Re-barrel / Re-chamber a Ross 1905

ssapach

ssapach

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Not sure if this should go in this section or the Milsurp one, but let's have a go here first.

I have a Ross 1905 that seems to be missing it's rifling (nearly worn right out). The stock has been chopped, and doesn't look well done to be honest, but the action still seems nice and smooth.

So if I were to get a new barrel made, are there any other widely used cartridges that it could be re-chambered in? I don't need a 303, don't exactly want to be target shooting with one and I figured a straight pull bolt in something more of a varmint calibre would be kind of nice.

Am I dreaming here, would the whole action require major overhaul to get a different casing to feed, extract and eject properly?

I'm not into reloading and I'm not about to start for the sake of a dream project rifle. But I'm just feeling around first to see if this is even possible before getting too deeply involved and trying to find a gunsmith to take on such a project.

If I am way off my rocker, don't hold back and just let me know so I save myself lots of hassle. If this is something that's doable, even as a somewhat elevated price, I might very well be interested. I mean I understand anything is doable with enough money, but this isn't something I'm willing to sink $10k+ into (for example).

Thanks in advance for any input!
 
Unless is is a Mk. II**, the barrel shank is very unusual. Machining the shank of a new barrel would be a real challenge. Some have cut off the original shank, bored out and threaded it, and fitted to new barrel to this sleeve.
 
Tiriaq is right, the thread is a very strange one, half square, half Acme, that is like two threads per inch or something crazy like that. Boring out and threading the barrel shank is your best bet, however, it isn't ideal, particularly for higher pressure cartridges. A .22-303 would be neat, like they do in Australia.
 
Is this to say that I'll be stuck using the .303 casings in order to avoid modifications to the extractor? Or would it likely still work with similar sized casings, even if they are rimless?

Forgive me for not being an expert, but I thought that if an Lee Enfield can be converted to fire .45 ACP, then one should be able to convert a Ross as well. But to be honest, I'm not sure if that .45 ACP conversion requires mods to the bolt or not.

So aside from the barrel thread issue, a 22-303 does sound kind of interesting on its own. I was just hoping that if I did something like this, that it wouldn't result in me reloading.
 
If you want to see what is involved, you should be able to remove the barrel. Look at the bottom of the receiver ring; remove the setscrew that locks the barrel in place. Remove it. The barrel threads are left hand. You should be able to turn the barrel off without a receiver wrench and barrel vise; they went I hand tight, then were locked with the setscrew. The barrel may be a bit tight after a 10 years, but if you grab the receiver ring in a padded vise, and use a strap wrench on the barrel, it should come off. Unless the rifle is a II**. The II** has conventional square 10tpi RH threads, and the barrel is torqued in like any other barrel.
If the original shank is used to make a collar for a new barrel, the shank diameter of the new barrel will limit the round that can be chambered.
Do you want a repeating rifle? If so, something based on, or similar to, the .303 would be easiest, from the standpoint of going through the magazine. If the head goes on the boltface and the extractor grabs it, it should work.
Lee Enfield rifles convert to .45ACP nicely because of the rear locking lugs. The chamber mouth is right there, not hidden inside a receiver ring.
Whatever you do is not going to be cheap, unless you do the work yourself.
 
I guess the other option is to get the existing barrel rebored and rifled. Easiest option would be to retain the 303 case and go to one of the 303 hybrids, say 0.35 cal or so? Alternatively, one could go to another case (450 Marlin?), but the issue of feed reliability would have to be addressed.
 
A Mk. II barrel is pretty slender. Don't know if .45 would be reasonable. .35/.303 would simulate the .35 Winchester chambered in some 1905 sporters.
 
Yes, .338/.303 would be a dandy.
I have a good hunting grade 1905R, and a take-off Mk. II barrel with an indifferent bore. I have thought of having the Mk. II barrel rebored. Would be a straightforward project. So many projects though.
 
I was thinking of something a little smaller, like .243 or 25-06.

Edit:

Just took the barrel off the rifle, and my old lathe doesn't have change gears to get 2 TPI. Not sure this is something I would be able to even try on my own starting with a rifled barrel.

Did some snooping, a .243 cartridge isn't a whole heck of a lot smaller than a .303 British, about 0.365" shorter so fitting in the mag shouldn't be an issue.

25-06 is slightly longer than the .303 by about 0.175". Probably still workable to make it fit in the mag.
 
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I'm curious about barrel blanks. If you are ordering a barrel blank for a specific caliber, the idea is that it comes drilled, reamed and rifled for that caliber correct? Boring out and reaming a chamber is up to the buyer/gunsmith???

So essentially you get a straight piece of round stock that's drilled out and rifled.....?
 
Isn't that Ross barrel shank something else?
A barrel blank will be finished internally, with no chamber. The exterior could be anything from a straight cylinder to just about any contour.
Threading, fitting, chambering is done by the 'smith.
Another option is to purchase a take-off barrel and retrofit it. Cheaper than a quality blank. If you were going to use the breech section of the Ross barrel as a collar, this would be an option.
It should be possible to experiment with different rounds in the magazine before committing to a particular cartridge.
 
Don't think it'll be 10 grand, but I suspect it wouldn't be far from it. It'll be a completely custom job as nobody is making anything for any Ross model. I'd talk to your smithy or a smithy about it first.
 
Because the barrels are so easy to change (except for MkII**), I would be tempted to look for another donor barrel/rifle. That doesn't get away from the .303 though, unless you can find one already in .35 Winchester in another MkII. Probably easier to find another rifle and sell that one for parts.
 
I have a problem with not knowing when to quit something......or if I should quit or pursue further.

Although my lathe is old and doesn't show the change gear combination for 2 TPI, I should still actually have the correct gears to do that thread. So between that and just grinding a tool bit to cut the funny thread, I'm going to give that a try one day......probably on aluminium first. Might have to make 2 separate cutting bits and do the thread in 2 stages.

I also have another rifle and spare barrel on the the way, so I could always cut the threads off of my current barrel and use for a collar for a new barrel. Or have it redrilled and rifled for something larger.

I still have a few options and I'm in no rush to meet any sort of deadline. So I'm trying not to rush myself into a money pit that won't turn into anything useful.

I would also like to thank anyone who has chimed in with any advice so far, it is much appreciated!
 
The thread is 3 threads per inch and it is a buttress thread. I am planning on cutting this thread on my lathe. The smallest number of threads that it will cut is 4. But it will do 6 threads per inch. My plan is to double the size of the gear on the feed shaft for the quick change gear box which will cut the feed rate by half. A search on the Internet comes up with a few articles on this subject.
 
Hmmm, I read somewhere it was 2 TPI........never tried measuring my barrel to double check that though.

I know I can do 6 TPI, but not sure if I can double the speed for 3 TPI. Have to see if I have those change gears kicking around when I get home.
 
Before anyone speaks up, I know it's only aluminium and I am not going to fire any rounds through it. It's just a practice piece to see if I could actually do it.

Just happened to have the gears for 3 TPI. Ground a tool bit and gave it a try!

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And for what it's worth, 243 fits just nicely in the mag.....although they won't feed. The casings are shorter and they don't sit "perfectly" in the mag, and the head of the casing sits slightly lower and the bolt won't catch them to push them forward. Oddly enough, a 25-06 sits just perfectly and the bolt will catch it to push it forward. But the problem with 25-06 is that they are too long. I can fit 1 or 2 in the mag, but no more. I think the front of the mag could be opened up a little to allow the room they need though.

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Feel free to criticize. As I said, this was just for practice to see if I could handle the threads and how well the receiver would accept them. I might have to try a piece of steel to see how well my cutting tip will handle it.

Oh, and I should mention that the casings would not extract. I think that can be fixed with proper headspacing......keep in mind I didn't ream a chamber, just drilled to allow the casing to fit. I went a bit too deep it seems.
 
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