1905 Ross questions

[Rumpelhardt]

It is listed as a 1905 Ross Sporter as far as the seller knows. From what I have seen online it looks like it has a military rear sight.
I know nothing about these but it looks interesting. Could some one fill me in as to what it is? Is it a decent rifle? What should I expect to pay for one?





Thank you for any help.

Information

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[buffdog]

Although it looks like a 1905 Ross Sporter, there is a way to tell them from the Military rifles. Factory produced Ross Sporting Rifles generally had a small 1/8 inch serial number on the left side of the barrel, in the chamber area. Also, if it was produced after 1910, it should have a .303 bore rather than a .300 diameter one, and after 1910 it should be marked on top of the barrel chamber "303 Ross". It has a commercial trigger guard/magazine assembly (no locking screw by the two forward action screws), but this could have been changed.

Early military 1905 Ross rifles had a threaded end on the firing pin, and a "sheet metal" type extractor. Later Sporters should have a milled triangular shaped extractor (looking at it from the end) and a pin holding the firing pin/sear assembly together.

The rear open sight should be the same as used on the Winchester Model 94, but the long rear sight base is the first one I have seen. It is possible that this rifle was assembled after WWI from parts left over at the factory. The other thing that seems a bit odd is the wide barrel band on the forestock. Ross sporters had a smaller barrel band that went around the barrel, and was attached with a screw and metal ferrule from the bottom of the stock. The very early type 1 1905 sporter did have a narrow barrel band, but had much different sights.

With a good bore, this one would go for $250 - $300 here in Canada.
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[Ax.303]

This is a military Mk II***that someone modified as far as I can tell.
Wood spliced in where military sight once was.
Barrel band not Ross.
Both front and rear sights are wrong.
Stock shortened and info sanded out.

[smellie]

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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[Ax.303]

I see this rifle has gone a few rounds and is still for sale at not too bad a price. Like you say this looks like a pretty tidy rifle. Probably make a good shooter. Couple of the other ones there look interesting. Too bad the US gov`t is such a pain about rifles going to Canada.

[RangeRover]

Too bad the US gov`t is such a pain about rifles going to Canada.

My experiences haven't been too bad. I've brought two Ross rifles, a Mk II 5* and Mk III, north, both purchased from individuals, with pretty minimal hassle. Limited paperwork handling required and has added about $300 to price of each rifle, door-to-door. Transit times for the rifles were a couple of weeks in one instance but, maddeningly, several months in the second. I think the second one got caught up in summer vacation empty-office syndrome.

[Ax.303]

$300 does not sound so bad, if you say it fast, on the higher end stuff.
Kind of steep when your looking at a gun worth under $500 though. Especially when it says made in Canada on it.

Did you use someone to take care of your paper work, or did you tackle it on your own?

[RangeRover]

I used a fellow located in Lloydminster, AB. I'll PM you the details. Bringing the rifles up from the U.S. made sense in both my cases, as even with the import fees added on they wound up at my door for about the same, maybe a bit less, than what I would have paid on this side of the border. And because the rifles say "made in Canada" there's no additional import fee as there would be for rifles manufactured in other countries.

[Ax.303]

Thanks for the PM Rangerover.
I have seen a few I would gladly pay the extra for and nobody was even biding on them.