Ross mk III Anybody see one like this?

Check out the current thread (above) on the PLY rifles. These make a total of 19 that we have been able to find and, obviously, more out there.

As to your lugs, if I remember rightly, Ross bolts were factory-lapped into the receivers as they were built. BUT if a bolt were worn unevenly on one side (as from functioning with mud in it for too ling between cleanings, a tiny amount of slop could conceivably appear. THEN you harden the poor thing glass-hard and start firing full-house loads... and the lugs shatter.

There are spare bolt-heads out there. Inspect your action carefully, get a spare head, lap it carefully into the action, check it out and go shooting. Be sure to have fun, too.

There are very few things more fun on a rifle range than a sweet-shooting Ross. That trigger alone is worth a book!

I have also heard the story of a gunsmith in Penticton who was hired to modify Ross rifles for shipment to China (Chaing Kai Shek's group I think) in the 1930's. He ground off the lugs on one side of the bolt only, not necessarily too neatly, primarily because he didn't like the Chinese. Some of hte rifles were also "appropriated" on the side and were never shipped. So, while it is possible yours shattered because of improper case hardening, one would wonder if it might be one if the "China specials" which was never shipped. If the bolthead threads had sheared during shooting, I would expect some significant marks and damage inside the receiver........

Ed

The PLY numbers on Ross Rifles are attributable to Rifles that had been exchanged for Lee Enfield rifles by the British.

There are several different stampings that we have been investigating. The PLY serial numbers are, to the best information we have right now, rifles that were used by the Royal Marines, at PLYMOUTH in England. We have been in touch with the Curator of the Royal Marines Museum in Portsmouth, and he has had his sources look into this. Although not absolutely confirmed, he is of the opinion that this is correct.

There are also other stamped numbers on Ross Mark III rifles, the letters CRB is one such, and PHAB is another. We think CRB is for the Royal Navy (Royal Marines ?) at CROMBIE and the PHAB is the depot at Priddies Hard, another Navy establishment.

Many of these rifles were sporterized by some Company in England. There were approximately 30,000 on the Weedon list that apparently were sold to private gun companies for conversion. I have one CRB marked Ross Mark III and SMELLIE has a PLY marked Ross Mark III that have been sporterized, and BOTH are absolutely the same. They could be twins, and were obviously converted by the same Company.

This brings up an interesting question. We know that most of the Ross Mark III rifles that the English military had were sent to Russia and the Baltic countries. With the Royal Marines being armed with the Ross Mark III rifles, many of these Navy rifles would have been aboard ships during the time that the military Ross rifles were shipped to Russia. There are pictures of Ross rifles aboard Royal Navy ships during the scuttling of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919.

The question is: "Could most of the sporterized rifles on the Weedon List, and thus the ones converted actually be Royal Navy rifles?"

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Even with the pin in the bolt carrier modification, the pin can get worn or break, and it is possible to assemble the bolt wrong. If the bolt was originally assembled wrong, and fired that way, the right hand lugs would be on the left side of the action, and thus be sheared. If the bolt was then assembled correctly, the sheared lugs would then be on the right side of the bolt.

It takes a lot of effort, but it is possible to wrongly assemble a pinned bolt. It can be done!
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