New her and new Ross

[1rossvt]

Hi all,
I am new here and looking for a little help with a Ross 1905 that I inherited over Christmas. I had never even heard of this gun till a week ago, and after reading through some posts it looks like i may have a sportized rifle.
I cant tell if the stock is original or has had some carving done to it, on either side of the barrel there are two 3 inch pieces of wood that have been tacked in place.

The only marking on the stock that I can find are on the left side where the barrel meets the receiver. There are 2 F's that are stamped end to end, a crown with the #5 under it and what looks like a Z.
The rifle it's self has very little in the way of marking just the Ross Rifle company on the side and 1905. The serial# on the bottom of the bolt is5789. Right behind the rear screw on the receiver is a crown with the #6 under it.

The barrel measures just over 27'' from the receiver to the end. It has the original but plate with the hatch in it. It looks like someone ground down the sling swivel on the trigger guard and installed a notched rear sight very poorly. There is also a small hole in the top of the barrel?

I have a few other questions as well.

First what rifle is it? From what i have been able to find online it sounds like a bastardized MKII, but is it military or commercial?
Some pics I have seen show a magazine forward of the trigger guard but this gun has a plate with a hole in it, is this normal?
The bolt has a little plat in it, is this normal? Will cleaning the gun remove the play or increase it?
Is this gun safe to shot? I know there is no way of knowing this but over all are there gun safe?

Attachment 29542Attachment 29541Attachment 29540Attachment 29539

Any help with this rifle would be greatly appreciated.
Aaron

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[buffdog]

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Your rifle is a 1905 Ross Military Mark II rifle that someone has sporterized. The two 3 inch strips are a fairly nice attempt to cover up the two notches in the top of the forestock where the original top handguard sat. The sling swivel just ahead of the trigger guard has been ground off. The "J" shaped piece inside the trigger guard at the front is a magazine cut-off that allows the loading of a single cartridge while keeping a full magazine in reserve.

A Commercial Ross rifle will have a serial number, about 1/8 inch high, on the left side of the barrel, just ahead of the front of the receiver ring.

Welcome to the Forum and the interesting World of the Ross Rifle. This being your first post, I would assume that the title of it, "New HER and a New Ross" is a typo and you meant to say "New HERE and a New Ross." However, if the new "HER" refers to a Woman, and she happens to see this Post, you can always explain to the Divorce Judge, "But your Honour, I do think of her first!" It might allow you to keep the Ross, but the house, car, kids, dog, and most of your bank account will be gone .
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[Surpmil]

Can we see a photo of "her" too?

As mentioned above, typical hack job on a 1905 MkII.

If the barrel is very good it could be worth tidying up if you're into that kind of thing. Otherwise, there is so little left of the original that you don't even have a parts source really.

Still, everyone starts somewhere and if it has family significance, why not keep it and enjoy it for the interesting piece of history and technology that it is?

If you want to shoot it and it has a barrel worth shooting, you could always tie it to a tire for the first few rounds.

Have a close look at the underside of the bolt and receiver when removed from the stock and you may find matching two digit numbers that will at least tell you that the bolt is original to the receiver.

If you decide to make a project out of it, the barrel is easy to remove.

[1rossvt]

Sorry guys no new her, I like the I already have to much. Thanks for the ID help. I would like to see if it shoots, I know it hasn't been shot in at least forty years and I venture to guess its more like sixty. Is there a schematic of this rifle some where?

Tnaks again.
Aaron

[zuke]

[zuke]

Does anyone know how to use the rear sight properly?
What is the setting for the aperature site?
Same for the open aperature site?

[buffdog]

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First of all, the Illustrations are for the M-10 (1910) Ross Mark III and do not really relate to the OPs 1905 Ross Mark II a whole lot.
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Does anyone know how to use the rear sight properly?
What is the setting for the aperature site?
Same for the open aperature site?
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https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...ghtsJPG1-1.jpg

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If you look at the drawing of the backsight, and read the text, you will find that the BATTLE SIGHT is for General use out to about 300 yards.

The open Aperture sight is read on the VISIBLE FRONT OF THE SIGHT WHEN VIEWED using the KNIFE EDGE and the scale on the right hand side.

The PEEP Aperture sight is used for the range in MINUTES and uses the Reference Mark just below the knife edge on the right side of it.

Windage is adjusted by the Toothed Roller to move the PEEP Aperture sight left or right.
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[smellie]

Yes, it's definietly a 1905 model, and that can be a Good Thing in many ways. For one, you don't have anything in the way or worries regarding proper bolt assembly. A 1905 bolt CAN be assembled incorrectly (and believe me, it takes some doing!) but then, IF it will fit into the rifle (and that's a big IF), it won't even move back and forth. From the photos, however, your bolt is just fine.

Take her out and shoot her after you have given her a good scrub. Don't worry much about the thing being weak: Ross tried one at 100,000 psi and it held together. That was before he designed the Mark III, which was REALLY strong. "First round from the hip, with the rifle facing to my right" is my rule for testing these. I've been doing it now for just about 50 years and I still have both hands and both eyes.

THEN you settle in for some shooting. The barrels in the 1905 Ross had Ross's own design of rifling which was designed to outlast any other barrels available by a factor of about 3 to 1. And that was firing hot-loaded Cordite ammunition. The biggest problem with most of these is the fact that people shot them after they left the Service, using that same ammo...... and they didn't clean them. Modern ammunition doesn't give you that problem. For best results with a barrel that you aren't completely sure about, try ammo with a flatbase bullet so that it can obtuate on firing to take up some slop in the bore, should that be necessary. Modern Winchester and Remington both are loaded with flatbase bullets if you buy the cheaper ammunition. If you have a good, tight bore (and you can tell by inserting a loaded round in the muzzle: the case should stand out from the muzzle by about 1-8 of an inch), then you can think about some of the superduper loads with boat-tailed slugs. Best of all, of course, is loading your own. A good starting load is about 37 grains of 4895 with a Sierra Pro-Hunter 180 flatbase, bullet seated to the overal length of a Ball round. I use this as a test load n any .303 and it can be wickedly accurate in some rifles, includng a couple of my own Rosses. And it's not a hot load: well within specs.

You are measuring your barrel from the receiver ring. Factory measured them from the breech-face to the muzzle. Your barrel length likely is 28 inches, so there is a pretty good case to be made for restoration, given that you can source the parts. Be patient should you go this route; the parts are out there, but they don't all stand up at once and shout "Take me HOME!"

Good luck with your Fine New Toy.... and welcome to the club!
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