Interesting Ross Sporter

7mmBRmostly

7mmBRmostly

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Nova Scotia
Interesting piece, unfortunately drilled and welded. Was a little concerned to surf out DP as "drill practice" and now wonder if left side bbl ahead of chamber sports a filled hole, too far forward to see from inside. I'm in the process of confirming whether the rifle was fired by the last owner; I suspect so. The bore looks excellent or nearly so. That's a hefty rear sight! I think there's a small ivory bead on the front sight, worn down or slightly chipped. Cool factor on this piece includes inside the stock too....

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Beautiful pictures, Thanks for sharing with us.
Its a shame that it isn't shootable , I have a sporter and its a very good shooter considering its age and wear.
 
I suspect it's shootable but will get professional opinion first. I checked the front base holes are drilled straight with a Leup bore sighter; it seems unlikely to me someone could have done a straight job on the the scope mounting without the know-how to evaluate the gun. Maybe a good candidate for butt in a tire and sandbag over the chamber and string on the trigger. Does anyone know why this sporting rifle would have been handled by the military? I figure the crossed flag DCP marking on chamber might be a clue....
 
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7/Y
What you have is a cut down military MKII. The first clue is the military butt plate; the second the removed military rear sight;the third the missing sling swivel on the T/guard;and finally the DP and acceptance markings put paid to the military beginnings.
The sporters (R & E(non pencil barrel) were outfitted as true factory sporters unlike this example
The drilled and welded holes that I can see are from the original military (rear) sight unless that tab up forward goes into the bore.
Many of the "R" factory original sporters with the "pencil barrels" had the same treatment right from the factory.
The gouged out dove tail (ouch) creates far more weakening of the barrel than small shallow sight screws.
Google "Ross MKII and you will see your rifle as it left the factory and I am going to GUESS that it started like as a 3*
Were it I (and it's not) I would do the "tire test", and then 10 more with the top of the action pointed away from me, and once confidence is gained you have a serviceable sporterized hunting rifle.
All good wishes
Oldguncrank
 
7/Y
PS bridge holes look to be ahead of the barrel threads and as such present no problem to the chamber strength, and with respect and apologies for any presumptions, remember that the MKII militaries (save the 2* target rifles) all have LEFT HAND THREADS on the barrel and action.
Again best wishes
OGC
 
Thanks a lot oldguncrank for clearing that up and especially for identifying that welded hole is likely from a rear sight. Surprised that there would be an "ornate" bolt stop pawl on a war gun! Yes I am not concerned about the front receiver ring holes; when I plugged them I noticed the rear one was a through hole and the front one just touches a bbl thread, like most factory drilled modern sporting rifles.
 
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I note that your bolt has no rivet in it.
This does not mean it's unsafe, but that if it's disassembled it may be possible to assemble it in an unsafe condition.
My Ross's bolt is the same.
The rivets were added to prevent misassembly after rumors of rifles firing and blowing bolts back in the shooters face. IMO you'd have to be trying to accomplish this.
It is possible to put my bolt together incorrectly, but when you put it in the rifle, you can clearly see that the bolt head does not rotate, and the bolt does not 'feel' right. The rifle will discharge in that condition. (I didn't try a cartridge)
There is a youtube video of it being done.
 
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Yes thanks guys I'm aware of the bolt pinning and the inherent danger of improper assembly. One of the pics shows the correct distance between the bolthead and bolt body, almost put a ruler in the pic! I can see "full" rotation during lockup. Now that my concern over the plugged hole is explained (former rear sight) I believe the gun is safe to shoot and I will test it with caution. The bore looks fine so I don't know why it was DP'd unless they did that to a lot of them without specific concerns.
 
Well - The rifle could have been DP'd without having mechanical issues or being deactivated. After WW1, Rosses were relegated to second line activities - my father trained with them as a cadet in the 30's. All he remembered was that the Ross was long and heavy....
 
7/Y
Virtually all the Rosses that were retained in Canada after the first war were DP'd as they were deemed unfit for combat after the 1st war fiascoes.
There is no correlation between DP and safety of firing, (I have owned and shot dozens) only that they were relegated to drill practice.
However, I think I see a "C" stamped on the receiver connoting an enlarged (reamed) chamber that ruins all your brass as it distorts to fill the (reamed) space. The army had to do that to all the combat rifles to compensate for the faulty (mostly British) ammunition that was out of dimensional spec. and improperly annealed such that the cases did not shrink back to size after firing.
So if my old eyes are correct, do not be surprised when the fired brass is ballooned at the shoulder and you will have to resize the brass for reuse.
Enjoy your Ross
OGC
 
Thanks for comment, relegated to second line activities makes sense to me. I can't see anything on the gun that looks like a weak point except the large rear sight dovetail cut and there's plenty of those out there. I think it is safe to shoot and intend to prove that soon. I found several rounds of very old 303 ammo which I intend to try first, believing they will generate lower pressure than modern
 
Couldn't check that "C" as I mounted a Tasco on her today, ready to test at the range (or thinking of using a pit under guise of coyote hunting)...so if you don't see me back in here tell them to look for me there!
 
John Y Cannuck said:
I note that your bolt has no rivet in it.
This does not mean it's unsafe, but that if it's disassembled it may be possible to assemble it in an unsafe condition.
My Ross's bolt is the same.
The rivets were added to prevent misassembly after rumors of rifles firing and blowing bolts back in the shooters face. IMO you'd have to be trying to accomplish this.
It is possible to put my bolt together incorrectly, but when you put it in the rifle, you can clearly see that the bolt head does not rotate, and the bolt does not 'feel' right. The rifle will discharge in that condition. (I didn't try a cartridge)
There is a youtube video of it being done.
Click to expand...

They only pinned the bolts on Mk III Ross.

This is a Mk II. The bolt can be assembled incorrectly, but you will not be able to insert it in to the rifle.
 
Oldguncrank said:
7/Y
Virtually all the Rosses that were retained in Canada after the first war were DP'd as they were deemed unfit for combat after the 1st war fiascoes.
OGC
Click to expand...

OGC, I agree with most of what you have say. However only a small portion of Ross rifles were DP`d. most went to stores or were used for training.

They only DP`d rifles as they needed them for Drill Purpose.
 
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