Ross rifles...what do you think?

kombi1976

kombi1976

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Looks like a mate will be scoring a sportered Ross for me.
I've heard tales of the 280 Ross, the predecessor to the 7mm Mag, and the fact that the Ross rifle was a great sniper rifle.
I've also heard some nasty stories about wrongly assembled bolts, etc. and being from Oz I have had no personal experience with the rifle at all.
I was just wondering who uses them and what people's general opinion of them is.
Strong action? Weak? Troublesome? Accurate? Great?
 
First, all my comments deal with the 1910 Ross, mine were all 303s
Extremely strong action.
Very accurate
Don't like dirt.

I had three, sold one to a board member. The one I sold was in 303 Epps.
Most of the 1910 bolts wear a rivet to prevent incorrect assembly of the bolt. If the one you have comming, does not, ask here, and we'll steer you through checking to see that the bolt is assembled correctly. Incorrect assembly is difficult, but possible, and it could easily be fatal.
All of the Ross rifles I own sadly have pitted bores. They still shoot as well or better than my #3's and #4's. One of which has a mint bore.
If the action gets dirty, the bolt will get stiff to operate quickly. It takes a fair bit of dirt to do that under most sporting conditions.
If the bolt isn't quite closed, you can still get the hammer to fall :shock:
That is still disconcerting to me, although it has never posed a problem. The cartridge shouldn't fire. (note: I did not say it wouldn't) The hammer fall drives the bolt home, using up most of it's energy, (by design) but, in a test I did, it did put a light dent in the primer.
Last weekend, doing some rapid fire shooting, I accidentaly pulled the trigger with the bolt not quite home and a live round in the chamber. It did not fire, and didn't dent the primer either. (Whew)
 
I had a nice Ross Model 1905 target rifle in .303 Brit. Another CGN member has it now. He can attest to it's performance & accuracy... :D

2005-10-08_114304_2Ross1905Tar303.jpg


2005-10-08_114351_2Ross1905Tar303cu.jpg
 
Ross rifles are a great collectors item. They are accurate, different, and were produced in many variations over only a twelve year span. For reliability get something else.
 
Mine was both accurate and reliable. The biggest problem I had was with the rim over rim jams. Because the mag does not detach, and its interior was so narrow, they were really hard to clear. Really long and ungainly though.
 
kombi1976,

I have one that was almost a piece of junk when I got it. Traded a single shot Cooey 12ga for it about ten years ago. The bore was so bad, you could barely see light down the tube. The rest of the metal was covered with light rust and the receiver was greyish red patina. Fired one round throught it to see if it worked and it did, so it went off to Bevan King to have it refurbished. Told him there was no hurry, just to work on it when he felt like it. He did just that and turned it into a very fine rifle.

The first thing he did was install a rivet in the bolt to prevent improper assembly. Actually, one really has to work hard to put a Ross bolt together wrong. There was an excellent article in Rifle magazine about the Ross rifle about two years ago. It details in very simple language how to tell if it assembled correctly. Even closed in the receiver, you can still determine it is incorrect by looking at it. I will seee if I can find the article.

He fitted one of his excellent chrome moly .311" barrels and chambered it with a match dimension 303 Br reamer. It is very accurate, grouping less than three inches with iron sights and my tired old eyes.

He had it restocked by a colleague of his (can't remember the name) with a very fine piece of dark American Walnut in the old English stalking pattern. It handles wonderfully and shoots so naturally, it is like an extension of your arm. 8)

Ross rifles are very strong, and have been rebarrelled to all kind of high-intensity cartridges. Earl Leech in Ontario rechambered lots of them to 300 Wby. They guys just loaded 303 bullets in them. I also know of them being done up in 7mm Rem mag, 338 Win and 308 Norma.

Please keep us posted on the one you get. I have spoken with Bevan, who is originally from Australia, and he tells me he knows a barrel maker in Oz who makes .311" barrels if yours is toast.

Ted
 
The only other comment I would add is to clossely inspect the bolt to make sure that there is no cracking on the locking lugs. remember 1910 metalurgly wasn't always what it should be!!
 
Why not? said:
Gibbs505, this is not a flame at all, but I have never heard of cracked lugs on a Ross bolt. Very good suggestion however. Have you seen this?

Ted
Click to expand...

No I have not seen it but I have heard of it. BTW that applies to ALL fire arms or machinery of this period!! :!: :!:
 
Have a Ross MkIII bolt head with rear left lug cracked off. Some were reheat treated by heating with an acetylene torch and sprinkling case hardening compound on them with a saltshaker. Temperature was judged by eye.
 
Thanks for your infomations, I have always been wondering if I should own and shoot a Ross rifle. Thanks to your experiences with the Ross rifle, I will never need to buy one, and find out for myself 8)
 
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