Ross rifles - serial on the wrist of the stock

I've usually seen that on the rifles that were sent down to the US.

I had a Mk II 3 Star that had the US marking plus a Flaming Bomb proof and a s/n on the bottom of the pistol grip.

The Canadians never marked them like that IMHO. As I recall we sent like 20,000 down there.
 
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That seems to be the pattern... so just wanted to confirm if others observations match mine. I've seen several that have a number on the bottom of the grip but no other US markings so I was wondering if that could be a number unrelated to US service...
 
Still trying to figure out where the serial # is on the Mk II's. I believe it is covered with wood? If so, can anyone send a pic as to where I should be looking?
 
4 choices re Canadian (or Brit) applied serial numbers.

1) It's stamped on the right side of the buttstock, along with the unit markings etc.
2) It's been sanded off of the right side of the buttstock.
3) For Commercial rifles, it's stamped in the barrel to the left side of the chamber. (not hidden by the wood)
4) On Brit Contract Mk IIIB's, it can be stamped into the top of the action steel.
 
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Here's a couple of Mine.

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Wow 8 months later and I finally figured out how to use Imgur!!
 
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Great that you posted those pictures - I don't nearly have the same selection and it illustrates what I'm questioning very well:

picture 1: small font, no US marks (I have a rifle like this one)
picture 2: small font sanded, large font number stamped later, US marks
picture 3: large font, US marks

Also, am I correct in my observations that the small font is usually 3 digits and large font - 4?

I was wondering about the small font numbers. How common are they? Do they consistently appear on rifles that have no US marks? Are there known Canadian rifles with no US service but with the small font number? Or other way around - are there known US service rifles with US marks but only the small font number?
 
KotKotofeich said:
Great that you posted those pictures - I don't nearly have the same selection and it illustrates what I'm questioning very well:

picture 1: small font, no US marks (I have a rifle like this one)
picture 2: small font sanded, large font number stamped later, US marks
picture 3: large font, US marks

Also, am I correct in my observations that the small font is usually 3 digits and large font - 4?

I was wondering about the small font numbers. How common are they? Do they consistently appear on rifles that have no US marks? Are there known Canadian rifles with no US service but with the small font number? Or other way around - are there known US service rifles with US marks but only the small font number?
Click to expand...

To fill you in on some more details about each.

Picture 1 is a 1910 mkII*** marked for the 200th Winnipeg battalion. It's set up as a target rifle and bares the letters OCRA on the buttstock.

Picture 2 is a 1909 dated mk2*** stamped for the 6th forte Garry horse battalion.

Picture 3 is a 1908 dated mk2*** that is stamped for the 80th CEF.

From what I've seen your assumptions are right about large font vs small. I picked only mk2*** cause I figured that's a decent sample size of one type of Ross to compare. Every one I have here has 4 numbered large font markings except the 1910 pictured.

I'd like to have more to study but they are getting hard to find unsamded and prices have gone through the roof in recent years..
 
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