New Production Ross Rifle

New Ross?

Gotta agree with Rossguy. If you wave enough cash around, wont be long before a decent one surfaces. I recently sold 2 fullwood MKIII's to CGN members for fair prices leaving me with 1 MKIII which I'll never wear out.
To me the greatest attraction to Ross's is their controversial history, our boys who carried them into combat (including my Grandad) and the fact that nearly 100 years have passed. Wont get that with a reproduction.
Geoff
 
A small run of barrels seems the only realistic option. Who knows though there could be a huge stash of Ross's in some forgotten warehouse somewhere like that one in Nepal.

I jumped on this thread thinking (stupid now that I think about it)there was a new Ross.
 
What Rossguy sez makes sense. The .280 Military Match was the cream of the cream of the crop.

As far as Rosses are concerned, there should be about 250,000 of them in a warehouse in Mother Russia. They got Rosses from us, from Britain, from the USA in both wars, plus they stole all the Latvian Rosses when they "protected" the Letts in 1940. They gotta have some of them left.

As far as the prices for these new repro German guns are concerned, I hear this strange "rippppping" sound every time I think of one. The MP3008 was a cheapo copy of a $5 Sten. It is "worth" three grand because there are people who are willing to pay it. The StG-44 cost under $20 in series production, the MP-40 was down around $15. Sure, the dollar don't buy what she usedta, but even if you multiply by 30..............
 
Hey if there is no patten then norico could do a knock off :)

OK a gun that if manufactured wrong could blow a bolt back and take your face off, OK maybe not I would not let the chinese that close to my face either considering recent QA issues though the whole economy
 
Norinco Ross?!

If Norinco repro'd the '97 shotgun wouldnt put it passed them to repro a Ross. I can just see the tool marks and chu-wood Norinco's famous for! Personally I dont "do" Norinco, besides I still have 5 real Ross's in my collection.
 
Norinco Ross?!

Oh crap.... now let's not get carried away. We don't want to tarnish the Ross story or it's history.
 
I was told that new barrels are available from an individual maker. Most of the Ross rifles around have been cut both barrels and wood. The 280's have an issue with odd sized bullets. I would love to have a full wood Ross, but buying a cut down one and trying to restore it might end up more expensicve than buying an existing full wood one. A sporter in a currently available cartridge might be the best bet.
 
If you want a Ross shooter, a cut down military rifle is just the ticket, if the bore is fine.
I have found that factory sporters in decent condition are easier to find than service rifles. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a factory sporter as a hunting rifle.
As far as a newly made Ross goes, have a good look at one sometime, and consider what it would take to tool up to manufacture the parts, given the rather limited demand. It isn't going to happen.
 
Ross Rifles

Interesting idea, but I don't think it's practical for a number of reasons;

1. The high cost of making the original rifle would made the cost of a new manafactured one extreme at todays costs.

2. Other then nostalgia, is there really a desire for these new rifles when there a so many better ones on the market today.

3. These rifles had some serious safety issues as it was; having Norinco produce a knock-off of this rifle is a really bad idea; having examined a fairly large number if various Norinco firearms and seeing the poor quality of them, they are definately not the people I would buy an inherently unsafe firearm design from.

4. As for having them built in bigger calibres, there is still the safety issues; as well, I understand that straight pull bolt actions are really not suitable for powerfull calibres due to their design, and especially such an old design.


Again, a thought provoking idea, but there are times when sleeping "dogs" should be left laying, and this seems to be one of those times.
 
highlander said:
3. These rifles had some serious safety issues as it was; having Norinco produce a knock-off of this rifle is a really bad idea; having examined a fairly large number if various Norinco firearms and seeing the poor quality of them, they are definately not the people I would buy an inherently unsafe firearm design from.

Are you referring to the situation where the bolt may be incorrectly assembled in the sleeve? Keep in mind that this cannot happen accidentally, it takes effort to achieve this misassembly. There is a simple modification that absolutely prevents this.

4. As for having them built in bigger calibres, there is still the safety issues; as well, I understand that straight pull bolt actions are really not suitable for powerfull calibres due to their design, and especially such an old design.QUOTE]

What safety issue? The M-10 sporting rifle easily handles the 7mm Magnum pressures of the .280 cartridge. The 1910 action is a strong one.

As far as Norinco goes, Norinco is a marketing agency. Norinco does not manufacture firearms. But, yes, the ongoing QC problems exibited in many Chinese firearms would suggest that a Ross would be a poor choice for replication there.
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Hitzy said:
Buy a K31 if you want a functional straight pull.....:)
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Ever try a K31 in the mud with poor quality ammunition?

Incidentally, the K31 has a bit of a design problem.... Its gas handling capability isn't particularly good. Not a problem with high quality Swiss ammunition, but in the event of a blown primer, you want to be wearing glasses.

Given conditions of use, there could be quite a parallel between the Ross pre-WWI and the Swiss rifles. Excellent on the range, limited combat use.

A straight pull rifle that seems to have stood up very well is the Mannlicher M95 and variants. Widely used over an extended period of time.
 
tiriaq said:
Ever try a K31 in the mud with poor quality ammunition?

Incidentally, the K31 has a bit of a design problem.... Its gas handling capability isn't particularly good. Not a problem with high quality Swiss ammunition, but in the event of a blown primer, you want to be wearing glasses.

Given conditions of use, there could be quite a parallel between the Ross pre-WWI and the Swiss rifles. Excellent on the range, limited combat use.

A straight pull rifle that seems to have stood up very well is the Mannlicher M95 and variants. Widely used over an extended period of time.
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Hummmm, sound like the Ross rifle story...... Poor ammo in a match chamber?
 
highlander said:
3. These rifles had some serious safety issues as it was; having Norinco produce a knock-off of this rifle is a really bad idea; having examined a fairly large number if various Norinco firearms and seeing the poor quality of them, they are definately not the people I would buy an inherently unsafe firearm design from.

4. As for having them built in bigger calibres, there is still the safety issues; as well, I understand that straight pull bolt actions are really not suitable for powerfull calibres due to their design, and especially such an old design.
Click to expand...

Safety issues?!? No just issues, some real, some manufactured.

Problem 1) Poor quality British .303 ammo, it doesn't work well in a match chamber when designed to work in very loose tolerances. Once the chamber was enlarged the problem was resolved.

Problem 2) The disassembly of the bolt was to be performed by qualified personnel. Even in the days when I was in the army this was a problem. If not assembled correctly the bolt would close and fire, the lugs not engaged would then fire back and kill the shooter. The solution was to pin the bolt body

(could have been avoided if the soldier was following orders)

Problem 3) Dirt....ever fired one with dirt in the chamber....you can't lock the bolt.... BTW try a Schmidt Rubin in WWI conditions,, yeah right...

Problem 4) bolt battery burr, on the MkIII bolt head a burr would develop. this was solved by modifying the cam on the rear lug of the bolt. ie grind it down a bit.

Problem 5) Canadian design, The British hated the Idea of a Colonial rifle out doing the SMLE, That's why the SMLE was all of a sudden available to Canada in 1917. Big surprise.


Problem 6) As in todays media, they like to make up stories and blow thing out of proportion. Sam Hughs was not liked in Ottawa, Agh...Liberals?

Pete
 
I agree with the two reasons for Ross failure in the trenches given, but in addition I think there is another. I could try to run this by the Civil Engineer in the family, but in my opinion, if you get a stuck case, the Ross is not going to be able to exert the same camming power to pull it out, as a turnbolt design. However, it then becomes a question of the extractor engagement. My Remington with a clip in extractor in recessed bolt head will pull through a rim a Mauser design would yank free.
 
There are stories of WW1 Ross rifles being preferred by snipers right up to WW2. They knew how to care for a well machined close-tolerance weapon that would deliver the goods (when used with good quality ammunition).
 
It is interesting to operate a semi auto rifle as a straight pull with the gas system turned off or disabled. It can take a rather hard pull on the cocking handle to open the breech, and this is with a normal round, not a stuck case. The Ross has some primary extraction, but less than most bolt action rifles.
 
Personally I love the Ross design. It's amazingly simple to use. In almost every one of today's shooting conditions (we aren't talking combat) it will perform perfectly. Today, almost 100 years later we are still suffering from the fear and leeriness that was generated when the rifle was first designed.
 
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