Ross Home Guard

hogie

hogie

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
Location
Millet AB
I just got my first Ross. It's a Home Guard rifle. Overall decent condition, all parts move. The bore is dark but rifling is good. Very interesting rifle.

The markings on the stock appear to be C.H.G with 19 under them. Any thoughts as to what this would mean?

I am going to take the rifle apart to clean and oil. I have found info on how the bolt comes apart. I am unsure on how to remove the magazine, tried to search but unable to find info. Any tips on taking rifle apart?

Thanks



















 
Very nice score! My brother picked one up a while back but his is marked "C.Y. number and then "H.G." so it's County of York, Home Guard. It's hard to tell from your pictures, but is the bolt pinned? If so, it may be an English home guard unit rifle. Lot's of good research on the Ross rifle forum, BTW.
 
G H G? What would the first G stand for? Any guesses? Guelph Home Guard? Galt?
Mine is HG over 100. No idea what that means.
A HG rifle is a fine example of what a 1914 produced Mk. III rifle was like. Small aperture, small bolt stop, etc.
 
It looks to be C.H.G. Hard to get the picture at right angle. Could b a G but looks different than the other G.

I've been looking on milsurp sight and found info. Tried to find info on the Home Guard from WW1 but not alot out there.

Bolt is not pinned.

Just started to clean bore. Lots of copper and fouling coming out in a short time with wipeout.
 
Nice grab indeed. A very scarce rifle.

Too bad about the dark bore. I hope you can get it clean.

I own an Enfield funnel. First thing I'd do is put some boiling water down the bore with it, then some more cleaning. The design of it keeps water off the wood, which you don't want. Don't just pour water and get it on the wood.

As for taking it apart...no real reason to.

You don't want to remove the mag.

Not familiar with C.H.G.
 
The magazine is removed from the inside, after the barrelled action has been separated from the stock. It is not detachable.
It is possible that the bore looks dark because of accumulated fouling. Might come up a lot better than first impression.
HG rifles which have not been sported tend to be in nice shape.
 
tiriaq said:
The magazine is removed from the inside, after the barrelled action has been separated from the stock. It is not detachable.
It is possible that the bore looks dark because of accumulated fouling. Might come up a lot better than first impression.
HG rifles which have not been sported tend to be in nice shape.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
 
Congrats, on your purchase.

I had a good look at this rifle at Milarm last week. It is an excellent example of a Home Guard Ross MkIII. It appears to have all the early design features, such as Stamped Front Band, Early style (small) bolt stop, unpinned bolt shroud, and early small aperture rear sight. Possibly the mag housing is early as well. I didn't notice any markings on the barrel denoting enlarged chamber either. What is unusual about this rifle, is that it has Ross "target" style crown on the barrel, ie. flat. Normally they were rounded. Hopefully the bore will improve with cleaning.

Since your rifle has the small bolt stop, be gentle when cycling the bolt and don't allow it to slam hard against the bolt stop and cause damage to the bolt lug. Let us know how it shoots.
 
Wipe out is good stuff but do not allow it to get in contact with your stock at all ever or you'll be a very sad puppy in short order. I use it in mine only if the action is out of the stock or if I'm really careful I'll put a piece of paper towel in the bolt way, spray it in from the muzzle, then stand the rifle up and lean it back so the wipe out drips out of the action and back onto the rag away from the stock.

If there is rifling that visible already it will come really good. If your patches start coming out rusty get some RB-17 from PJs supply. That stuff destroys rust like you would not believe. It will make a rusty bore shine, ever seen shiny pits? I have!

Very nice rifle, I'm very envious! An original MkIII is still on my bucket list for down the road.

Oh, if you do decide to take it down to clean, please please use good gun smithing screwdrivers with parellel sides which fit the slots tightly. All you should need to take off is the nose cap screws, mid band screw, front action screw and rear. Be forewarned that the mid band will likely take finish and or wood with it. The mag will come out the top of the stock and trigger guard off the bottom. Also make sure the nose cap and mid band retainers do not fall out of the stock. Finding replacement screws or keepers is not going to happen. They pretty well don't exist anymore.
 
Thanks guys. I am happy to get this rifle.

Have it taken down and started to apply turpentine raw linseed mixture to stock. It's soaking it up.

For using wipeout get a piece of clear gas line tubing for small engines. Install a 6" piece to can spray from breach. Use a sandwich bag at at muzzle to catch excess. Clean from breach and patches stay in bag. Works good on most rifles except SMLE. For those patchout works better.


I was curious about the crown. Wasn't sure if it was normal or not. Tried to do a search bit couldn't find info.
 
The HG rifles were set up in the commercial shop which produced the sporting rifles. That may explain the crown.
HG rifles wouldn't likely show any of the upgrade features (bolt stop, large aperture, enlarged chamber, etc.) seen on service issue Mk.III rifles - because they weren't regular issue.
The pinned bolt modification was WW2. If I saw one on a HG, I would suspect a replaced bolt or commercial gunsmith modification.
 
I don't know if all of the sporters were flat crowned either, my M-10 and R-10 both have a rounded crown. Cost saving measure for a rifle less likely to see battle maybe?
 
Last edited:
Picked up a spare bolt from Lgs. I remember that they had one a while ago. It's pinned and complete. Always like to have spare parts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom