Ross Rifle, 1916, M-10, S/N781?

[Navy CVA 34 62 66]

Howdy!

First time on site. Great info here and decided that I wanted to be a member.
I have come into the possession of a Ross Rifle, 1916, M-10, S/N781 (Z stamped underneth S/N on stock foregrip) 30.5" barrel, machined forging nosecap w/t bayonet lug, Quebec cartouge stamp on stock and III. and 93/1916 and KT stamps left to right toward trigger guard area, O E stamped on barrel, NRA good, original finish, have fired three .303 British military rounds through it and want to know if it has collector value before I ruin it by putting a sidemount scope on it for hunting. Original owner was Brigadier General William Forrest Hemenway of Sycamore, IL who fought in the Mexican, WWI, and WW2.

Any comments?

Thanks,
Bill

Information

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[tiriaq]

Given what has happened to the value of unaltered Ross service rifles, drilling and tapping holes would be most unwise. Yes, it has collector value. Yes, mounting a scope would ruin it.
The serial number of the rifle is 93KT.

[Navy CVA 34 62 66]

Again, I appreciate the reply, Then the next question would be, what is the 781 and the Z stamped in between the butstock grip cap and the trigger guard? I'll get some pictures with the digital camera for post. Sounds like I have some work to get done to add something back to the archives, I should add that I also have three other unaltered items from the same collection. One is a 1903 Springfield. Later.
Bill

[Rossguy]

First and foremost, you have a Ross MkIII; not an M-10- The M-10 was the top of the line Ross Sporting rifle, chambered in .280 Ross only.
The serial of your MkIII should be clearly stamped on the right side of the buttstock, and if you see a "93" over "1916" followed by the two letters "KT" all three together constitute it's serial number.Typically, any other numbers and/or letters found stamped were regimental in nature,not serials. Any chance of a photo of the rifle overall, plus one of the stock markings?
If at all possible, please refrain from molesting an original Ross after all these years surviving in original condition-

[Navy CVA 34 62 66]

Thanks again for the constructive replies. I will be setting it aside for now till I can figure out what I can do with it besides shooting it as is. I surely can find another item to use for antelope and mule deer in Wyoming this fall.(I trap and varmit hunt (mostly coyotes) and thought it to be suitable for a 125 or 130 grain load with a scope. )
I have been judiciously cleaning out the chamber and barrel after shooting and before cleaning with very hot water and this has made the after cleaning with Hoppes and then retreating the bore with FP-10 easier and it now stays brighter and clean. I'm sure the box of 50 military rounds I've been using (to secure reloads for the round I was planning on working up) have corrosive primers. Anyway, I'll not make any changes to this piece of history and will have some pics up as soon as I get time to use the camera and post the digital images.
grateful for sane advice,
Bill

[RangeRover]

I fully agree that the Ross Mk III is best removed from consideration for conversion into a hunting rifle, and if putting it aside includes making room in the gun locker for something else suitable for antelope, there would be no shortage of takers for the Ross, myself included.

[Navy CVA 34 62 66]

Range Rover,
Thanks for the comments, my apologies for the late reply to your first post. I will probably try to figure out some way to get the rifle in to hands that will know what and how to deal with it properly (i.e. probably a collector). Just don't know how to go about that at the present time. I am not a FFL dealer or licensed collector, just a guy that likes firearms and mostly using them. My wife thinks I have way too many already, so that is definitely impetus to do something constuctive and win-win for all parties, including the lady I originally bought it from...in good faith, the value above what I paid her, if any, should go in that direction.
warm regards,
Bill

[Navy CVA 34 62 66]

I have the pics of the Ross rifle. How do I attach or post them?
Help.
Bill

Edited to add pics emailed to us by member

[RangeRover]

The way I do it is go to Photobucket (Image hosting, free photo sharing video sharing at Photobucket), create an account and upload your photos to your account from your computer. Then you simply embed the image location URL from Photobucket into your post.

I'm looking forward to seeing the photos. Good luck.

I have the pics of the Ross rifle. How do I attach or post them?
Help.
Bill

[Navy CVA 34 62 66]

Thank you again Badger for posting the pictures! I have six more if you think worth posting..otherwise, I'll leave it be. They are of the other side of the full rifle, bayonet lug cap, butstock plate with brass storage hole open (don't have the brass oiler or anything else inside) and the front sight (shows the sight hood, if there was one, is missing)
Bill