As only one of the custodians of Sir Charles reputation, I must ask you politely : on what do you form your opinion that "it apparently is not safe"? Please don't troop out the old hairy chestnut about the bolt blowing back- that has long since been defined as an urban myth, and the few documented occasions that it did occur only with a 1910-series Ross, not a 1905, it was clearly the result of someone with little or no specific Ross knowledge and/or absolutely no mechanical knowledge or sympathy dismantling the bolt, then incorrectly reassembling it before firing...stupidity has it's own rewards, or as I look at it, it's further proof that God indeed does occasionally vacuum the terminally stupid from the bottom of the gene pool. With sensibly loaded ammunition, no problems except a possible lack of accuracy due to bore wear should occur.