280 Ross

B

bearhunter

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Uber Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
178   0   0
Location
okanogan
This morning a young fellow came over with a lovely M10, 280 Ross.

It's in at least 95%+ condition

It is from a Legacy box, left to him by his grandfather, who he was very close to, so NO, it's not for sale.

Along with the rifle, there were 8 unopened boxes of 10 of factory Kynoch, which is just labled 280 Rimless, (Ross Pattern)

There were two other boxes of empty cases and I believe that's all that were shot out of the rifle after it left the factory. All of the cartridges I could look into were boxer primed.

He had an old Lee Loader and an old white box with red lettering of 50 count Kynoch Original bullets, with 160 grain, Hollow Point metal covered and a diameter stating they were .288 diameter.

We took the stock off and cleaned 60 years of crud out of it, gave it a wipe down with Ballistol and put it back together.

It's all original, even the rear blade sight which is very slightly V notched and regulated for this ammunition for 200 yards.

The barrel is stamped with the pressure test, Proved 28 tons. This was quite high pressure considering the time this rifle was built.

I don't believe he intends to shoot it and I cautioned him not to use the original cases or loaded ammo he has.

Brass is available and can be swaged down from the different Remington Ultra Mag cases, but .288 diameter bullets, other than the 50 he has on hand are rare as hen's teeth.

It was a real treat to see this lovely rifle and how much the 25 year old man that just inherited it appreciated it for what it is as well as a memory of his revered grandfather, who taught him to hunt/fish and enjoy the better thing in life.
 
Your friend is a very fortunate fellow.
I have a couple 280 Ross M10's and I reload for them. I have only a single Kynoch 280 case that came with some other fire formed 300 Win mag brass when I purchased one of my rifles.
I have tried 175 grain Hornady RN (.284) bullets. One of my rifles will shoot them OK. The others keyhole at 25 yards using this bullet.
I managed to grab some 160 grain Woodleigh bullets in .287 from Tradeex when they were in business. It was advertised as a bullet for the 275 H+H magnum. This bullet shoots OK in a couple of my M10's.
None of the M10's I have will shoot as well as some of the MKIII military Rosses (303 British) I have. I am sure that it has a lot to do with the excellent receiver sight on the rear bridge of the military rifles.
If your friend wants to reload for his Ross, there are a number of options for brass to be formed from other cases. I have used 300 H+H and 375 Ruger. It is a process but it can be done.
If I were to form more cases for my 280 Ross, I would look closely at the 28 Nosler as a parent case rather than any of the RUM cases. 280 Nosler is the same case length as 280 Ross. Same head size as original 280 Ross and, the part I like the most, no belt on the case.
 
Somehow I get the feeling this rifle was brought over, as much because the young fellow knew his grandfather and I were good friends than to get it cleaned up and pretty again, not that it wasn't.

I didn't even know his grandfather had the rifle. He never brought it along on a hunt or spoke of it. We built a lot of rifles together and he knew I liked anything unusual. Maybe he was worried I would try to trade him out of it, which was something we used to do just for the fun of it and watch each other squirm as we offered each other items that were near and dear to both of us??

This young fellow will likely never shoot the rifle. He knows it's something special and he comes from a shooting/hunting family and has been hunting/shooting ever since he was strong enough to lift and hold the little 22rf single shot Ranger that his Gramps and I made up for him.

Thanx for the heads up on other cases that will work. I won't bother with this project unless he asks.

Forming those cases will take some new dies etc. If he wants to get into it, I will help him out as much as I can, but he doesn't seem to inclined to handload, let alone start making up cases. He's always relied on his father for his ammo.
 
You are a good mentor sir. At 76 I can still hear my father's voice as he examined, cleaned and repaired and reloaded for his Rosses over the years. He was a great teacher in many ways, and as I pick up one of his Rosses I feel his presence.
Good on ya'
OGC
 
Brno8x57 said:
Your friend is a very fortunate fellow.
I have a couple 280 Ross M10's and I reload for them. I have only a single Kynoch 280 case that came with some other fire formed 300 Win mag brass when I purchased one of my rifles.
I have tried 175 grain Hornady RN (.284) bullets. One of my rifles will shoot them OK. The others keyhole at 25 yards using this bullet.
I managed to grab some 160 grain Woodleigh bullets in .287 from Tradeex when they were in business. It was advertised as a bullet for the 275 H+H magnum. This bullet shoots OK in a couple of my M10's.
None of the M10's I have will shoot as well as some of the MKIII military Rosses (303 British) I have. I am sure that it has a lot to do with the excellent receiver sight on the rear bridge of the military rifles.
If your friend wants to reload for his Ross, there are a number of options for brass to be formed from other cases. I have used 300 H+H and 375 Ruger. It is a process but it can be done.
If I were to form more cases for my 280 Ross, I would look closely at the 28 Nosler as a parent case rather than any of the RUM cases. 280 Nosler is the same case length as 280 Ross. Same head size as original 280 Ross and, the part I like the most, no belt on the case.
Click to expand...

think I'll try some of those 28 Nosler cases for mine. I have some 280 brass and three boxes of bullets appropriately sized. But I'd like some options. Thanks for the tip. - dan
 
He's a fortunate young man. My father longed for one of these and never found one. I was lucky enough to get one with a sizing die thrown in. Mine has an excellent bore and shoots .284 diameter bullets very well. I have made cases from .300 H&H, no belt turning required and .375 Ruger. The .375 Ruger cases had to be sized to the point I was concerned about splitting the die but got it done.
I came across 10 boxes of the Kynoch ammo and have it basically as a keep sake. The fellow who sold it to me warned the necks were prone to spliiting on firing.
These are a great piece of Canadian history and a joy to own. My only wish is that they could be readily scoped to take advantage of all that accuracy potential. I could never bring myself to D/T such a piece and make do with my Porter peep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom