Any Ross Rifle owners/users out there?

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have only ever seen one and this is it;

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Military%20shooting/RossMk111303CanadianServiceRifle1.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Military%20shooting/22538d01-2.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Military%20shooting/1a80aed2.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Military%20shooting/22538d01.jpg

I initially bought it to try it out then sell it, but I was a bit leery about firing it. The shop I bought it off was run by a mate of mine. He knew the rifle well. He was working in an inner city gunshop in Sydney called The Armoury. They specialised in milsup rifles, ammo and general militaria. It was an odd shop, they all wore Aussie Naval Uniforms, summer whites with short trousers and long socks, genuine white Navy uniform shoes and all!

He was their gunsmith and when the order of Ross rifles arrived, they all turned out to be drill rifles. After much studying, they worked out that the gunsmith that had converted them, must have been reluctant to destroy the rifles, so he rremoved the barrels and drilled throught the threads 1/4" from the end of the barrel. My mate stripped them, trimmed off the barrel, rethreaded and re-chambered the barrels and refitted them. He showed me how the wood had been shortened slightly to accommodate the slightly shorter barrel.

He said that the previous owner used it in military rifle competition and was sellign it because he had found a better one. I ended up meetign the previous owner and he confirmed it saying he had bought it from my mate when he worked in 'The Armoury'. The barrel is in good condition. I was still a bit leery about it, but have been researching it recently and now fell that my concerns are quiet unfounded. I will fire a few light loads through it first with new brass to check chamber dimensions, etc, before feeding it any serious ammo.

As I said, my initial intention was to try it out and then move it along, but it is looking better and better as time goes by.

I am interested in shooting cast boolits in it.

[zuke]

I have a sporter and enjoy it.But your's with the set back barrel will have a nice tight chamber!
Try this site

http://www.rossrifle.com/

[Four Fingers of Death]

Thanks fo rthe link. Have you got a picture of your sporter?

[Larry Gibson]

I've had a Ross M10 for 15 or so years. It is one of the "sporters" imported here back in the '50s or early '60s. The bore on mine is lightly frosted but still shoots jacketed and cast extremely well. Groove diameter is .311. The chamber is the slightly enlarged military chamber which gives it an "improved chamber of sorts. With the case capacity, long 30" barrel and action strength it is surpirsing what the .303 can be safely loaded to. My hunting load with 4895 under the Hornady .312 150 gr SP runs 2950 fps. I like the long sight radius with the apurture of the rear sight as I can focus the front sight sharply w/o having to resort to additional lens on my glasses.

311299 over 29 gr 4895 with a dacron filler runs 1850 and is a 2 moa or better load with the issue sights. The Lee C312-185-1R shoots very well but won't feed up through the mag unless I modify the feed lips which I haven't done. The photo shows the GB C316-291 at 177 gr over 28 gr 4895 with the dacron filler. the shorter nose of that bullet lets it feed up through the magazine.

My bolt must be one of the modified ones because I got a small manual on the Ross and tried every way to put the bolt together wrong but couldn't. If the bolt is not closed and the trigger pulled the spring drives the bolt closed. I found the trigger very easy to tune to and excellent 4 lb 2 stage pull with the second stage breaking very clean. It's a nice rifle and one of these days I'll probably put a decent scope on it.

Larry Gibson

[Four Fingers of Death]

Pretty impressive performance. The bolt modification involved pinning the bolt I believe and the pin should be visible underneath the bolt, thats what I have been told anyway.

I will have to unearth mine and check it.

[Larry Gibson]

I could see no pin on the bottom of my bolt. As to "performance", there is something to be said for 30" of barrel;)

Larry Gibson

[Multigunner]

I wonder if it would be feasible to weld up a hole in the chamber as described here, then recut the threads and chamber.

I ask because I ran across a Greek 1903 Mannlicher on sale dirt cheap that some dimbulb had DT'ed and run the bit into the chamber at about the same position. It was described as having a good bore which is not that common for these, and a board member has been looking for one of these barrels.

If properly done would the fact that the rewelded shank is completely surrounded and supported by the receiver ring prevent any suprises?

I know that a burnt steel barrel can crack and lever open the receiver ring splitting both barrel and ring.

PS
Barring that could a chamber be sleeved?

[Four Fingers of Death]

I could see no pin on the bottom of my bolt. As to "performance", there is something to be said for 30" of barrel;)

Larry Gibson

I always say, 'you can't fight Physics', but I suppose you could add, 'but you can harness and employ it!'

That 280 Ross is one helluva cartridge, probably a bit on the strong side for the average young ground pounder. Nice sniper rifle for the period!

[458mag]

I currantly own 2 ross rifles. One like Larrys, but with a more sporterized stock. The stock was cut and pieced from another sporter stock. The work was very nicly done. The others barrel was cut down to 20in. Appears to be proffessionaly done and it makes for a nice carbine version of the m10 ross. Havent shot the 30in ross yet, but if it shoots anything like the carbine I will be very pleased.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Prior to this thread I had only seen one "picture" of a Ross rifle.

The story I read stated that the gun had a reputation for the bolt opening on firing.

It is hard for me to beileve that a military gun could do this so what's the real story guys?

It appears to me that the bolt works like an AR bolt does. and the bolt handle moving forward is the final lock? Is this close?

I'd like to know more about the gun. Will go to the website above for more info.

Randy

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have been led to believe that if the bolt was assembled incorrectly, it could be in a position where the part of the bolt with the lugs was telescoped back in and as such, a round could be stripped out of the magazine and held on the front of the bolt face, but out of battery. Theroritically, the rifle could be fired which this occured. When the bolt is assembled and closed, the drill is to look into the reciever ring as the bolt handle is pushed and if all is well you will see the lugs moving / turning in the lug recesses. If the bolt is not assembled correctly, the lugs may appear to be disappearing into the reciever ring, but will not turn as the bolt is forced forward. So it takes a sloppy operator to get the rifle into an unsafe condition. I don't know if a rifle in good working order will fire out of battery or not. Some did apparently.

Even if this happened, I feel that while there would be much shock and panic, weeping and gnashig of teeth so to speak, the rifle would not necessarily be destroyed or damage the operator, unless the bolt travelling rearward strikes his face with a fair amount of force. Thinking about it, the cartridge is out of the chamber and if fired would split dramatically and sent flames, soot, smoke and possibly bits of brass case flying everywhere, but I should think that the rifle, apart from a few sooty marks and brass smears and debris should be pretty much undamaged.

I am purely theorising here, but I can't see an unsupported case (remember this cartridge will be at least 1/2" out of the chamber) doing that much damage and also making the bolt smash the reasonably substantial bolt stop out of the way. The pressure from the exploding case would be dissapated quickly into the chamber and up the barrel as well around the bolt head/lugs.

The rifle is very stoutly constructed and assembled correctly is one of the strongest military actions around. It was made for the 280Ross, which borders on 7mm Remington Magnum performance. Quite amazing performance for the very early part of the 20th century.

It would seem that most of the bad rap came firstly from poor quality British ammo supplied to the Canuks in Europe, which was perfectly adequate for the SMLEs, but a nightmare in the Ross with it's target rifle tight chambers and overall extremely tight tolerances. Secondly there was mud! Did I mention mud????? It was everywhere, and the Ross didn't cope with it at all.

I think that there was a third reason. Apparently if you were operating near the Canuks and happened to fall asleep, you were very liable to wind up short one SMLE and now being the proud owner of a Ross rifle. So in effect a lot of the Tommies were using these rifles with zilch training on a finicky rifle.

Looking at YouTube videos (GunGeek does a couple of videos on the Ross). If you can get past his soft voice and mumbling, not to mention his drinking beer while stripping rifles, lol they are pretty informative videos. His one on stripping the bolt is frustrating, a difficult job and he has problems with it, but a lot of what he does ends up off screen and you don't get much of a close look at the parts. Good start though. His rifle has a pinned bolt which was a common upgrade after WW1

I think he is Canadian as well. I love his accent in spite of the mumbling, he always pronouces out as oout as in hoot. He has a range of videos on military rifles.

[Larry Gibson]

The pamphlet I have on the Ross says;

Note: When the breach is open the rear of the bolt head should be about one inch from the sleeve (see diagram below). If it is only about 1/4 inch the bolt has been wrongly assembled and the rifle should not be used, but returned to the armourer.

Larry Gibson

[zuke]

The pamphlet I have on the Ross says;

Note: When the breach is open the rear of the bolt head should be about one inch from the sleeve (see diagram below). If it is only about 1/4 inch the bolt has been wrongly assembled and the rifle should not be used, but returned to the armourer.

Larry Gibson

Can you post a larger pic so I can see more of the detail's?

[Larry Gibson]

Can you post a larger pic so I can see more of the detail's?

If some one can tell me how to? Do as I may that is the largest I could make it.

Larry Gibson

[zuke]

Do you have it in a larger size in your computer?
I don't know how to size thing's, but if you have a bigger version I can post that for you.

[john hayslip]

had one at one time and found a copy of a booklet on it the other day- if I remember correctly from paladin press. If you check there and they don't have it send me a pm and your address and I'll run you a copy or tell you where you can get it if it isn't Paladin and if it is still available. The thing is in another room and under a pile of stuff and I don't want to spend the time now to look it up if no one wants it. John

[Larry Gibson]

Do you have it in a larger size in your computer?
I don't know how to size thing's, but if you have a bigger version I can post that for you.

I have the scanned copy, how do I get it to you? Email?

Larry Gibson

[zuke]

Sure! my email is lookwhoshere37@yahoo.ca
Thank You!

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have found the manual online and you can download it as a PDF or whatever and store it on your computer/print it/whatever:

http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=415-1913-Ross-MkIII-Rifle-Manual

I just drove to 120 miles to Sydney for my Dad's 91st Birthday, spent the day with the family and drove back. Holiday traffic was heavy, mostly heading in the opposite direction to me, thanks goodness. Too pooped to read it at the moment. I have saved it and will attack it tomorrow. Probably easier than trying to scan, email it, etc, Enjoy

[Harry O]

I have a 1905 model. Virtually every part is different from the 1905 and the 1910. For those that are really interested in the Ross, there is a book called "The Ross Rifle Story" by R. Phillips, F. Dupuis, and J. Chadwick. It is 475 pages long and none of it is padding. It includes all Ross rifles (including the .280) and has breakdowns and photographs of the parts with the date of manufacture. The gun was constantly changing in small and large ways. Unfortunately, Sir Charles Ross was a big-idea man, not a detail man. With a firearm, EVERY detail must be right. A recurring problem with his gun parts was heat treating.

Anyway, the failures with the bolt of the 1910 model are well documented (including the lawsuits they generated and how much was paid to the unfortunates -- or their survivors -- when the bolt came flying back. According to the book, it took some force to assemble the bolt incorrectly, but it could be -- and was -- done. The rivet was added so that was impossible without removing the rivet. Even ham-handed idiots realized that doing that was wrong.

I have taken my 1905 complete apart and put it back together. I do not believe it is possible to assemble the bolt incorrectly in the 1905. That one has two conventional locking lugs 180 degrees apart. Evidently only the 7-lug 1910 model could be assembled improperly.

Unfortunately, there is NO reloading with my Ross. The chamber of some Ross rifles were "hogged out", up to three times (each one larger than the last) in an attempt to keep them from jamming. Mine has the largest one. There is no way to get the case back to original dimensions and I am not about to pay for a custom die set to match the chamber. Interestingly, the book cites proof that the rifle was not the problem. It jammed only with wartime British .303 ammo that was oversized -- considerably oversized. Since the Lee-Enfield started out with oversized chambers, it was not affected by the out-of-tolerance ammo.

[gew98]

Harry ; I hear you !. The two Harris magazine Ross's I had and a later serrated bolt head Ross all had the relieved chambers for "field use" and all but ruined brass for reloading. And the ever present cracks on metal bits in the action here and there..... not to mention the very delicate rear sights uughh !!!.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I got home from the range this afternoon and as I was putting the rifles away, I remembered the Ross, so I dug it out and had a look at it. No 'N', no 'E', no 'LC', which was a bit of a worry seeing that my chamber has been re-cut. I was thinking if I had a large chamber and it had been rechambered as mine has, I don't know what I would have ended up with.

I decided to remove the bolt ( I had never done this previously as I didn't have a clue how to). I pulled the bolt and as I did, the lugs snapped around and the bolt telescoped in, ending up retracted and at 90 degrees to it's normal position, oops! My bolt hasn't been pinned.

I had a quick look at the bore and all of a sudden visitors turned up. I twisted the bolt extending it and re-inserted the bolt into the rifle. It seemed to me that the lugs wern't lined up 100% but they were close. It went in a couple of inches and jammed solid, won't go forward or back. The bolt head is right way up, with the hole uppermost. D'Oh! I had to put the rifle in the safe and attend to my visitors. I am typing this while I wait for the kettle to boil. I will have to investigate it tomorrow. :(

[Larry Gibson]

The bolt head is probably in alright. The problem is there is a rail on each side of the receiver that fits into a slot on each side of the bolt sleeve. It's very easy not to get the rail on one side in the slot and then it jams when the bolt snaps closed just as you describe. With me it's usually the right side I don't get lined up correctly.

Larry Gibson

I took the bolt apart per the manual and discovered I could indeed put the bolt head in incorrectly. However, I could not get the extractor back on so I'm not sure how the bolt would be put back in the rifle. Since there were the accidents and lawsuits it must be possible but I'm not going to go there. I also discovered there is a difference between the M II and the Mark III bolts in reassembly in the Part II manual. I was following the MK III's instructions on pages 4 & 5 (Part II Manual) and could not get the bolt back together as it just wouldn't work as per the instructions. I then used the Mk II instructions on pages 7 & 8 (Part II Manual) and the bolt assembled correctly. The important difference appears to be part 2; c & d on page 8. Not having a MK III bolt I'm not sure if there is a difference?

[Four Fingers of Death]

That sounds like what has happened. It was a tad crooked and I should have pulled it out, put the rifle and bolt away separate and returned tomorrow, but sometimes poor sense prevails. Back to the drawing board so to speak.

[zuke]

I've done that.Just think,ya learned something!
Sound's like your bolt is OK. When you slide it into battery look closely at the bolt just before it close's and you'll see it rotate into the locked/firing position.

[Larry Gibson]

Harry O

Unfortunately, there is NO reloading with my Ross. The chamber of some Ross rifles were "hogged out", up to three times (each one larger than the last) in an attempt to keep them from jamming. Mine has the largest one. There is no way to get the case back to original dimensions and I am not about to pay for a custom die set to match the chamber.

Have you tried to minimally size the fire formed .303s in a 7.65 Argentine or a 7.7 Jap die? My fire formed cases are a very tight slip fit in my Lyman 7.65 Argentine die. It NS's them perfectly and I can bump the shoulder if needed. When done so the cases chamber freely and are not sized nearly as much as with a .303 FL die. The RCBS 7.7 Jap is larger in body diameter but also NS's them and I can bump the shoulder with it. Either might work well enough with your really over sized fire formed cases.

Larry Gibson

[Four Fingers of Death]

Would an Epps chamber clean up the LC/N/E Chambers? I suppose there were no hard and fast rules regarding the enlarged chambers, just as long as it worked on front line ammo I suppose.

We find brass useful because we reload it, the troops in WW1 would have found it useful because if there was enough of it underfoot, you wern't standing in mud!

[Harry O]

I played around with .303 British dies, trying to size the neck only. Not successful. The neck was shortened, the shoulder moved forward, and the angle steeper. Not enough of the neck was sized to hold the bullet because of the difference in the shoulder angle.

I heard about the Epps cartridge. Evidently, there were different versions with slightly different dimensions. The diameter at the shoulder is definitely more than the last Ross chamber, but I am not absolutely certain that the neck was shorter. I am also not sure about the shoulder angle. It may or may not clean up.

With the condition of the bore (frosted), I did not plan to spend much money on it. I just wanted to learn firsthand about the rifle that everyone loved to hate. Everything I heard about it was second or third hand. That is no way to find out what was true and what was false.

I hold with the saying, whenever you get a gun, get a book about it. That is why I tracked down the Ross rifle book before I shot it. I have had absolutely no problems shooting it, though. Shooting a factory .303 cartridge in the oversized chamber is no different from fireforming a wildcat. I currently load two wildcats and both require fireforming so this is nothing new.

[Larry Gibson]

Harry O

Try the 7.65 Argentine or 7.7 Jap FL dies to NS?

Larry Gibson

[WineMan]

Movie Trivia with a M-10. From IMDB:

Trivia
Writer Elmore Leonard certainly did know something about classic firearms. From Frank Harlan's Custom Savage 99 (1899), Olin Mingo's Remington-Keene sporter (1880) in .45-70, Lamarr Simms Mauser C-96 (1896) broomhandle and Joe's Cased Ross Rifle sporter model M-10 (1910) in .280 Ross. Leonard took special care to ensure all weapons (even the optics) were period accurate for that movie, being set in pre-statehood New Mexico territory (1912).


Wineman

[Four Fingers of Death]

I saw that movie and he was supposede;y pulling off incredible shots. I thought that it was a bolt gun at first, but realised later that it looked like a stright pull. WIth a good shot (he was getting plenty of practice, lol), reasonable optics and teh 280 Ross, the shots were highly possible I suppose.

[Harry O]

Harry O

Try the 7.65 Argentine or 7.7 Jap FL dies to NS?

Larry Gibson

If I run across a set at a reasonable price, I will have to buy it to try. I used to own a couple of 7.7 Jap (actually, they were bring backs from my father in WWII) and had reloading dies for it. I used 30-06 brass at the time since 7.7 brass was unobtainable. Because it was so similar in size to the 30-06, I cannot guess how it would work with the strange shaped fired case that comes out of the Ross, but stranger things have happened. Unfortunately, I got rid of the Japs (and the reloading dies) about 45 years ago.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Unfortunately, I got rid of the Japs.

I thought my Dad and his mates did that, lol.

[Larry Gibson]

Now that I've recovered from laughing at Four Fingers remark.........

You might take some measurements of your fired cases and then compare the dimensions with cartridge drawings of the 7.65 Argie and 7.7 jap in the loading manuals. Most FL dies are a little larger but that should tell you whether finding one of those dies would be worth it. I've found both to neck size the necks down quite well for .31 - .314 bullets. The case diameter at the shoulder and at the expansion web area of your .303s is what you want to compare with the 7.65 or the 7.7 Jap case dimensions.

Larry

[BruceB]

In my loading of the .303 British, including P14, #4, and Ross rifles, I found that a .308 Winchester sizer does a workmanlike job of neck-sizing without touching the .303 case's shoulder.
Remove the .308 expander assembly and substitute the .303 assembly (ASSUMING the dies are from the same maker!) Be prepared to experiment as required.

It's not exactly perfect for diameter in some brass, but it generally WORKS for me.

It may also be that a .308 SEATER die may work as a neck-sizer, but I've never had to try it....the seater die SHOULD yield a neck diameter that's a few thousandths larger than the sizer die, but it's a case of try-it-and-measure.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I don't know if the Lyman dies for their old small press (I don't know the thread size) are still available, but the Super Simplex dies are available (and manafactured) here in Australia. Apart from the external thread size, they are pretty much identical to the old Lyman dies.

The decap/size die is only a neck sizer and does not come far down the case. It shouldn't interfere with the shoulder at all;

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Reloading%20and%20Casting/SuperSimplexDies303Brit.jpg

I buy most of my reloading stuff from Western Firearms. They are a father (Ken) and son (Dave) team. Good guys and they post worldwide. The die sets are $AU45. I rang Ken and asked how much a neck size die would be by itself, he thinks about $20 and is going to get back to me on that one.

You would also need an adaptor to use it in a 7/8" x 14 press. They cost $25:

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Reloading%20and%20Casting/simplex7-8adaptor.jpg


Here is a link to the dies on their site:

http://westernfirearms.com.au/reloading-reloading-dies-die-a-rama-c-51_30.html?cPath=51_30&sort=2a&page=5

Not the cheapest way out of it, but an option that would no doubt work.

Could a 303 Neck Size die be turned up from a 7/8" x 14 bolt or threaded rod?

Wasn't there a Canadian 303 Imperial cartridge at one stage? Sort of like a 303 on steroids that should ' clean up' the chamber? (probably why it was developed in the first place, lol).

We have a gun show in town on the weekend, I will keep my eyes open for a couple of second hand 303 Neck sizers. There is one guy at the shows that has oodles of second hand dies, ours is a small gun show hopefully he will be there.

[bydand]

Seems that the Canadians managed to re-equip themselves with SMLE's only to be told to turn them back in because they didn't pick up the bayonets as well. Later rectified.
Ross sold up and retired to Florida.
Have two Ross rifles that I shoot. what always struck me as funny is how many different unit marks there are on the stocks:D
Almost like they were issued to every regiment in the army, one after the other

[Four Fingers of Death]

Seems that the Canadians managed to re-equip themselves with SMLE's only to be told to turn them back in because they didn't pick up the bayonets as well. Later rectified.
Ross sold up and retired to Florida.
Have two Ross rifles that I shoot. what always struck me as funny is how many different unit marks there are on the stocks:D
Almost like they were issued to every regiment in the army, one after the other

Probably issued to units to train with then handed over to another bunch of recruits before they went o/s. Then shuffled around from one reserve unti to another when the dust settled.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Update:

Got the bolt out and re-fitted it correctly. My mate dropped in for a visit and we worked it out between us. It took several goes, lol and kept snapping back and telescoping into the bolt body. As I have lost a finger, I am real jumpy when thiings snap shut around my fingers. I knew it wasn't strong enough to give me a bite, but still made me jump everytime, lol.

Anyway, it is good to go and I plan to get some range time in with it shortly.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Update:

Took the Ross to the range yesterday, like a dill, I just grabbed a box of old mil surp ammo. The rifle didn't like it much, was difficult to open the action.

I will load up some ammo using new cases next time.

[gew98]

Update:
The rifle didn't like it much, was difficult to open the action.
.

Sounds just like every Ross rifle I messed with.

[Larry Gibson]

I've shot a bit of SA MkVII and PP-73 MKVII and both shot fine. I had not extraction problems with my Ross M10. The SA ran 2472 and the PP ran 2393 both with 2-3 moa for 10 shots. I've 400 rounds of A80 7.7R1M32 that I haven't tested yet.

Larry Gibson

[Four Fingers of Death]

I think I will use the old SMLE to get rid of the ancient milsurp ammo. Thinking back, I remember this stuff was gritty and sticky and generally poorly behaved when I shot it through a No4 Mk11 several years ago. I think I will devote a few new cases to this rifle and work out some loads using jacketed for the moment and try and cast some boolits later for it.

[djgoings]

I just inherited a set of RCBS dies for the 280 Ross. Also have a couple of sandwich bags of brass with 280 Ross headstamps. I would guess the dies are only a few years old, they look brand new. The brass looks like it was purchased at a local gun show. Couldn't believe the prices for this stuff. I am open to cash offers or even trades. I can always use more lead material, lino, mono, foundry. Any interest?

[Four Fingers of Death]

I just inherited a set of RCBS dies for the 280 Ross. Also have a couple of sandwich bags of brass with 280 Ross headstamps. I would guess the dies are only a few years old, they look brand new. The brass looks like it was purchased at a local gun show. Couldn't believe the prices for this stuff. I am open to cash offers or even trades. I can always use more lead material, lino, mono, foundry. Any interest?

A rare find, google the Canadian Ross Rifle owner's forum, probably get a better response there. Mine is a 303, but I wouldn't mind a 280Ross Sporter. The Ross I have is the only one I have ever seen in Australia.

[Hang Fire]

The Ross got a bad name and once acquired, hard to counter.

Read recently about an accident from the bolt flying back out of a K31 due to it not being in battery when fired. Something about 1944 K31 rifles having bad metal for the operating rod and the interrupter lug breaking off. I was told that always insure serial number on top of bolt is centered in the action indicating closed.

http://theswissriflesdotcommessageboard.yuku.com/topic/7021/K31-accidentSAFETY-CHECKS

[JHeath]

Just stumbled on this UK Ross Rifle Sporter/ .280 thread, with some beautiful photos.

http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/topic/25379#.UXnD-KUfnzI

[BruceB]

Once upon a time, I owned a gorgeous English sporter made by Charles Lancaster. It had NO rifling as such, but instead had his patented OVAL BORE. I never did figure out just how those 'smiths created the oval bore, but it sure was strange to look down that barrel.

This rifle was actually built on a '98 Mauser, but was chambered for the ".280 Rimless" which is the .280 Ross by another name. It required .288" bullets, as .284s just keyholed on every shot.

The rifle had fantastic wood, a few gold inlays, and all-in-all was an excellent example of a classic English sporting rifle. Wish I still had it...

[Four Fingers of Death]

[QUOTE=Wish I still had it...[/QUOTE]

I have uttered those words many times here and elsewhere and no doubt, most of us have.

You didn't mention how the rifle shot with the oval bore. I suppose any type of rifling or shape of bore would work as long as it included twist and allowed the bullet to obturate. Ease of cleaning and longevity are a lot are not so easily obtained.

[bonza]

I recently picked up a Ross Mk.II*** rifle that appears to be all complete & correct. Buttstock shows issue to two Canadian regiments, & there are U.S. ownership markings on the pistol grip. Until I found this one, I had never seen an unsporterized Ross in my part of the country (Pacific NW). The last photo shows a So. African Mk.VIIz cartridge flanked by fired cases from the Ross (left) & No.4 Lee Enfield (right), which illustrates the difference in chamber dimensions. My rifle isn't marked as to having the chamber recut, but it seems pretty obvious it was! Haven't had any trouble neck sizing the cases with an RCBS .303 British neck size die..
69693696946969569696

[Four Fingers of Death]

Nice find! love the marking on the butt stock, these are usually the first to fade out.