Help On Ross Rifle

[smokemjoe]

Gentlemen : I just got a Ross Model 10 rifle complete, Not sure about front sight, Its org. Exc. cond. but did it have a hood on them and what a nice one worth. You will not hurt my feelings telling me a price. Thanks- Smokemjoe

[dromia]

The Ross M1910 or MK 111 is getting reasonably collectable over this side of the pond with nice ones fetching up to £600 from dealers.

They may be more plentyful in the US however.

Getting one that hasn't had the bores shot out is the trick.

The chambers tend to be very generous and if they have been reamed then even neck sizing will only get a few firings from cases.

On the Mk 111 the bolt reassembly can be a bit tricky if you take it apart as it can go back together wrongly and still work except that the bolt flies back into the shooters skull upon firing, I have been shown the proper drill many years ago but leave well alone on mine.

Yes there was a hood over the front sight.

Any chance of some pictures?

I do like a Ross as the designer came not far from my home village in the Highlands of Scotland.

The 280 Ross is a cracking round and his sporters are very nice.

[jonk]

Maybe a tad cheaper here, last one I saw went for $900 or so, but still pricey.

[Harry O]

Gentlemen : I just got a Ross Model 10 rifle complete, Not sure about front sight, Its org. Exc. cond. but did it have a hood on them and what a nice one worth. You will not hurt my feelings telling me a price. Thanks- Smokemjoe

I have a 1905 Ross rifle. The prices of the 1905 and the 1910 vary so much it is hard to put a price on them. Of course, the condition varies tremendously, too. Most are dogs. The only Ross' that I have seen at consistently high prices is the .280 model. All of them were evidently well taken care of and are also in very good condition.

I also have a copy of the 800 or so page Ross rifle book. If there are any details you need, let me know and I can look them up. It has some (but not complete) serial number information in it. Unless you have the original stock, you don't have that information. They stamped the serial number on the right side of the buttstock -- not anywhere on the metal.

As stated before, the barrels are usually in pretty poor shape -- corossive primers. You need to watch when breaking down the bolt of a 1910. The 1910 is the one that could be assembled wrong. When it was put back in the rifle, the first shot would send the bolt backward with enough force to injure the shooter. If there is a rivet on the bolt, it has been corrected so it cannot be assembled wrong. Also, the little sawtooth locking lugs on the 1910 bolt were sometimes a problem. The first one took the entire brunt of closing the bolt and would sometime peen over enough to fail to lock.

The chambers of most (if not all) Ross rifles were enlarged at least once. The earlier versions two or three times. The fired case comes out of the chamber completely different from the shape that it went in. The shoulder is moved forward about 1/4" and the shoulder diameter is about halfway from what it started as and a straight case (it is still tapered, but much less). This is similar to fireforming a wildcat. This was done because of the reported jamming problems in the trenches. According to the book, the jamming problems actually started long before it reached the trenches and there were two rechambers done to the 1905 before the 1910 was even built. However, it did not work.

Fortunately, you can find a number of Lyman, Redfield, etc peepsights for the 1910. Anything that works for the Springfield 1903 (NOT the 03-A3) will work on that. The 1905 peepsights are about as rare as Mannlicher-Schoenauer sights.

[glicerin]

smokemjoe: the front sight hood attached with four small screws(on my military 30.5" barrel). If you can't afford $110 for the big ross book, look for Historical Arms Series No. 11 Museum Restoration Service (pub) Ontario Canada 31 pages of Sir Charles Ross and his rifle. Don't have a spare hood but do have mag, trigger, bolt.

[floodgate]

glicerin:

Where do I find a copy of the Ross book. I borrowed friend's, but can't talk him out of it, as he has three Rosses (Risse?) of his own. Yes, $110 is a chunk for a mere book, but it is a great read and a good reference. Sir Charles was a real character!! I do have the Museum Reference Service book. TIA.

floodgate

[glicerin]

Floodgate: either canadiangunnutz.com or milsurp had a note about another printing of the Ross book. Good luck

[Harry O]

Inside the cover of my copy there is the following information:

Published by
Michael W. Leonard
507 Briar Hill Ave.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5N 1M8

e-mail ross.rifle.story@sympatico.ca

It is from the second printing, 2002.

[Harry O]

Finally tracked down an article I wrote on my Ross rifle a while back:

http://www.sixshootercommunity.com/articles/ross_rifle.html

Since then I have mounted a large British coin as a gripcap (sorry, did not find a Canadian one that large). I have since tried it at longer distances and it works about as well as can be expected with my eyesight. I am still looking for a proper peepsight, but still have not seen one at any price.

Interestingly, the book notes that the Ross was sold by the NRA for $2.50 (or $3.50, I don't remember which) shortly after WW1. It also says that they had to buy back a bunch of them because people were unhappy with it. No more details other than that.

I have also gone through my Krag and reworked the bedding. It shoots much better now -- at least as well as the Ross, if not a little better.