadians in the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.

"The biggest single item was the large stock of Pattern 14 rifle in .303 calibre. Marketing these rifles was difficult as the calibre was in wide use only by the British Empire, Estonia and Latvia. After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the British supplied Ross and Pattern 14 rifles from Royal Navy stocks to these Baltic nations. During the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War, they supplied large numbers of rifles to the "White" anti-communist forces. The Black Sea port of Novorossisk was HQ of the "Denmiss", the British mission sent to supply the White "Armed Forces of South Russia". From March 1919 onward, they supplied about 200,000 rifles to Deniken's forces including large numbers of Pattern 14, lesser numbers of Ross M10 and fewer numbers of Mk.3 and Mk.3* Lee Enfields in .303. Pattern 14 rifles from British Army stocks were provided to other White Russian forces elsewhere in the former Russian Empire during this period." http://www. carbinesforcollectors.com/spanishcivilwar1.html

There were other rifles in Canadian stores that were flogged throughout the Depression era, but there were enough still in stores in 1939 that they were issued for certain uses. The tale of the Ross is full of surprises. From what I've seen on this thread so far, that is a very good example of an early-ish Ross. Keep looking the little bits, and by all means find the coffee table book on the Ross Rifle Story.
 
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