I had been waiting for ' Handloader ' magazine and J.B.'s bit on the Ross rifle. . I had watched several video's on the Mark 3 and read what I could online.
The curiosity just doesn't seem to go away, my Grandad carried one of these in 1915, it must of predated the Mark 3.
The Canadian Expeditionary force he was enrolled in fought every major engagement in the Great War ( on the western front) and I have read quite alot about his battalion.
The Ross rifle was was a corrupt political choice by a bit of a nutcase running things at the time. Never the less I have always wanted to see one fired- correctly assembled of course.
I have seen the Mark 3's at gun shows and they wanted a bundle for them in the .280 Ross chambering.
Thanks for writing this very understandable article , JB
That's a good article, and I'll also give JB a big thumb's up and a thank you for that. Always been fascinated by both Ross rifles themselves and the .280 Ross chambering. Have never even seen a Ross in person and I've been going to gun shows for darn near 50 years now. My paternal grandfather was also over there, back then, with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps for 17 months from late summer/early fall 1917 until January 1919. I always wondered how common the Ross's were by the time he got there; as I understand it, they were pretty much replaced by the SMLE's by then (?). The machine gun's were crew served weapons and he was part of a crew so he wasn't exactly a front line grunt. JB has re-ignited my curiosity on that subject with that excellent piece.
Ive got a bayonet for a Ross rifle stashed away somewhere....now I need to find a Ross rifle to complete my collection
One of the guys that used to be here "BOLTMAN" is or was quite an expert on the Ross rifle. The information on Ross in the BLUE BOOK was supplied by him, i dont know if he is still around or not. Don
22250,
Thanks very much!
Like you, I couldn't remember aving seen a Ross until the one I purchased appeared at Capital Sports. The purchase led to considerable research--and though I thought I knew quite a bit about Ross rifles already, thanks to a lot of published info, there's still nothing like getting your hands on one.
Was also happy to get a .303, since SO much published Ross info (either paper-published or on the Internet) is all about the .280. There were far more .303's produced.
Interesting, my grandad (I'm 73) was with the 13th bttl/42reg. BLACKWATCH /Montreal CEF out of Val Cartier....at IPRES in April 1915,
he tossed his ROSS and like many,picked up a #1mk III at first chance....A fine deer /moose rifle, a battle rifle? nope....
I gave a model 10 with ''pinned bolt ''to a commercial fisherman friend ,here on the B.C. west coast...it shot ''minute of seal''.
the sporster .280 Ross is a completely different deal.
Somehow, on one of the smallet Hawaiiam Islands, namely Molokai, a customer came into ny shop with, as it turned out, a Ross bayonet. The muzzle ring is egg shaped and the catch is frozen. Someday i will restore it. Until then, its an enigma. I did see a spirterized Ross rifle at a big gun store years ago:- caliber 280, as i recall. Thats probably why it was selling for $200 or so. Mel
Ps: text me 808 658 1781 for pics of the enigma bayonet. I'll try n oblige. Cheers!