My new Ross Rifle Mk.III

[sdh1911]

Is that sight OEM? I'm not familiar with that type of rifle and the sight looks pretty impressive. You can try cleaning up the wood with lanolin hand cleaner. It cuts the crude and leaves the original look. -SDH

[Cantom]

Well, I was using a wood carving knife to trim one end of the replacement forestock. The knife was getting dull so I applied more muscle and it worked, but too well. I accidentally used my fingers as a stop. So when I have the full use of my hand again I will finish the stock. I won't do that again, I hope.

My No 4 Mk 2 rifle with the C1 flash hider is also blooded...the gunsmith was carving the sporterized forend to allow a band to fit around it and ended up cutting himself so badly he cut an artery and ended up in emerg for like 8 hours. I felt pretty bad but he said it goes with the territory.

[James E. Leeper]

You can bet theRoss will shoot if the bore is half-way decent. I scored two witnessed consecutive rams off the bench using a Ross rechambered to .303 Epps Imp.

[LiffordVolunteer]

This MK III Ross looks like a good candidate for a refit. I WOULD have it checked by a gunsmith for TWO KEY reasons: Bolt is assembled correctly; chamber isnt grossly oversize and properly headspaced.

Some MK III;s had their chambers reamed out larger than necessary to cope with the variations in .303 ammunition between British and Canadian Govt sources.

I had one of these Ross MK IIIs from 1964 until 1992 when I traded of so someone else could have as much use and fun as I had had with it.

I acquired my MKIII Ross in 1964 at an Ontario Arms Collectors Show on North Yonge at that vegetable market where it was held on Sundays. It was $10.00 as the last six inches of the barrel were rusted out and the stock was cut down. Bolt/Action had beautiful case hardening once cleaned up. Used original stock and put a forend on the cut off stock. I had Holman and Hickey check it out as I have recommended above before I shot it.

I even fired at a respectable distance my own "proof rounds" of commercial .303 ammunition by using a lanyard with the rifle tied down securely to a spare tire rest to fire it into a gravel bank 10 yards from the muzzle as the WW I Veterans I knew in the 1950s had told me of their experiences with improperly assembled bolts which their fellow WWI Veterans did not survive.

One of them, my second cousin who was a Sergeant in the "Fighting 93rd" C.E.F. Overseas Battalion was one who saw others throw their Ross rifles away and pick up a MK III Lee Enfield so that they could survive WW I.

What makes the MK III Ross accurate is also its downfall. All those locking recesses in the action as well as the bolt make mud accumulation a BIG problem. Then the design fault that has an improperly sized bolt stop that gets peened out to the point that it stops bolt travel combines so that Canadians in WW I ended up kicking open the MK III Ross actions so that they could return fire at Ypres in 1915.

My MK III Ross came with a rivet in the bolt so that it could NOT be disassembled and result in improper reassembly where the bolt DOES fly back upon firing.

Also remember here that your MKIII Ross is the "best of 1910 technology" and that both the action and its metallurgy are almost 100years old.

Age can make even metal brittle in my opinion.

Essentially thats why I would recommend cast bullet loads for the Ross MK III in the condition shown here. IF it was in NRA Excellent condition I would have confidence in its integrity but it does look that the one shown here has "been tested".

In my case the MK III Ross rifle I bought for $10 in 1964 had a pitted bore which 1000s of cast bullets and Hoppes over almost three decades smoothed out somewhat.

The "best part" was that in the late 1970s I had some moose hunting success with the MKIII Ross using 220 grain Norma bullets and moderate 3031 loads. As a hunting rifle the two shots "in the moose boiler room" could be delivered Very Quickly.

In WW II the troops going overseas trained with MK III Ross rifles as that was all they had in 1941-42 with MK IIIs sent overseas and before there were enough No 4s from Long Branch "Rosie the Barrel Makers" to go around.

The MK III has a very heavy barrel as military rifles go; the MK III Ross straight pull action won the 1952 Olympics for the Russians in 7.62 X 54.

By conservative estimate I fired about 6000 or more rounds through my MK III Ross; these thousands of rounds were chiefly Lyman mould or commercially cast bullets; water pump grease. a Lyman 310 tong tool shoot as is unsized with recommended load no of grains of Unique ALWAYS with a wad on top of the powder charge so that it would not bleed up the case and be a hazard.

The rear sight has a dandy windage adjustment for cast bullets. I shot routinely 2" or less five shot groups off a rest with it at 100 yards. I spent many winter afternoons in the 1970s firing off 50 or a 100 rounds at a time in plinking sessions on my own property.

Virtually no recoil with cast loads eh! The 220 grain Norma bullets with 3031 powder had manageable recoil. The battle sight on the fold down sight was perfect for 100 yard zero from my own handloads.

With the rifle here I would suggest that once restored it would be a fitting addition to a WW I re-enactors kit. It was a Passendale failure but a superb sniping rifle with its Warner Swasey scope in WW I. It was widely issued for sniping use. My "guess" is that some MK III Ross rifles saw WW II action as well.

[skully]

Nice job you did on the Ross !

[Cantom]

I haven't fired this beast yet:-) But they have the reputation of being tack drivers.

Hey Oatmeal Savage! Did your fingers recover and how's the rifle restoration going? Is it done?

[Dante]

OUCH! What fool did that to the stock? It doesn't even look like the original wood. Too nice a rifle to leave that way. Good luck with the restoration. Dave

[Rossguy]

Sir:- Let's try to sort the wheat from the chaff here.....1. The Home Guards were Commercial; not Military,so weren't reamed out for out-of-spec ammo.2.The rear sight is original with the small aperature- they all started out that way, but most were bored out by Military.3.Early MkIII's used the same buttplate as the 1912 Cadet.4.All the HG's I've owned or seen used the early stamped nosecap, as the MkIII Mils up to late 1915.5.The bolt "urban myth"-only if bubba got near it before you do you need to be concerned- all you need to do is look at the bolt-head when it's retracted-if the gas vent is up, it's correct.6. A few years ago, I loaned original stocks for 1912 Cadet, MkII***, MkIII(late) and M-10 Commercial to a stock guy in Dushore, PA to make patterns. If he's still in business, likely a replacement walnut stock for a Home Guard would make sense, unlike a Military- only the HG stamps went into the stock.

[Surpmil]

I guess this is the wrong time to say it, but looking at your original photos, I wondered whether this rifle might have been modified in France in WWI. The HG mark would seem to argue against that, but a lot of men served in formations in Canada before going overseas, there were numerous 'shipments' of men and I couldn't help wondering if that was not someone's trench-built sniping rifle. The black paint is really odd to my mind. Since the finish was so good, why paint it? To protect the finish? If the owner wanted to protect the finish, why would they chop up the wood in that crude way? On the other hand, if he wanted to conceal the shine of the metal, black paint would be the way to go. Did it looked brushed or sprayed? Looked like it had been on there a long time. The rough work on thinning the wrist looks like the kind of thing that was done in France.

Probably that's all wrong, but you see where I'm coming from?

[louthepou]

Wow, did I have some catching up to do on this post. Thanks for sending it to the restorer's section - and Oatmeal, two things:
1. Congrats on a job coming along very well,
2. Hope the hand is also getting better!

Lou