Ross Rifle....

That "Scoop Out" was where the stock was inlet to clear the lever that depressed the magazine follower, allowing you to dump loose cartridges into the reciever. Obviously that item has been removed from the rifle.
 
John....good guess.....but "tiriaq" is correct as it is a 1910. Both sides are scooped out adjacent to the receiver ring leading some to think it may have been a stock from an "Indian" dewat which was burnt both sides....but that has been eliminated as well. It may remain a mystery. The rifle is lovely otherwise but we all know when they are altered then the price is also altered....downward. Dave
 
Here's a shot of the top receiver/barrel. Is there anything here to indicate an enlarged chamber? What is a definitive way to determine?
r5.jpg

Also a close up of the sling.
r6.jpg
 
Can't see a "LC" or "E". A chamber cast would tell the tale. So would firing one round. A casing from an enlarged chamber is pretty distinctive. Great case colours on the bolt sleeve.
 
I have had a rifle recently with both the "E" and the "LC" markings which indicate an enlarged chamber. Yours does have the "E" on the barrel indicating this was done. I do not believe that many escaped the enlarging of the chambers. I shot the one with the "LC" and the extracted brass looked fine to me. I have the book here...Ross Rifle of Canada...a historical appraisal of the Ross rifle....and it shows the differences in chamber sizes and they are not great.....but....some did get remed oversize whether from a bad reamer or from poor application of the reamer.
 
My 1905 has LC stamped on the receiver ring - although it is very small and very faint - I needed a magnifying glass to find it! However, there is no mistaking the modification when looking at fired brass - its almost completely lost the shoulder. I dont shoot it very often because it is murder on brass...
 
The E stamped on the barrel shows that it has the large chamber, corresponding to that of the SMLE, done at the Ross factory.
 
Don't have the brass at hand, but the Rosses which I have fired most recently include Mk. II** civilian target rifle, Mk. II*** service with enlarged chamber, Mk.III service with original chamber, and 10E sporter. Cases from the LC Mk.II*** are noticably fireformed compared to the others. Have the Mk. III with original chamber, and another Mk. III with LC here; if I get a chance, I'll test fire them and compare the cases. Incidentally, the II** civilian has such a tight chamber that a case fired in a Lee Enfield, and full length sized, will not chamber. Had to make a custom die to size the area of the expanion ring just in front of the base before the cases would fit.
 
My 1916 MkIII Ross also has the "E" stamp indicating the large chamber. It's probably one of the most accurate .303's (on par with my P14) that I've ever used. I think ~Angel~'s Parker Hale (burnished barrel) .303 competition No.4 rifle might out shoot both, but not by much.

RossM105.jpg


Regards,
Badger
 
I know "LC" goes for "Large Chamber" but didn't the "E" stamping identify barrel exchange at the factory, instead?
My M-10 Ross has an "E" but its fired brass doesn't look bloated like it should. In fact, the shoulders look just a bit sharper than the usual rounded shape of Enfield's brass :shock: . The firing pin indentation is really well centered on the primer, too. :?
Any info on this?
PP.
 
That makes sense. I suppose that an exchanged barrel might also have an enlarged chamber, depending on where the rifle was, and when. I assume that replacement barrels would have had chambers cut to the issue specs. current at the time that rebarrelling was done. I wonder how late Rosses held in stores were subject to rebuild, including rebarrelling? According to "The Book", the rivets were installed in Mk. III bolts during WWII. Interesting that one of the Rosses that Dantforth has been looking at is marked CRB, as is BadgerDog's. CBR = Canadian Railway Bn., I think. BadgerDog - You would enjoy shooting my II** target rifle; not saying it is more accurate than your Mk. III, but it does have better sights (BSA Martin). Maybe its time for a CGN Ross shoot. I think that there is an ORA Vintage Match this fall. At least two of the DA Rosses are marked to the 15th Bn. Consider the Rosses currently being held in collections. I wonder how many of them came from the same surplus lots?
 
Hey, a Ross 1905/1910 shoot would be great.... For those of us in the Republic, and not in Ontario, maybe someone (hint tiriaq) could set a date/course of fire, and we could have a postal match :mrgreen:

Give me an excuse to actually go out and shoot mine.

Nearer the fall would be good for moi.

We have to post pics of the range, rifle and target 8)
 
One of my Mk. IIIs has the crown over BM, with .303 and NITRO PROOF on the barrel. The bolt sleeve and receiver ring are also Crown/BM marked. I assume that this is a Brit mark. Its barrel is stamped E; the cases are not grossly oversized, like the II*** I mentionned above, but are larger than the cases from the II**. The other Mk. III is marked LC, but I have yet to fire it. A Ross postal shoot would be a great idea; later would be better for me, too. I'm in the midst of packing to move from Nunavut to Ontario. At least the weather here is civilized, 11 today. None of this 32 degree business. Hottest day so far this summer was 25, and that's probably it. August next month,and summer is ending.
 
BM is pre 1955 Birmingham proof mark for military rifles.
Stamps for chamber size
No letter original chamber
N larger chamber July-Aug 1915 Production at RRCO
E Production from Aug 1915 with larger .464" chamber at RRCo
LC rechambered to .464" chamber
From "Ross Rifle Story"
 
Found it, p. 204, "Ross Rifle Story". "Mk. III Rosses marked with an N were rechambered to .462 inch in Canada between July 9 and August 26, 1915. " One Mk. III has both the N and the LC, so it might have had its chamber worked on twice, on both sides of the Atlantic. I wonder how the reaming was done. The Mk. II*** I mentionned produces cases fireformed similar to the photo on p. 206, with the shoulder pushed foreward. The barrels could have been removed, and the reaming done carefully on a lathe - or - a reamer could have been run through the receiver on an extension, and hand turned. Given that bolts were being case hardened using blowtorches and cyanide, I wouldn't be surprised if the chambers weren't hand reamed. Wouldn't be surprised if some chambers wound up even larger than spec. if the reamers were hand turned.
 
Proofmarks:

When built, they were stamped with the Canadian proof mark of the time: crossed flags and the letters DCP, for Dominion of Canada Proof. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Rifles sold off as surplus and reworked as sporters and so forth in Birmingham would be stamped BM with the crown: Birmingham.

A shoot would be fun.... glad somebody else proposed it. Where, when, how many rounds? Postal? Sounds fun! How many can we enter? Special category for Latorre rifles? Iron sights, scopes? You name it; I'm going for new glasses!
 
tiriaq said:
Interesting that one of the Rosses that Dantforth has been looking at is marked CRB, as is BadgerDog's. CBR = Canadian Railway Bn., I think. BadgerDog - You would enjoy shooting my II** target rifle; not saying it is more accurate than your Mk. III, but it does have better sights (BSA Martin).
Click to expand...

Well, I bet I would enjoy shooting it .... :D

We'll have to get out and do that ...

Besides the CRB marking, the butt is also marked to CEF16.

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)

16th Bn, C.E.F. - "Ypres, 1915, '17, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Festubert, 1915, Mount Sorrel, Somme, 1916, Pozieres, Theipval, Ancre Heights, Arras, 1917, '18, Vimy, 1917, Arleux, Scarpe, 1917, '18, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, Drocourt-Queant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Pursuit to Mons, FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1915-18"

Regards,
Badger
 
BadgerDog said:
tiriaq said:
Interesting that one of the Rosses that Dantforth has been looking at is marked CRB, as is BadgerDog's. CBR = Canadian Railway Bn., I think. BadgerDog - You would enjoy shooting my II** target rifle; not saying it is more accurate than your Mk. III, but it does have better sights (BSA Martin).
Click to expand...

Well, I bet I would enjoy shooting it .... :D

We'll have to get out and do that ...

Besides the CRB marking, the butt is also marked to CEF16.

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's)

16th Bn, C.E.F. - "Ypres, 1915, '17, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Festubert, 1915, Mount Sorrel, Somme, 1916, Pozieres, Theipval, Ancre Heights, Arras, 1917, '18, Vimy, 1917, Arleux, Scarpe, 1917, '18, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, Drocourt-Queant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, Pursuit to Mons, FRANCE AND FLANDERS, 1915-18"

Regards,
Badger
Click to expand...

Let's see the CEF16 :D

Unfortunately mine is pretty generic :( . Now if I take off the wood and find a name like Lt Flowerdew engraved inside, would make me very happy. :lol:

Anybody got a good load suggestion???

My bore is like new, so any commercial bullet should be able to do OK.
 
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