A couple of Rosses
- Thread starter Anvil
- Start date
The marks on the Mk. III Rosses are the standard marks. D/l\C Quebec roundel, III. for Mk. III, and the serial number. The upper rifle is 464LZ, of 1917. Lower is 364, can't make out the letters, 1916? 1918? There may be unit marks as well, on the wood, or on the receiver rings, sometimes marks for more than one unit, as the rifle was reissued. I think I can see something on the butt of the upper rifle near the heel. Thanks for posting these photos. Always interesting to see other Rosses.
The Greener police guns are interesting.
The Greener police guns are interesting.
The upper rifle has I W O R stamped near the heel and 82 stamped on the receiver ring.
The lower rifle is 1918 MK. It has no other obvious marks other than proof stamps. Both are decent shooters even though one of them has a pitted bore.
The Greener has been to the trap range a few times. It always draws some attention but not alway the good kind. It points surprisingly well. It does well with slugs too, but they are less than entertaining after 5 or 6 rounds.
The lower rifle is 1918 MK. It has no other obvious marks other than proof stamps. Both are decent shooters even though one of them has a pitted bore.
The Greener has been to the trap range a few times. It always draws some attention but not alway the good kind. It points surprisingly well. It does well with slugs too, but they are less than entertaining after 5 or 6 rounds.
PerversPépère
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Shawinigan (Quebec)
Shame...
Two complete Ross rifles! Anvil, you're a shameless teaser!
BTW, nice Greener, too!
PP.
Two complete Ross rifles! Anvil, you're a shameless teaser!
BTW, nice Greener, too!
PP.
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
Another Haig quote from the 1930'sollie said:
"There will always be a place for the well trained horse in modern warfare"
John Sukey said:Another Haig quote from the 1930's
"There will always be a place for the well trained horse in modern warfare"
I was at Edinburgh Castle and there is a full size bronze statue of Haig on a horse. I spit on it in memory of my great uncle, Cranky Willy. Willy was a WWI vet who hated Haig, he wouldn't even allow Haig Whisky in his house and he was fond of a drink.
Just a Q about Rosses
Just when did the Canadians switch to the SMLE?
Why would they still be making Rosses as late as 1917?
From what I've heard, they are more accurate than the SMLE in the right hands. Was the Ross ever used with a telescopic sight?
Thanks in advance.
ooh, and BTW nice Rosses. Saw one full wood the other day for 450$. Didnt have the cash though
Just when did the Canadians switch to the SMLE?
Why would they still be making Rosses as late as 1917?
From what I've heard, they are more accurate than the SMLE in the right hands. Was the Ross ever used with a telescopic sight?
Thanks in advance.
ooh, and BTW nice Rosses. Saw one full wood the other day for 450$. Didnt have the cash though
I went to high school named for Haig, even then I thought that it was weird to name it after a man who sent so many Canucks to be slaughtered pointessly. I would pour a bottle of Haig on his grave after I strained it through my liver.
Read a rifleman went to war by HW Mc Bride.f_soldaten04 said:Just a Q about Rosses
Just when did the Canadians switch to the SMLE?
Why would they still be making Rosses as late as 1917?
From what I've heard, they are more accurate than the SMLE in the right hands. Was the Ross ever used with a telescopic sight?
Thanks in advance.
ooh, and BTW nice Rosses. Saw one full wood the other day for 450$. Didnt have the cash though
f soldaten04 - The 1st Division exchanged their Rosses for SMLEs in the summer of 1915 (15th Bn. on June 15, 1915, easy to remember), the 2nd Division a year later. Rosses were retained in second line use throughout the War. Rosses continued to be assembled until the factory actually closed. In 1939, there were more Ross rifles in inventory in Canada than SMLEs. They continued to be used for secondary duties.
Mk. III Rosses were fitted with a variety of available telescopic sights, and were used as sniper rifles successfully through 1918. Warner-Swazey and Winchester A-5 scopes were used. The last Ross snipers, with W&S scopes, were broken up in 1944.
The last Canadians to actually use Rosses in combat were Mac-Paps who were issued Mk. III Rosses in Spain. The rifles had been supplied to the British in WWI, who passed them on to the Whites during the Civil War, where they fell into the hands of the Reds. Stalin supplied them to Spain, where they were eventually taken by the Fascists. Some of them were sold surplus in 1958. Ever seen a Mk. III Ross with a Barcelona Arsenal mark?
Mk. III Rosses were fitted with a variety of available telescopic sights, and were used as sniper rifles successfully through 1918. Warner-Swazey and Winchester A-5 scopes were used. The last Ross snipers, with W&S scopes, were broken up in 1944.
The last Canadians to actually use Rosses in combat were Mac-Paps who were issued Mk. III Rosses in Spain. The rifles had been supplied to the British in WWI, who passed them on to the Whites during the Civil War, where they fell into the hands of the Reds. Stalin supplied them to Spain, where they were eventually taken by the Fascists. Some of them were sold surplus in 1958. Ever seen a Mk. III Ross with a Barcelona Arsenal mark?
I don't know. Never seen one that I know of, and have never seen a photo. There were some imported into North America though, after the Franco government had all the old stuff sold surplus. IIRC, Llama was given the job of liquuidating the holdings of obsolete arms.
Talk about a rifle with a lot of history, though.
It was during this same period that all the Spanish 1893 and 1916 7mm Mauser rifles were sold off. A '93 Mauser with a mismatched bolt is correct. The Spanish government didn't trust the army, and had all the rifles stored in one city and the bolts in a different one. When the Civil War started, there was no selective reassembly. So, a well used Spanish Mauser, with a m/m bolt was in all likelihood actually used during the Civil War.
When the Mac-Paps were issued the Rosses, apparently they were horrified; the stories of the Ross' problems were well known. They were relieved when the Rosses were subsequently replaced with MNs.
Talk about a rifle with a lot of history, though.
It was during this same period that all the Spanish 1893 and 1916 7mm Mauser rifles were sold off. A '93 Mauser with a mismatched bolt is correct. The Spanish government didn't trust the army, and had all the rifles stored in one city and the bolts in a different one. When the Civil War started, there was no selective reassembly. So, a well used Spanish Mauser, with a m/m bolt was in all likelihood actually used during the Civil War.
When the Mac-Paps were issued the Rosses, apparently they were horrified; the stories of the Ross' problems were well known. They were relieved when the Rosses were subsequently replaced with MNs.
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A friend of my dad's fought in the Spanish Civil War. He was plowing a field one day, stopped, tied the horses to the fence and caught a frieght train to the coast. Next time anyone heard from him he was in Spain. He used to drop in on my Dad from time to time when he was back in Canada. I remember him saying that in Spain the were 7 men for every rifle they had. I don't know much more than that, I wasn't very old at the time and didn't ask many questions. When WWII broke out he went to England and after that French Indo-China and Korea. If I could only ask him now...
