I got me a Ross!

[Dr. Strangelove]

Somewhat belated birthday present to myself, a Ross! It's in really nice condition, although some of the stock markings have faded with time/cleaning.

Here are some pictures. Not sure where the "1095" on the magazine housing came from, maybe someone here can enlighten me!








As far as I can make out, the stock markings are as follows:

III. then to the right of that "762" over "L(might say E, hard to tell)15" and then "J A" to the right of that. Can anyone help decipher them? I know the III means it's a Mk. III!

Information

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[RangeRover]

Congratulations. Nice present for yourself.

First to the markings on the buttstock... The III does indicate a Mk III Ross. To the left of that is the Ross "roundel". The remainder of the marks are the serial number for the rifle, which incorporates the year of production. So, based on your squinting at the numbers, the full serial number would be:

762
---- JA
1915

which would indicate the rifle, or at least the stock, was produced in 1915.

Any other markings on the buttstock at all? How about elsewhere on the metalwork (the back of the bolt)?

I see you're in England. Interesting that the rifle does not appear to have any British proof marks.Did you buy it offshore?

Is the bolt pinned? Take, and share, some more photos, especially of the bolt pulled back to verify correct assembly of the bolt.

Enjoy the rifle.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Yeah, I'm very happy with it!

As requested, here are photos of all the other markings I can find and of the bolt extended. What do you mean when you ask if the bolt is pinned?

I bought it in England. Not sure how they got around the lack of proof marks, it might be that I've just not seen them yet!

(Edit - the pictures don't appear to be working. I've posted the URL of each one underneath it just in case!)

This appears right by the magazine housing.
W
--
O

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This is what remains of the cartouche, sadly very faded. Above it and to the left is a "57" in the right orientation and then a "7" turned 90 degrees left.

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These markings appear just behind the trigger guard. There is another J with possibly another J to the right of it. Further towards the butt appears to be an inverted T, or maybe an L in the same orientation as the J(s?). Further still there is what appears to be an X. And then a bit further on there are the numbers 2 and 8 in line with each other (going across the stock) and another number I can't make out.

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Here are the markings on the rear of the bolt handle. "154" above "LS"

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On the front of the bolt is what appears to be "Y T 8"

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And some photos of the bolt. Let me know if you need more to verify whether it is assembled correctly!



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Finally, it would appear that the extractor arm has been replaced. It looks a lot newer than another of the other parts.

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[RangeRover]

Hmm....I'm going to defer to Smellie and others with way more exposure to Ross rifles than I have on some of these markings and some of the questions. The 154 over LS stamp is especially intriguing, as is the number stamped into the bottom of the magazine.

Regarding bolt assembly and pinning, I would refer you to the sticky at the top of this forum about bolt assembly/disassembly as it provides good guidance, but the gap between bolt head and bolt sleeve on your rifle looks okay. Can't tell for sure from the photos, but it looks like your bolt is unpinned. If pinned, you'd see a rivet visible partway back on the bolt sleeve. It was added to prevent incorrect re-assembly.

[buffdog]

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This is a picture I made up a while ago. The unpinned Ross 1910 Mark III bolt, (and also one with a broken rivet,) can be assembled incorrectly. See the "Correct" picture for SAFE bolt assembly. Notice the space of about one inch between the back of the locking lugs and the bolt carrier. SMELLIE and I refer to this as "the rule of Thumb." If you put your thumb on the bolt at this point, and the gap is approximately the width of your thumb, then you are all right.
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Also, your rifle has the "Enlarged" chamber. The fired cases are going to come out looking like they were blown out a bit. This is all right for the first firing of brass, but if you reload, I would advise keeping your Ross brass seperate and segregated to each rifle. Full length resizing overworks the brass and after a couple of loadings, you will start to get case failures and seperations.

If you neck size your brass only, the cases will go back into the chamber as they have already been fire formed in YOUR rifle chamber. All you want to do is neck size to hold the bullet. Also, this ammunition will be a bit more accurate, as the case is already fit to the chamber and thus lined up and supported better when fired.
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[Dr. Strangelove]

Thanks, I made sure that the bolt was correct before I fired it on Saturday! Unfortunately the front sight was canted to the left so I have to rezero it!

I have kept my SMLE and Ross brass separate, I just need to get a full reloading setup and I'll be good to go!

[smellie]

A reason for the lack of British Poofs could be the fact that the rifle already has been Proofed.

It bears the Crossed-flags-and DCP marking: Dominion of Canada Proof.

At that time, the DCP was accepted as equal to a London or Birmingham Proof. It was administered at the Ross Rifle factory, although NOT by Company employees but rather by Government Inspectors. The Proving itself was identical to British procedures, even though the rifle actions themselves had practically no limit to the pressures which they would handle.

Only after a thorough inspection and Proving would the DCP marking be struck onto the rifle.

Ross Rifles converted to Sporters subsequent to the Wars would have been regarded as NEW rifles, hence subject to the Proof Law.

I think the rifle has no British proofmarks simply because it never was altered..... and bears an original Canadian Proof Mark identical in qualification to the British marking.

But then..... I could be wrong.
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[smellie]

Should have mentioned.

There was a BIG movement around this time toward setting a single standard for the whole British Empire.

Stamp collectors know all about Imperial Penny Post: send a 1-ounce letter anywhere in the British Empire for a penny. The Pound Sterling was very close to $5US at that time, $4.80 Canadian, so that Penny was 2 cents, there being (12x20=) 240 Pennies in a Pound. Canada made its first multi-colour postage stamp at this time (1898), a 2-cent map of the world with the Empire in red ink and the legend IMPERIAL PENNY POST. It was a pretty stamp but colour matching wasn't up to current standards and there are about half a dozen recognised colours for the Oceans, ranging from Blue through to Green.... and a single sheet accidentally got out (likely from cleanng the press) with the Oceans in BROWN, possibly causing one to think of Tuli Kupferberg's poem "River of Sh*t". This stamp is one of Canada's Great Rarities.

But the movement toward a single Imperial Standard was quite strong and lasted until the end of the Great War. Our roads out in the country are still a MILE apart, even though the kids have no idea why we put the things 1,609 metres apart. Many of us still think in terms of Imperial (20-ounce) Pints and Imperial 40-ounce Quarts and Imperial 160-ounce Gallons, even though our Government has been attempting to force us to be metric ("like Russia, or China, or Cuba; one of those": Trudeau) for 40 years now.

The Ross Rifle was a departure (for many reasons) from the Imperial Standard, but the DCP was definitely a part of it.

Hope this helps.
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