A Factory Ross Sporter

ssapach

ssapach

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I've been working on this Ross 1905-R for quite a while, because I only really touch it when I have spare time. Thought I might share a little bit about it since I saw another thread about the ol' 303 Brit round.

This is the only pic I could find of when I first got it. I actually got it from a member on the forum, perhaps he'll remember it if he sees it.
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The old thing was actually in pretty good shape when I got it, minus the bore. Seems that a good bore for a 1905 is a rare commodity. This thing would eagerly accept an unfired bullet in the muzzle end, and have a bit of wiggle room around the sides yet.

We've got a new barrel blank! Profiled to match a factory 1905-R barrel as well.

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Let there be threads!

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And we've got a new barrel mounted!

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I'm still not done, as you can see. The barrel needs to be cut and crowned and I still need to shape the bottom of the barrel at the breech, in order to help with feeding. After that's done I'll have to actually try hitting some targets to get a feel for it's accuracy. Perhaps all the work is for nothing, and it won't hit the broad side of a barn.....

After I know it can shoot, I plan to get some bluing done to make it look new. Might get new wood for it one day, maybe something a little heavier and a little darker. We'll see when the time comes.

Took a bit of messing, filing and sanding to get the front sight and the mid-barrel band to fit in the correct spots. But they went!

I also finally fired it for the first time today. I don't recall actually firing this rifle prior to doing the barrel replacement, and it's a fairly light gun, so it's got a bit of kick to it!

Thought some of the hunting crowd might enjoy an oldie being brought back to life.
 
Awesome thread and terrific pictures, Thanks for sharing with us.
I have a short little R10 Sporter and I love it.
It's something special to seeing one being refurbed step by

Again,Thanks
 
Nicely done! A few more grooves than a 1905-R had originally, but who minds that? Where was the barrel sourced?
 
Terry Weiland has written several articles about the Ross for Rifle Magazine, with relatively high regard for them, but not available online.

However, did find this, which is kinda interesting and informative, written by Weiland to a newspaper in Peterborough, Ont, where he used to live...

http://www.mykawartha.com/opinion-story/5234631-ross-rifle-maligned-due-to-misinformation/

Quite a history to these rifles, including the development of the .280 Ross that dominated international competition for several years.
 
There's more to this story than what he's stated yet. That's a 3TPI left hand buttress thread, not many people with the tooling to do that.

Very nice work. I'm sure it's going to shoot very well. The new barrel with 10 twist has probably increased felt recoil. I'm not sure how fast the earlier 303s twisted, but the 280 were a 8.6 twist. If I were to do one I think I'd do it on a 308 barrel blank and chamber it for 303 with 308 bullets. The 220 Hornady RN is a perfect bullet for a rifle like this.
 
Egad that threading must have been tricky to eliminate chatter, not to mention calculating the gearing for the thread pitch. What lathe did you use? Awesome work sir.
 
RRCo. said:
Nicely done! A few more grooves than a 1905-R had originally, but who minds that? Where was the barrel sourced?
Click to expand...

Barrel blank was made by Bob Jury in Red Deer. He was willing to accept the old barrel and copy the profile for me.

hollowedpoint said:
How awesome, I love the old .303's. What's the plan for the stock?

Btw first time I seen a Ross with a new barrel!
Click to expand...

Just keeping this stock for now. I think just a factory style replacement is in order, just with some different colour to it. This current stock is a little heavily clear coated or varnished, so I don't want to risk ruining it by trying to strip all that stuff off. I'm also not sure what type of wood it is....

flying pig said:
There's more to this story than what he's stated yet. That's a 3TPI left hand buttress thread, not many people with the tooling to do that.

Very nice work. I'm sure it's going to shoot very well. The new barrel with 10 twist has probably increased felt recoil. I'm not sure how fast the earlier 303s twisted, but the 280 were a 8.6 twist. If I were to do one I think I'd do it on a 308 barrel blank and chamber it for 303 with 308 bullets. The 220 Hornady RN is a perfect bullet for a rifle like this.
Click to expand...

Truth is that this barrel blank was drilled for 30 cal and rifled for 303. So it's a tight bore for 303, probably helping to add to the kick. Some might not think that's a good idea, but I've been given some reassurance by other barrel makers that there is nothing wrong with it.

hunter5425 said:
Egad that threading must have been tricky to eliminate chatter, not to mention calculating the gearing for the thread pitch. What lathe did you use? Awesome work sir.
Click to expand...

I have a South Bend that was made in 1917 and I happened to have just the right gearing combo to make it. Chatter wasn't really an issue with threading, but it's also a slow process with lots and lots of light cuts.
 
Did you do it with a HSS blank in your lantern post tool holder? I did a pile of work building a set up for my lathe to make this work better. I'll post progress in the 3TPI thread soon. A 0.002" cut on this thread is actually pretty heavy, and it happens fast.
 
Yup, just an HSS blank ground to fit the thread profile. Held in the lantern style holder. It's got a little flex if you try to cut to deep, but it does a decent job so far.

My first cut can usually be about .010", as that's the most narrow point that the cutting tip has, and the cutting depth just gets less and less as I go on.
 
Nice job!! I have a Ross M10, that I had rebarrelled recently, and it is now a moa or under rifle with several loads.
McGowen built a barrel blank to original contour for me. Jennings did the smithing + bluing. It already had a decent
sporter stock, so that went back on. I now have a piece of Canadiana that is very functional too.
It will hunt with me this fall. Dave.

 
I like the looks of that stock! I hate to change my 1905 stock to something like that, as it's sometimes nicer to keep it as close to original as possible, but I have a crummy old cut down 1910 that might get some attention later on.

This one was my first 1905 re-barrel project. I happened to score a new 303 Bevan King barrel blank off the EE, it was a heavy contour so I just left it like that. This rifle came to me as a terrible hack job of a military cut down, with a worn out barrel of course. It's now one of many of my projects that I don't have enough time for. I need to figure out a stock for this thing, more along the lines of target/precision shooting than just a sporter stock though.

This thing is a heavy pig, as you can probably imagine. But the plus side is that it doesn't kick much. I quite like shooting it, actually.

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This is how it was shooting, but only the 45 yards that the indoor range was. It's at least promising, and should still shoot out further quite accurately.

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Kevan said:
Very nice Dave, Thanks for sharing.
I should get off my butt and do something with mine.
Are those fabricated scope mounts ?
Click to expand...

The rear one is fabricated to accept a flat bottomed weaver base. It is a "saddle" that
is attached on both sides of the receiver and is flat on top. The front receiver ring is
D&T for the Weaver extension base. Pic below is the best I have right now. Dave.
 
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ssapach; That is a mean looking M10 with the HB on it. lol. It looks like it wants to shoot, too.

Bevan made some fine barrels, and he knew the 303 well.

Which optics are on that? Unertl or Lyman or?? :) Dave.
 
Ssapach, that thing is going to shoot quite well I'd say!

That's a beauty Eagleye.

About that stock, a member here has asked me to do something similar for two stocks for him. He wants an M-10 outside profile on a MkIII inlet with a cheek rest. I should make a copy of the original to duplicate down the road if there is interest?
 
Eagleye said:
Nice job!! I have a Ross M10, that I had rebarrelled recently, and it is now a moa or under rifle with several loads.
McGowen built a barrel blank to original contour for me. Jennings did the smithing + bluing. It already had a decent
sporter stock, so that went back on. I now have a piece of Canadiana that is very functional too.
It will hunt with me this fall. Dave.

Click to expand...

That's a purdy one fer sure.:cool: Happy huntin'.
 
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