Neat review and brief history of Ross rifles

[AB3006]

USOG posted a really neat review of Ross riflles. It's amazing that we have such a fine firearms and shooting sports heritage here in Canuckistan, especially given the current political climate.

Also, shout out to Reliable gun, it seems USOG is a big fan of yours.

 

[tiriaq]

Note that the "1905" sporting rifle has an interrupted thread bolt. Isn't that the version which appeared in 1907?

 

[William Watt]

The Ross rifle is a great rifle for the sport shooter.
History tells us it did not work out for the military. The action could not withstand the mud, blood and gore of trench warfare and would jam.

 

[Eagleye]

I own a sporterized 1910 Ross rifle [Not a sporter model] I had it rebarrelled with a McGowen barrel
since the original was pretty well toast from corrosive ammo and infrequent cleaning.

As the gent said, they are pretty slick rifles. The actions are tight and strong. My Ross is a 303 not the
280, but it now consistently shoots sub-moa. It has optics mounted on it. Two years ago, I took it hunting
for whitetail deer, and put down a fat doe. [180 Sierra Pro-Hunter and 4x grains of N202. 2575 fps MV.]
She was dead after a 30 yard dash, so it worked just fine. Dave.

 

[BlackPowderBurner]

The Ross rifle is a great rifle for the sport shooter.
History tells us it did not work out for the military. The action could not withstand the mud, blood and gore of trench warfare and would jam.

The 1910 action itself wasn’t as bad as commonly understood. The quality control during production caused many, many issues. By the time the kinks had been mostly sorted out, the press had taken bite and public/frontline trust in the rifle was broken.

 

[woodchopper]

I have 2 factory sporters, a 1905 E and a model 10 in 280

the 1905 is shot out and I don't have ammo for the 280

 

[dan belisle]

I have a 280 sporter. And brass, dies and ammo. Used to have a 1910 in 303, but sold it along. It's an interesting rifle design. - dan

 

[conor_90]

Eagle eye I've said it a few times, but I absolutely covet that gun!

I'd like to find a 280 with a toast bore and some holes in the receiver and rebarrel it to something modern

 

[dan belisle]

Eagle eye I've said it a few times, but I absolutely covet that gun!

I'd like to find a 280 with a toast bore and some holes in the receiver and rebarrel it to something modern

Used to be an older gent (about my age now lol) that had a few of these rebarreled into a 264 Mag, a 7 mag, a 338 Win Mag and a 458 Win Mag if I remember correctly. Mid 80's. They were all down at Premier Firearms back when it was a going concern. Cool rifles. - dan

 

[m1008]

USOG posted a really neat review of Ross riflles. It's amazing that we have such a fine firearms and shooting sports heritage here in Canuckistan, especially given the current political climate.

Also, shout out to Reliable gun, it seems USOG is a big fan of yours.

I’ve seen him list more than a few of his rifles at reliable when he decides to move em down the road

 

[flying pig]

Note that the "1905" sporting rifle has an interrupted thread bolt. Isn't that the version which appeared in 1907?

That’s in fact a Scotch Deer Stalker or SDS for short. Also known as a 1907-E.

Rosses are a beautiful rifle, and can shoot amazingly well. They’re my collecting and shooting focus, and I have models from MkI to MkIII, 1903, 1905, 1907 and 1910 actions. I’ve shot lots of them in 303, and am working on loads for my 280s finally after looking for dies for years. I’ve yet to acquire a sporter in 35 Win. Love these rifles and their history.

Quality control in the factory wasn’t an issue, what our government and the Brits did to them after leaving the factory was. Low quality British ammunition (the Canadian ammo ran way better in their MGs and we were just colonials anyway) was one undoing, re heat treating bolts in the field was another. Then the reports of bolts blowing back because of mis assembly started coming in. This could be done, but you REALLY have to work at it. If the bolt was rammed into its stop hard you could damage the rearmost locking lug, and this would cause further jamming. Basically, the rifle just wasn’t quite ready. Almost all of our modern SLRs use a variation of Rosses bolt head design, so he was definitely onto something.

 

[Mike Webb]

You have to be a special kind of stupid to assemble a 1910 Ross incorectly. If you hold the rifle muzzle down you can observe the lugs engaging as you close the bolt. Not hard to see something is wrong as it happens. If the lugs aren't engagimg properly it is immediately apparent.

 

[Rick]

History tells us it did not work out for the military. The action could not withstand the mud, blood and gore of trench warfare and would jam.

Arguably, there was a lot more to it than "could not withstand the mud, blood and gore, etc".

The Brits at that time were notorious for palming off very substandard .303 British ammunition on the other Commonwealth countries fighting beside them - that includes Canadians. The book "A Rifleman Went To War" by Herbert McBride, an American who came to Canada and signed up with the Patricia's goes into detail about how they went out on foraging missions to unconventionally obtain better quality ammunition from their Brit brethern when they weren't looking.

So much of the ammunition was so substandard when the demands of war suddenly massively increased, that many Lee Enfields were sent through FTR to enlarge the chambers - somewhat similar chambering problems as the Ross was having.

I think you can safely say the much shorter Smelly was a much better rifle for WWI trench warfare than the Ross. On the other hand the Ross if chosen as a sniper rifle was far superior as far as grouping ability than any bolt action rifle of its time.

My brother has a few Ross's both in 280 and .303 British: both group extremely well with the aperture sights.