Myth and Reality of the Ross MkIII Rifle
- Thread starter Power Pill
- Start date
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An interesting and informative video and one that is definitely a "should watch". It does question the old "myths" about the Ross and the safety of the Ross Mark III System.
Once again, it shows that if something is not assembled right, or is not used as intended, then a disaster is in the making. Unfortunately, much of the problem is human, but the system or object gets the blame.
However, SMELLIE, myself, and lot of others who were brought up with these rifles, and have used them for pleasure and target shooting for over 50 years or so, are well aware of the proper way to assemble the bolt. It is the newer Members, and those people who repeat the "urban legends" about the Ross, (and have never handled or fired one, but keep repeating these tales,) who keep perpetuating these fables, and get themselves into trouble by not reading or investigating the proper procedures for bolt assembly.
Moderators: This one should probably be made a Stickie.
An interesting and informative video and one that is definitely a "should watch". It does question the old "myths" about the Ross and the safety of the Ross Mark III System.
Once again, it shows that if something is not assembled right, or is not used as intended, then a disaster is in the making. Unfortunately, much of the problem is human, but the system or object gets the blame.
However, SMELLIE, myself, and lot of others who were brought up with these rifles, and have used them for pleasure and target shooting for over 50 years or so, are well aware of the proper way to assemble the bolt. It is the newer Members, and those people who repeat the "urban legends" about the Ross, (and have never handled or fired one, but keep repeating these tales,) who keep perpetuating these fables, and get themselves into trouble by not reading or investigating the proper procedures for bolt assembly.
Moderators: This one should probably be made a Stickie.
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i own a m-10 ross and was aware of the spacing the bolt head should have, i was however under the understanding that the II's could be assembled wrong because they didnt have the rivet. eather way a cool vidio i have forwarded to a couple people who back up when i take the ross out 
Blastattack
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
i own a m-10 ross and was aware of the spacing the bolt head should have, i was however under the understanding that the II's could be assembled wrong because they didnt have the rivet. eather way a cool vidio i have forwarded to a couple people who back up when i take the ross out
The MKIIs can certainly be assembled wrong, but I don't believe that they even fit when done so.
FWIW, forgotten weapons did some testing. They incorrectly assembled the rifle on purpose and fired it with a service cartridge. The bolt head lost a couple lugs when it violently hit the bolt stop, but the bolt did NOT clear the receiver, the rifle did not grenade, and with a new bolt head, the rifle could have been put back into service. That being said, if you were choked up close on the rifle, that bolt flying back to the open position could do some damage.
Lee Enfield
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
never remove the bolt rivet, the bolt can be disassembled with it in place and it is necessary to ensure correct reassembly of the bolt.
The rivet conversion included grinding a channel in the internal interrupted threads on the bolt.
The some of the real problems with the Ross actions in my view are the 1) poor support (in all the actions) for the bolt body (exasperated with the clip slot of the MkIII) and 2) the incorrectly heat treated (and) too small lugs of the MkIII.
In the video when he pulls out the broken off lug you can see the impression of the bolt stop on the broken piece. I challenge everyone with a MkIII to check their bolt for a similar indent.
In my experience around 50-60% will have noticeable deformation, just from regular firing, not abuse.
When you have a deformed lug, the action goes from being butter smooth, to being a baulky mule, that I can see needing to be booted open during a firefight.
The rivet conversion included grinding a channel in the internal interrupted threads on the bolt.
The some of the real problems with the Ross actions in my view are the 1) poor support (in all the actions) for the bolt body (exasperated with the clip slot of the MkIII) and 2) the incorrectly heat treated (and) too small lugs of the MkIII.
In the video when he pulls out the broken off lug you can see the impression of the bolt stop on the broken piece. I challenge everyone with a MkIII to check their bolt for a similar indent.
In my experience around 50-60% will have noticeable deformation, just from regular firing, not abuse.
When you have a deformed lug, the action goes from being butter smooth, to being a baulky mule, that I can see needing to be booted open during a firefight.
Same with just bout anything.
SLAM it open, SLAM it shut, SLAM it open, SLAM it shut...... see how long it lasts.
I am driving a '93 Cavalier. Just put on Klick 250,000. Driver's door is fine, passenger door is deformed from ONE passenger repeatedly slamming it.
Same with the Ross. My HMS Canada rifle is fine, despite serving from 1913 to 1968. OTOH, I have one here which needed a lot of work on a shattered and deformed lug.
Ross lugs can't be all THAT tiny. They WILL hold in 125000+ pounds pressure. How much "+" nobody knows.
Sir Charles must have done something right.
The MASS in a Ross action is all in the LOCKUP and the Barrel. Learn to live with that and you have a FINE rifle.
SLAM it open, SLAM it shut, SLAM it open, SLAM it shut...... see how long it lasts.
I am driving a '93 Cavalier. Just put on Klick 250,000. Driver's door is fine, passenger door is deformed from ONE passenger repeatedly slamming it.
Same with the Ross. My HMS Canada rifle is fine, despite serving from 1913 to 1968. OTOH, I have one here which needed a lot of work on a shattered and deformed lug.
Ross lugs can't be all THAT tiny. They WILL hold in 125000+ pounds pressure. How much "+" nobody knows.
Sir Charles must have done something right.
The MASS in a Ross action is all in the LOCKUP and the Barrel. Learn to live with that and you have a FINE rifle.
I absolutly love my M10. Like the experts have said, the rifle was built extremely well, with very tight tolerences and that is why a great deal of the sniper teams used them. Not a good gun for the dirty enviroment of the trenches, where it had issues, but only because it was built so good !! Love my Ross !
