Ross mk III Anybody see one like this?

[Masseytech]

About 10 years ago I purchased a Mk III for $35. Upon close examination The 3 lugs on the rh side of the bolt are sheared off. The serial number on the barrel is PLY 4093. The chamber is marked with an E. The bolt carrier is pinned to prevent misassembly. I have never heard or seen the Rh bolt head lugs sheared off before. Any ideas as to the cause of this happening?

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[Claven2]

Probably the result of a catastrophic case failure that blew the gun out of battery.

[bearhunter]

Are the lugs sheared off or ground off? There is a rumor of a fellow in Penticton that was comissioned to grind off one lug on each side of the bolt head. The rifles were supposed to be shipped to China. Anyway as the story goes he got lazy and just ground off all of the lugs on one side. That's the story as I heard it. I have absolutely no proof or anything to verify the story

[Masseytech]

The bolt head lugs don't appear to be ground off. They appear to be sheared off as the break is rough. I though that a catastrophic failure would have blown the bolt open and back into the bolt stop causing damage to the LH lugs.

[tiriaq]

I cannot see how the right lugs would be sheared, with the left ones intact. Any corresponding receiver damage? Of course, the bolthead may not be original to the rifle.

[Surpmil]

There was a very amateurish and abortive attempt to reharden the bolt heads on certain MkIII Rosses in 1916. The methods were crude in the extreme and some ended up "glass hard". Possibly you rifle is one of those. This is all covered in detail in "The Ross Rifle Story".

[tiriaq]

Yes, blowtorch, cyanide and a bucket of water.
I would inspect the receiver very carefully, see if there are any signs of damage.

[Rossguy]

On the premise that a photo is worth a thousand words........First: the "E" on the barrel- "Enlarged Chamber" if it started life as a Military MkIII, but the "E" was also applied to the top of the barrel on the relatively scarce E-10 Sporter, which was a really decent "economy grade" M-10, chambered in both .303 and .35wcf, unlike the M-10, which was only chambered in .280 Ross. The "serial number" PLY4093" isn't....it's meaningless on an original Ross. Sounds like Bubba struck again to me.

[TheCounty]

Probably "bubba" curing the lock-up issue when hot by breaking off 1/2 of the lugs with a hammer & chisel.... ....ok....maybe just the hammer.
Cheers
TheCounty
ps I certainly would NOT shoot it in that condition, however I wouldn't bet against it functioning fine....damn well made piece.

[Masseytech]

I was looking through the Canadian War Museum's list of Ross rifles yesterday and came upon an interesting Ross markIII with serial number 907/1916 II which is also marked PLY 2404 on the breech like my rifle. I wonder if it is also sporterized like mine with an open sight dovetailed into the barrel just in front of the breech. There was no picture offered of it. I wonder if it was sporterized by some company after the war.