ross 1905 mkiii sight question

fredqc

fredqc

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Hi,

i bought a ross 1905 with mkiii rearsight few years ago. I tought the rear sight was strange, so after some research, i found some of them were sold to North-West Mounted Police (NWMP).

My question: is the NWMP contract the only one with mkiii rear sight or other were made for other contracts? I am thinking about selling it. What could be the value considering there is no more markings on buttstock and it is a restored sporter (wood was sporterised, but restored after). THe rifle and bore is are in good condition.





Thanks, Fred
 
Not sure if it was only made for them or not. But even being restored I would still expect it to bring in about $1,000. I sold my MkII 3* for $950 with a new wood set about a year ago.
 
This was a general issue arm for the militia production was 44700 with few hundred going to the Mounties.
In my experience it is the most common MkII.
 
This rifle looks OK, But being restored with the stock marking removed has a big affect on value, $1000 is pretty optimistic.

A fair price for an original ranging from good to excellent would be between $1000 to $1400.

This one should come in about half of those numbers.
 
Ax, optimistic yes, but that seems to be where it is going. I sold a restored MkII 3* in one of my new stocks last year at $950. Restorable sporters are selling regularly and fairly quickly now with tags in the $500 range.

Green, I did not know that. I wonder if surviving examples or even parts are more common now in certain area? I have had about a half dozen sights from MkII 3* come my way in the last few years and not one MkIII sight. I've also seen a ton more MkII 3*s sold on here, GB and elsewhere and this is the first with the MkIII rear sight I've seen. If I remember from TRRS didn't they say a lot were updated while in service as well?
 
I respect what Green has to say for sure.

That said, I've personally seen very few MkII with MkIII backsight rifles, ever. Actually, I think that one was the first.

The rear sight assembly is incredible...really something to see.

The one Fredqc has is a sporter I had found on the EE, then had the forend stretched on. I was lucky to find a nosecap for it from Warren.

The bore on it is mint mint...the bolt was assembled wrong and nobody was ever able to fire it! (and thus bugger it up with corrosive ammo)

It took me a whole day of fiddling with the bolt and suddenly it went into the right track and presto...functional rifle. Never fired it.

There is a trick with the 1905 bolt....you have to put it in the wrong track, then pull it part way back out and give it a little twist at a certain point.
 
I agree that the the Mk III sight seems to be rarer.
I have seen a couple and have a Mk II that has been cut in front of the front band that has one.
Very interesting sight, as are most Ross sights.

flying pig, these prices sound like the values Rick on Rick`s Restorations quotes for his customers.
You know that show where Rick and his crew destroy history one piece at a time.

I also check around and follow prices and also frequent gun shows. You are only quoting the odd high ones.

Original MkIIs regularly go between $700 and $1000 on GB and the ones I`ve actually seen sell in Canada are in the $800 to $1100 range.
Saw one that looked pretty good (missing rear sight interestingly enough) go for $500 plus fees at auction in march.

With Ross collectors originality is everything.
A Restored or refinished Ross is only worth about half of an original IMHO. Restoring rifle is like restoring a classic car. You rarely get your money back.
I`d like to hear others opinions on this.

If someone wants to pay these prices go for it. Good for the seller not so much for the buyer.
 
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Fair enough Ax. But it's the same with these as everything else, something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

I am not in the restoration business, although I do one once in a while and usually sell it to fund purchases of original examples. I am however in the stock making business, for Ross rifles specifically. My stocks sell very quickly at the price point you have quoted for the entire restored rifle. And that's not including any metal let alone a nose cap that is worth its weight in gold if you are ever lucky to find one.

I have bought completely bastardized rifles as low as $300 for a complete one in the last few years. At $500 for a complete rifle you aren't getting much for your money. I'm not meaning to come off sounding disrespectful to any of you guys, your experiences or knowledge. The Ross rifle scene is changing very rapidly. People are learning that they aren't dangerous if operated and maintained properly and that they are a very desirable rifle. There are way more of us wanting them and supply and demand is taking over. The military variants in any form are spiking hugely, I've seen them go easily at double what they were scoffed at two years ago. The MkIIs seem to be a bit lower valued than MkIIIs but not by a huge amount. The factory sporters seem to be staying a bit lower yet thankfully. Again this is my opinion from my experiences. I'm not meaning to ruffle feathers, but I'm buying, selling and trading in these rifles a lot lately and these are my observations and experiences in my short time being involved.
 
I agree with most of what you are saying f p, and we all appreciate what you are doing with your stock making endeavors.

I have also been buying a fair bit and I pay close attention to the market. And I am still finding rifles at very reasonable prices.

As for something is worth what someone will pay for it.
You may find someone to buy at whatever price you put something, if they want it bad enough, have more money than brains or are miss informed.
Does not necessarily mean that is fair market value.

Just watch ebay for a bit if you want to see this in action.
 
I definitely agree with you on that Ax. That is one thing that has been tough with the stocks. To do them I wind up working for about $15/hr at that price(less than half of what I make at my regular job). That is the reason I cannot do stocks for other more common milsurps. the market is barely there for these ones let alone those. The second half of your statement kicks in for the rest, if someone wants one bad enough I can make anything for them but they won't like the cost.

I also wonder if there aren't more Ross rifles on your side of the country, affecting value there as well, especially at gun shows etc. in the four or five years I've been hitting about 3 shows a year. I've seen maybe 10 Rosses of any form or condition. None have been good ones though. They still seem to move here pretty easily too, even with high asking prices (higher than those I've quoted, again back to the with what someone will pay thing).
 
I do not think there is an over abundance of Ross` around here.

But if they are priced high, they are not completely original or very close to it, they don`t move.
 
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