My new Ross Rifle Mk.III

[Oatmeal Savage]

Well my Ross Rifle arrived today. The stock is pretty well toast. Which will give me a chance to exercise my limited skills to repair it. Except for the paint the metal looks good. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Information

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[Oatmeal Savage]

and more photos. There doesn't appear to be a rivet in the bolt. I performed the PP "sure fire" test, from the site Library, and bolt snapped home quite nicely when I pressed the trigger. There is a surprising lack of markings on this rifle, so far I have found just "H G" in front of the serial number. Someone shortened the stock comb, it looks like the bottom of the butt stock is held on by two screws. The only metal it appears to be missing are the nose cap, rear sling swivel, the front sight hood w/ screws. My first impressions of fondeling the MkIII is the length of the barrel and the skookum rear sights. These rifles must have been tack drivers when they were new. The barrel is in good condition, this one will be a shooter, but not a tack driver.

Thanks
K

[tiriaq]

The HG + serial numbers indicates Home Guard, they serialed their rifles, and many Mk. III rifles were supplied during WW2. The Canadian serial would have been on the right side of the buttstock. Send a PM to Klunk, and see if he has any nosecaps left. Your rifle has a swivel in front of the magazine. If this is original, the rifle is a fairly early one. An early Mk. III would have had a stamped nosecap, as opposed to a forged one; they are not interchangable. All Mk. III nosecaps are hard to find, stamped even more so. If you can get any nosecap, grab it. Realistically, I don't think that this stock is restorable to an issue appearance, though, but perhaps another stock will come along. The rifle also appears to have the earlier pattern boltstop. Many were fitted with a larger diameter one to reduce battering of the left rear locking lug. Is there an E or LC on the top of the barrel breech? Your rear sight is a less common variation - the aperture is very small in diameter, most are larger. Better for target shooting. Just a thought - as a Home Guard rifle, I wonder if the black paint is the remains of a Suncorite finish applied in the UK? The rivet was installed in bolts of rifles in Canadian service during WW2. You have determined that the bolt is correctly assembled, so don't worry about it. As the bolt is closed, you can see the lugs rotate to lock. How is the bore? Will probably need a good cleaning. If the bore is decent, the rifle should shoot well.

[Oatmeal Savage]

tiriaq,

Thanks for the information. The stock is pretty toasty, so I have nothing to lose by trying to fix it, my brother is a carver de bois and will assist me. I will ask Klunk if he has any nose caps, Joe Turner may part with one, so I will ask Joe first. On the breech there are crossed flags with the letters DPC. The hole on the peep sight is tiny, about 1mm. If the paint is from the HG, I should leave the paint alone and concentrate on removing the varnish from the wood. Anyone have a sight hood or a sling swivel?

[green]

The HG prefix indicates this rifle was made for commercial sale to Cdn "Home Guard" units 1914-15. The home guard was a totally unofficial org made up of volunteers who bought their own arms.

[Cantom]

tiriaq,

Thanks for the information. The stock is pretty toasty, so I have nothing to lose by trying to fix it, my brother is a carver de bois and will assist me. I will ask Klunk if he has any nose caps, Joe Turner may part with one, so I will ask Joe first. On the breech there are crossed flags with the letters DPC. The hole on the peep sight is tiny, about 1mm. If the paint is from the HG, I should leave the paint alone and concentrate on removing the varnish from the wood. Anyone have a sight hood or a sling swivel?

Nice score. Saw this on epay last night.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=016

[glycerin]

Oatmeal: I once removed bubba's black spray paint and found a very nice blue finish underneath. Is your barrel 30.5inches? I have an original stock(no handguard), no metal, measures 27.25 in. from forward receiver screw to end of stock. Pictures would take time and a friend's cooperation. Also have M10 safety, trigger mechanism, trigger guard, and what appears to be swivel desoldered from midband. Good luck with restoration.

[Oatmeal Savage]

Thanks for the information, :-) Yes the barrel is full length, it sure looks long without the wood. I can't wait to shoot it, though it may have to wait until the New Year. I have to finish the Westley Richards Monkey Tail Carbine first!

Oatmeal: I once removed bubba's black spray paint and found a very nice blue finish underneath. Is your barrel 30.5inches? I have an original stock(no handguard), no metal, measures 27.25 in. from forward receiver screw to end of stock. Pictures would take time and a friend's cooperation. Also have M10 safety, trigger mechanism, trigger guard, and what appears to be swivel desoldered from midband. Good luck with restoration.

[tiriaq]

Learn something new every day. I assumed that "Home Guard" referred to the British WW2 organization, not a Cdn. WW1 version. I suppose another example would be the Montreal Home Guard, with their Savage 99 .303 muskets. Where were the Ross equipped Home Guard units raised? I saw another HG stamped Ross from the Bancroft area last week. Its serial was 4 digit, while Oatmeal Savage's is close to 13 000. Are these actual serials, starting at 1? That is a lot of privately purchased Rosses, at a time when the Cdn. Army was having difficulty acquiring the quantity needed.
The British used Suncorite to finish metal parts, starting during WW2 and continuing. Canada didn't, so the paint on your rifle won't be issue.
Had a chance to give the bore a good cleaning?

[Oatmeal Savage]

I haven't cleaned it yet. I have been thinking of plugging the barrel and spraying a mild solvent into the bore and leaving it over night. I am going to strip the wood first.

Well I have stripped the stock, What wood was used for Ross stocks? Weird it smells like rosewood. The upper hand guard is very light coloured.

glycerin, what did you use to strip the paint? Here is a photo of the stripped stock.