question about my M10

Hey everyone, just a quick question. I don't know much at all about my Ross M10 but am learning as I read through this forum....now the question:

when I pull the bolt all the way back, it seems to "click". then when i try to push it straight forward again it won't go...almost like it's locked in place. I have to pull slightly back again on it and i hear the "click" again and it easily pushes forward. Is this normal? Also...i've been too nervous to shoot my gun after reading all the literature about faulty bolt assemblys. it was my great uncles gun in WWI.

edit: does Mark III = M1910 = M10??

Thanks!

Hi, fd4413!

I was just on your other post did not notice your post count. So you are new here with us: welcome to the Wonderful World of Ross Rifles..... and Milsurps.com! Stick around; it's going to be fun!

Okay, you ave raised several issues, so let's look at them in turn. Mark III is the ARMY's name for the rifle but there also was a COMMERCIAL rifle (rather a wonderful .280, some of them) made on the SAME action. The company just made actions, then finished them up as commercials or military, sporters or Army rifles, .303 or .280 or .35W or whatever, but the ACTIONS were absolutely identical in all respects. There is NO difference at all between the action of a .280 (proofed for close to 60,000 psi operating pressure) and the action of a .303 (proofed for just over 40,000 psi perating pressure). And they all were made on the basic M-10 PATENTS issued in 1910.

Safety of the Ross Rifle: I have been shooting the things, off and on, for almost exactly 49 years right now (I got my first one when I was 17) and I still have both cheekbones, both eyes and all my fingers. Shooting the Ross Rifle safely calls for the care and attention which you would give to ANY firearm, but that's about all. Oh, it has its little tricks, same as any other rifle (including one that CAN kill you) but inherently it s NO more dangerous than any other military firearm. Matter of fact, likely it is SAFER than any other military firearm: it has the highest Margin of Safety of any firearm built. The Ross factory tried a Model 1910 action at 125,000 pounds pressure (all they could build with the very fast powders available back then) and it held together. EVEN the Garand had a lower Margin of Safety: the same pressure was tried in a Garand and it shed a lug where the Ross did not.

As to all those tales you have heard and read about, I would suggest two things: download yourself a manual from this site and download (and read carefully) the article on bolt disassembly of the Mark III rifle. This is good information, believe me. For a quick check as to the safety of your rifle, you can use what I call the "Rule of Thumb". Pull the bolt hanflway back in its track. There should be a separation between the front of the bolt-sleeve and the rear of the rearmost locking-lug. This separation should be about ONE INCH (you can lay your thumb across the separation). If you have ONE INCH of separation, your rifle is SAFE and it CANNOT get out of whack by itself. The UNSAFE position has only about 1/8 of an inch (3mm, roughly) between the bolt-sleeve and the locking-lugs.

If a rifle is assembled correctly, it is safe and it remains safe until somebody diddles with it. It can NOT throw itself out of adjustment (it would have to shear through 4 steel walls inside the bolt and then would not work at all). It NEEDS human interference to make it unsafe.

YES, it can be assembled wrong. So can a Lee-Enfield, a Moisin-Nagant, an 1888 Commission rifle, a Berthier or a turnbolt Mannlicher (all of which can be fired with the bolt-head removed completely: I have seen the results). Assembled correctly, these ALL are safe rifles. Assembled correctly, so is your Ross..... and it is stronger than any of the others. And YOU now know exactly how to check it and you have the manual and you are reading the article.

BTW, if your rifle has a PIN straight down through the bolt-sleeve (left edge of the bolt-sleeve almost exactly halfway along the sleeve) then it can't be assembled wrong at all. Matter of fact, it will be nasty to disassemble and reassemble at all..... but it will only go together the right way.

As to your 'problem', I would sugest that what is happening is the bolt-head shaft is slipping off its little internal 'step'. This could be due to wear on the tail of the bolt-head shaft or to the rib inside the bolt-sleeve. MIG welders, if used right, can work miracles. The initial problem likely would have been lack of lubrication inside the bolt. If you do disassemble this rifle, I would suggest lubing the inside bolt parts with some kind of non-freezing lubricant which will withstand high pressures. I use Lubriplate 105 (available at your local GM dealer); it stands up to 40-below temperatures, saltwater pressures of 8,000 psi and mud pressures more than double that in the oilfield industry... and it works wonders on Ross Rifles.

This problem with your bolt is an operation problem; it is not a safety issue yet, but it should be inspected by someone who knows Rosses well.

Do let us know how things work out.

Hope this helps.

Welcome aboard!