? from a noob to Ross Rifles

[Doug Rammel]

I bought a cut down Ross today. Barrel is 21 inches. I'm not sure what model it is. It's marked 1905 and the rear sight is marked Canada Tool. It in good shape other than the short barrel.
I've been reading about the bolts flying back at the shooter when fired. This one has the two solid locking lugs. Do you think this rifle is safe to shoot?

Information

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[smellie]

I think your rifle should be LOT of fun to take to the range, so go right ahead, friend!

Yes, there WERE (and are) 'issues' with the bolt of the later model, but not with this one.

To be honest, I HAVE assembled the bolt incorrectly on your model of rifle but, IF you can get it into the action (nearly always it won't even go in) it will not move back and forth. If your bolt moves back and forth, you should be able to SEE the lugs as they turn to lock it up: one hundred percent safe.

By the way, despite all the horror stories, even the later model (1910) that all the trouble was SUPPOSED to have happened with, can NOT get out of whack by itself. To assemble even the 1910 bolt wrong, the bolt must be removed from the rifle first, then the alteration made, then the bolt put back in..... and you can check it visually in about 2 seconds.

The 1905 Ross action was rated for 100,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, making it one of the strongest actions ever built. It has about 40% more locking area than an 1898 Mauser and very nearly double the actual locking mass!

If you are planning to handload for your Ross Rifle, I would stay with quick powders for the short barrel: 4198, RL-7, 3031, 4895 slowest and you likely will get best accuracy from flatbase bullets. Remember, your barrel IS 100 years old! Also, likely you should neck-size only and your brass will last a long time. I have a Ross that is just firing the same cases now for the 15th time; they do not even need trimming yet. These actions are just so VERY solid; I honestly don't think there is ANYTHING made today that can touch them.

Getting rid of the Ross Rifle was very much a POLITICAL story. Check some of the other threads in this forum and you will be converted, believe me. And ask all the questions you want; somebody will always answer.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of ROSS Rifles!

[Doug Rammel]

Thanks that makes me feel a lot better. I'll take her to the range this week. I am assuming she will take mark 7 ammo.

She is missing the front sight hood. I'll have to try and find one.

And now I have a quest to find a proper length one.

One more question. The book I have on values lists a Mark 1 with a 22 inch barrel. Was there such a thing?

[Surpmil]

If you're still a little concerned you can always fire it remotely the first few times.

[smellie]

Oh, there was indeed a Mark I ROSS Rifle. Not very may at all were built and they are more than 'somewhat' of a rarity. I have handled exactly ONE and a half of them and I started playing with Rosses a long time ago.

The Mark II type (your rifle, marked as 1905) was very much an improvement over the Mark I. It was the Mark II model which GAVE the Ross the reputation of being THE rifle to try to beat in competition. At one time they took ALL the big shooting prizes.

The Mark III had that fatal flaw that 'everybody has heard of', although it was nowhere as serious as it is made out to be. It was very much a political tale and politics, as always, was dirty then, just as it is dirty now. The Mark III or 1910 was intended to be the Ultimate Rifle. That it failed in this attempt is down to poor testing, bad ammunition, a truly awful war, the British desire to keep the Canadians 'in their place' and the efforts of a Canadian Prime Minister to get rid of a Cabinet Minister who was brilliant, erratic and totally incorrupt. It is all a very ugly tale and a very good rifle paid the price.

ROSS sporters are still in use in some places. I am pretty sure I know of a couple around here which will be going deer-hunting in a few weeks.

You should post a couple of pics of your rifle: something for the rest of us to drool at.

BTW, are there any stamps on (especially) the right side of your butt?

Sometimes you find the most interesting things there if you can decode them.

DO have fun!

[Doug Rammel]

Well there are no stamps on the right side of my butt, but there are some faint one's on the rifle.

I plan on cleaning the bore this afternoon and taking her to the range tomorrow.

I'll post some pics later in a new thread.

Thanks so much for this very informative information.

Doug

[smellie]

Oh, believe me, the RIFLEs butt is far more interesting, but, if your shots are up to date, I DO know this girl who just LOVES to.......

Hmmm..... perhaps we should let that one be!

Yes, your rifle should digest Mark VII Ball very well, although the correct period load for this rifle was actually the Mark VI Ball: a 215-grain round-nosed, flatbase bullet at 2060 ft per sec at 78 feet from the muzzle. In this regard Hornady makes a 174-grain flatbase round-nosed bullet which pretty much works small wonders in some older rifles which have badly-worn bores. Worn bores, as you find on all too many 1905s which have been used as training rifles, tend to respond better to a long bullet with a long bearing surface. You get that with this bullet, especially when used with a quick powder such as RL-7 or 3031. I just wish that we could persuade them to turn us out some 215s; I have a Lee-Metford which is even beyond that wonderful Hornady 174; it was used to train the whole Newfoundland Army, early in War One.

The good part of all this is that you are in the USA. Up here, we tend to have 1905 Rosses which have been shot to death because of the popularity of the cartridge here for so many years.

Point to watch for: if your Mark VII Ball ammo has the big copper primer, it most likely is corrosive priming, in which case the rifle bore will require being flushed out with boiling water after you are finished shooting. Just something to be aware of.

Most important point of all: have fun!
.

[bogtrotter2]

A real quick check of the safety of the bolt on either the 1905 and the 1910 is to measure the length from the end of the bolt sleeve and the bolt head when the bolt is cocked. If this is noticably greater than 1 inch the bolt is usually safe. However I will confess that the first time I shoot a Ross I will block it up on sand bags, load the weapon, take my sight picture, carefully move my head far to left and touch it off. Of course I was shooting right handed then so move the other way if you are shooting left handed.