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Hi,
Just looking for some detail on the stock markings of my recently acquired Ross Mark II, sporterized. While I attempt to locate parts, I would like to better understand its history. I see the US acceptance stamp on the wrist, so guess it was one of the rifles shifted to the US during WWI? Anything else the stamps tell the knowledgeable?
Thanks for your help.
Mike
Hello Mike
From what I see, the rifle is serial number 201?N built in 1910. It appears that it was originally produced as a 4* pattern, then converted to a 3* pattern before making its way into the U.S. There is a letter stamped in front of the letter "N" just to the right of the serial number, can you tell what the first letter is? It doesn't show up in the pics.
There appears to be a unit marking, or part of a unit marking shown in the pics that I cannot decipher.
That's about all I can come up with.
Les
ROSS RIFLE INFO
I am not a Ross expert but I shall provide the following comments:
1. As to the serial number I quote from THE ROSS RIFLE STORY- page 459:
"A. Military Issue Rifles
2. Rifles received serial numbers 1 to 1000 prefixed by a letter or letters, i.e. A. 1-1000, B 1-1000 to Z 1-1000 followed by AA 1-1000, AB 1-1000."
3. Based upon this I would say that the serial number of your rifle lies between 200 and 209 and the dent prevents seeing the last number. (Possibly 204) It would not be 200X anything as the numbers do not go above 1000. These numbers appear over the date of manufacture, i.e. 209 A / 1910.
4. In general the Canadian units stamped their unit ID's on the stock after obliterating the previous ID marking. Maybe with better pictures, some Canadian expert can trace the units to which your rifle belonged while in Canadian use.
4. The Ross was always a work in progress As best as I am able to tell your rifle started out as a MK II 4* that was converted back to a MK II 3*. The big change here was the rear sight. The MK II 4 * was originally equipped with the Ross MK III back sight which was the major change between the MK II 3* and the MK II 3*. The Ross MK III sight proved to be unsatisfactory so the rifle was reconfigured to the MK II 3* configuration by changing from the Ross MK III rear sight to the Sutherland H-type. According to the ROSS Rifle Story 4000 of these conversions were made and these rifles were part of the 20,000 MK II 3* rifles sold to the US. Since yours is "US" charged I would assume that it was one of these.
5. According to the book, these rifles were used by the 31st CEF Battalion for training purposes in England and were then transferred back to Canada for sale to the US. While in England the chambers were enlarged an should have the marking "LC" on the chamber. The US affixed their ordnance mark and assigned a serial number stamped just behind the trigger guard on the stock.
Hope this helps.
The sentence in the above post that reads:
The big change here was the rear sight. The MK II 4 * was originally equipped with the Ross MK III back sight which was the major change between the MK II 3* and the MK II 3
Should read:
The big change here we the rear sight. The MK II 4* was originally equipped with the Ross MK III back sight. which was the major change between the MKII 3* and the MKII 4*
Thank your for your input. From a close-up look, the serial number above the manufacture date of 1910 is "294", and I think the first letter after that serial number is "L", followed by an "N". Up above that, the serial number i is repeated under what looks to be "I Q" or "I G". And to the left, I think numbers such as "3.13"? Does this clarify anything? And as to the chamber area, no stamping of "LC" that I can find.
As I indicated previously, I am not a Canadian nor a Ross expert. The Numbers, other that he serial number, means nothing to me. I had a MKII 5* that was not marked LC but it did have the enlarged chamber. I know because I fired it. I am surprised that a "US" charged ROSS did not have the "LC" markings. I shall conjecture that the MKII 4* that reverted to the MKII 3* may not have the large chamber. A Canadian military collector may be able to provide additional info.