Could have a military past but it also has some commercial parts which never went anywhere near the military. What a lot of folks don't realise is that Ross didn't make a line of military rifles and a line of commercial rifles. They just built rifles, all n the same actions. Actions were completed as units and finished as units, then asembled into whatever they needed at that particular time. If they needed 100 commercials, they would finish 100 actions as commercial rifles, then go back to military rifles; in the background, the plant kept cranking out actions. A good system in some ways: everybody got commercial-quality rifles.

As Buffdog has said, commercial sporters were serialled on the left side of the chamber and, after a century and more of Bubba, and a century of the Ross Rifle being damned to perdition everlasting, that can be sometimes the only way you can really tell a commercial from a miilitary rifle.

I have a commercial 1910 and several ex-militaries, also commercial and military 1905s..... and some of the 1905s which were sportered a long time ago were very nicely done indeed.

So let's assume that this is what we fear: a sportered military rifle with some commercial parts. How is the bore? If it has a good bore, then grab it. Rosses had a reputation (well-deserved) for accuracy which absolutely cannot be ignored. This rifle looks to be well-balanced and with effectual sights on it. For some reason which I cannot fathom, a Ross always feels to me as if it were lighter than the scale says it is. Lkely, that is down to the beautiful balance of the things.

How much can you get it for?

How much does a new Remington 700 cost, say, in .308W?

Is it worth half the cost of a new Remington...... to be able to go hunting with a century-old rifle which has identical performance and pretty much identical accuracy....... and is a LOT faster on the second shot.... nd just FEELS so MUCH nicer to hold?

That`s the question.

Hope this helps more than it confuses.
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