WW1 Canadian Sniper - What rifle?

[smellie]

My grandfather was a unit sniper with 54 B'n, CEF (The Kootenay Regiment). He carried two rifles: an SMLE for what he called "quick work" and a Ross for sniping. Only shot he ever talked about was with a Ross: 400 yards, total darkness, aiming at the flash from the other guy's rifle. Worked.

Only time I ever went shooting with a WW-1 sniper was the day my old friend Jack Snow shot my butt off..... with MY rifle. After that, I shot my rifle, he shot the NFLD SMLE that he borrowed from the Army just before he came home in '19, after the march into Cologne.

 

[RRCo.]

If you want to learn about WWI Canadian snipers and their rifles buy this: ht tp://members.shaw.ca/artbookbindery/inthetrenches.html

 

[BadgerDog]

With thanks to Light Infantry for helping us locate it, check the Technical Articles for Milsurp Collectors and Re-loaders (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/forumdisplay.php?f=25

THE EMMA GEES By HERBERT W. McBRIDE (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=3285

tiriaq mentioned in another thread "In his books, he recounts his experiences serving in a MG unit - Colt/Browning "potato diggers" and sniping with a Mk.III Ross with Warner & Swazey sight. His sniping accounts are very matter of fact, and quite chilling."

Regards,
Badger

 

[10x]

That is pretty much what Major John Plaster says in his book History of Sniping and Sharpshooting.
I reviewed the book for the CSSA magazine last year. This is what I wrote about that part:

In Part 4, The Two World Wars, there is approximately 11 pages on Canadian snipers in WW1 alone. The Canadian built Ross rifle is also mentioned. The Ross was a fine target rifle, but a terrible trench warfare gun. It is well known that it was taken out of service, and replaced with the Lee-Enfield. What I did not know was that the Ross stayed in service with the highly trained snipers, as they knew how to care for their rifles

The Ross failed because of mud in the trenches and off spec British ammo that would NOT chamber, or if it did, would not extract. A dirty cartridge case would chamber but after firing the Ross did not have the leverage to extract the fired round from the chamber. It wasn't a matter of keeping the gun clean so much as keeping the ammo clean.
On another note, Canadian soldiers who abandoned their Ross rifles and picked up Lee Enfields were threatened with court martial according to some folks who have researched the Ross Rifle.
As for the comment about "highly trained snipers, as they knew how to care for their rifles" - under the conditions of WWI there were very few who could keep a rifle clean in the conditions found in the trenches. Snipers had cases for their guns - the average soldier had a sling. Any place the gun was set down was muddy and the walls of the trenches were coated in mud.

I grew up in a community where there were a number of WWI veterans. The common thread of their stories was the mud and that they were never warm, dry, or clean while in the trenches.