Ross Rifle Identification?

[fritz1255]

Okay, here is my first Ross rifle. Unfortunately I’m not sure what I have. Here’s what I can tell you:

1. I think it is an Mk II, possibly a Model “M”?
2. Caliber is 303 British, or at least I think it is. I have not done a chamber cast. It came with a set of 303 British dies.
3. The barrel is about 24” long
4. The front sight looks like standard military issue with a sight hood
5. The rear sight is an L-shaped leaf type that can be flipped back and forth. The two blades are almost buckhorn style.
6. The buttplate is steel with a sliding door for storage.
7. The stock appears to have been cut. I hope that it did not leave the factory looking like this, it practically screams “Bubba”. There are no markings of any kind on the stock.
8. The left side receiver rail reads “ROSS RIFLE CO QUEBEC CANADA 1905 PATENTED” in two lines
9. There is a three digit serial number stamped into the barrel at about the end of the chamber, under the handguard

Can anybody tell me for sure what this is?

Information

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[tiriaq]

I think you have a sported II***.

[fritz1255]

I think you have a sported II***.

Question is whether the sporterization was done before or after it left the factory. Do the front and rear sights look like anything that would have been installed by Ross, or are they after market? Did Ross ever make a 24 inch barrel? Just for grins I looked up a bunch of 1960's vintage ads from companies that sold guns by mail (e.g. Hunter's Lodge), but did not see any Ross rifles advertised.

[green]

I think you have a sported II***.

Agree , the number on the barrel is not a serial number but one of the cryptic stamps that RRCo used.

[fritz1255]

Agree , the number on the barrel is not a serial number but one of the cryptic stamps that RRCo used.

Okay, I checked again, the numbers shown in the picture above are the only ones. So if the barrel is cut down, it should be larger at the end than a 28" barrel, right? The barrel diameter on mine is 0.620" at the back end of the front sight, 0.562" at the front (muzzle end) of the front sight. Can anybody measure their barrel diameter on a 28" barrel to compare? Thanks in advance!

Another detail that I think might also point to a sporterized military model - I finally took the action completely out of the stock, and on the bottom of the barrel directly opposite of the rear sight are two holes that I think went to the original front sight. I assume this means that the barrel was rotated 180 degrees and rechambered?

One final detail - it has a crown over "I" over "Q" on the top of the barrel. Is there any significance to that?

[AGB-1]

It has no value as a collectors rifle. At best it is a parts rifle.
Do a search and see what a 1905 should look like.

ross rifle 1905 - Bing images


expensive to restore: Ross Rifle Restoration

[fritz1255]

Restoration is out of the question. I was looking for a "shooter" when I bought this. Can anybody comment on whether the front sight looks like an original Ross, or is it a replacement on a cut down barrel?

[breakeyp]

Front sight is definitely Ross. Rear sight is unknown to me.

[fritz1255]

Yes it certainly looks likes an original Ross front sight. I checked out a couple of GunBroker listings that had extensive pictures. I would conclude that the barrel is an original factory sporter barrel and not cut down from 28". I can't imagine that someone would have recontoured a cut down barrel just so they could reuse the original front sight.

[tiriaq]

Look at the left side of the barrel breech. Is there a serial number stamped with small numerals? Factory sporting 1905 barrels will be so marked. Factory sporting barrels do not have a military front sight.