I recently acquired a 1905 Ross .303.I picked it up plenty cheap and figured I'd take a deer with it this year and then put it away for my 'lil feller in the future.After putting 2 boxes of shells through it sighting in and plinking,my buddy,who is a bit of a military buff,informs me that these old no-throw,straight pull,bolt action Ross' killed as many CDNs behind the rifle as they did Germans in front of it due to the bolt failing and coming out under recoil.Now I can't shoot it for #### due to flinching in anticipation of my losing an eye or worse,and sure don't feel good about giving it to or even letting my son try it.My bud tells me that Ross did eventually correct this problem,but is there any way of knowing if this particular gun is safe?There are no serial #s that I can see?
1905 Ross rifle question?????
- Thread starter grinrgrn
- Start date
those problems were with the 1910 IIRC, and are grossly exaggerated. the problem was not the bolt lugs failing but that it supposed to be possible (albeit very difficult) to incorrectly assemble the bolt and fire it WITHOUT the lugs engaged.
do some reading in the forum, lots of info in here.
do some reading in the forum, lots of info in here.
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
don't worry, the ross had a lot of problems in the trenches with mud and heating up. Troops wanted the enfields.
as a side note the snipers prefered to use the Ross
as a side note the snipers prefered to use the Ross
Thanx MiG,I feel a 'lil better about firing it now.Didn't want to leave 2 young orphans as a legacy though I can't think of a better way to meet my maker than dying in the deer woods that I love?I can visualise the local newspaper headlines now"SJ man found dead next to monster buck",LOL.
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
Oh yes post pictures 
- Location
- Manitoulin Island
If you are worried, I will take it to set your mind at ease, even pay shipping,
I've been shooting Rosses since the 1960s and I still have all my fingers and the bolt hasn't killed me yet.
Problems with the Ross are grossly exaggerated and there was a strong political motive for trashing its reputation.
I have an article on the Ross military rifle which I'll send you if you PM me with a proper e-mail address; it is just too long to go through the cgn pm system.
But yours is a 1905: peacetime manufacture, high quality materials and workmanship, lovely and fast...... you really oughtta post some pictures for the rest of us to drool at.
Problems with the Ross are grossly exaggerated and there was a strong political motive for trashing its reputation.
I have an article on the Ross military rifle which I'll send you if you PM me with a proper e-mail address; it is just too long to go through the cgn pm system.
But yours is a 1905: peacetime manufacture, high quality materials and workmanship, lovely and fast...... you really oughtta post some pictures for the rest of us to drool at.
I have just rec'd a Ross M1910. I would like a copy of that article!
Regarding the old-wives tales re: Rossbolts...1. Stupidity has it's own rewards. 2. People who tell that old story have likely never even handled a Ross, nevermind fired or stripped one out. Even a modicum of mechanical commonsense would tell someone who stripped a bolt then reassembled it incorrectly that something was seriously wrong....pop a primer at your peril- it's just another one of Mother Nature's ways of vacuuming the terminally stupid from the bottom of the gene pool.
The two MkIII's plus the MkII in the photo- the middle one looks like a good candidate for a restoration- Rossguy
The two MkIII's plus the MkII in the photo- the middle one looks like a good candidate for a restoration- Rossguy
I note that having a full length barrel is your cutoff criteria for a rifle being worth restoring. What about having the barrel lengthened? Not as good as original but definitely a way to put one close to back to rights no?
Does anyone make or sell new barrels? There's a ton of cut down ones and ones with shot out dark bores around...
How hard are the barrels to change? Can most gunsmiths with a barrel vice do it?
cantom - there is no front handguard on a Ross, so there is no way to hide the joint if a short smoothbore extension were fitted, unless the joint were welded over, and that would really complicate things. A Mk. III barrel is about 30 1/2", most sporters are cut to 22" - 24". That's quite a stretch.
Rebarrelling a Mk. III Ross would be no more difficult than any other rifle with square threads, and some breech face cuts. The length is a bit of an issue. For a barrel to finish at that length, the blank would have to be at least 32" long. To have a single blank contoured and fittted would probably scare $700. Production of a quantity of barrels would reduce this, but they would never be inexpensive. Then there is the stock restoration to be considered.
Rossguy - that Mk. III has been restored. Perhaps Klunk could post before and after photos.
Rebarrelling a Mk. III Ross would be no more difficult than any other rifle with square threads, and some breech face cuts. The length is a bit of an issue. For a barrel to finish at that length, the blank would have to be at least 32" long. To have a single blank contoured and fittted would probably scare $700. Production of a quantity of barrels would reduce this, but they would never be inexpensive. Then there is the stock restoration to be considered.
Rossguy - that Mk. III has been restored. Perhaps Klunk could post before and after photos.
Leave that middle rifle just the way it is or, at least, if you do restore it, do so very carefully. This rifle is cut in the same way as the "stripped" Ross Rifles of WWI sniping fame.
There are some of these around. Only trouble is that it is almost impossible to tell if a rifle was "stripped" DURING the War...... or afterwards. Problematic.
What formation stamps are on your rifles? I have a pair of these "stripped" rifles, one stamped PHAB1, the other stamped PHAB2. Nice shooters, too.
There are some of these around. Only trouble is that it is almost impossible to tell if a rifle was "stripped" DURING the War...... or afterwards. Problematic.
What formation stamps are on your rifles? I have a pair of these "stripped" rifles, one stamped PHAB1, the other stamped PHAB2. Nice shooters, too.
There appears to be a little Ross Renaissance going on around here these days!
I never liked them before...
- Location
- West coast of Vancouver Island
cantom, I hear you, I picked up another 1910(gorgeous bore) and a 1905 this month. Every Canadian should have at least one Ross.
Cheers
Kevin
Cheers
Kevin
longbranch*
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Victoria,BC.
Ross
I agree, I own one for every member of my family. A MKII**(commercial),MKII***(U.S), MKIII, Cadet (commercial sporter) and a M-10 .280 sporter. All are original and took me a few years to accumulate.
Geoff
I agree, I own one for every member of my family. A MKII**(commercial),MKII***(U.S), MKIII, Cadet (commercial sporter) and a M-10 .280 sporter. All are original and took me a few years to accumulate.
Geoff
CanTom- Stretching a barrel wouldn't make any kind of financial sense at all, nor would buying a blank and having it turned to size....Unfortunately, you live on the wrong side of the razor-wire, or I could cheerfully supply you with a complete original barrelled receiver for either a Military MkIII or a Commercial MkIII Homeguard, but then you'd still need to spend another couple hundred Booshbux (el Presidente) for wood from Mike Kokolus in PA (570 924 3279). I'm toying with having one put together to the Military pattern, but with a premium birds-eye maple stock and handguard as a Christmas present for myself....(Can I still say "Christmas" on a canadian website?)
Better to keep looking for as clean an original MkIII as you can find before your gov't starts their confiscation program, then buy it! Warning: Do not store Ross Rifles in the dark, as I've found they're like wire coathangers...they breed! Rossguy.
Better to keep looking for as clean an original MkIII as you can find before your gov't starts their confiscation program, then buy it! Warning: Do not store Ross Rifles in the dark, as I've found they're like wire coathangers...they breed! Rossguy.
Pics added.I tried a couple close-ups but they didn't turn out so well,so I'll describe the rifle as best I can.First off,please excuse the front sight that I built up with JB weld,the original was broken in half(pliers?) and when I first fired the rifle it was nearly 2 feet high at 25 yards.I fashioned this temporary sight from JBWeld,bore sighted in my vice as best I could,then tweaked it with a file at the gravel pit so I am now comfortable hunting with it.Not perfect,but it is "hunting accurate" @ 100 yards,that is,I can hit a pie plate every time.
It'll do for now until i get a new sight as most of my deer hunting is done in the woods with shots typically well inside 100.
as for markings,it reads "Ross Rifle Company,Quebec,Canada 1905"patented.There is a stamp @ the base of the barrel that is faded but looks to me like two flags crossed,with a crown on top,a "C" to the right,and a "P" at the bottom of the flags.Also below the flags is a stamp of letters arranged vertically that read"?.I.Q"
It'll do for now until i get a new sight as most of my deer hunting is done in the woods with shots typically well inside 100.as for markings,it reads "Ross Rifle Company,Quebec,Canada 1905"patented.There is a stamp @ the base of the barrel that is faded but looks to me like two flags crossed,with a crown on top,a "C" to the right,and a "P" at the bottom of the flags.Also below the flags is a stamp of letters arranged vertically that read"?.I.Q"
