"DA" Marked Ross rifles; Serial number listing from HMS Canada

[boltaction]

Good afternoon all: There was a posting on Rossrifle.com discussing the "DA" marked Ross Mk III rifles. These rifles were given by Canada to Great Britain in 1916 in exchange for SMLEs, and many were then issued to the Royal Marines and used on board ship and other places. One battleship, HMS Canada, had been ordered by Chile prior to the start of WWI, but was then bought instead by Britain in 1914 before delivery. It was then given to Chile at the war's end, and the Ross rifles with accompanying bayonets which were on board went with it; the ship was renamed the Almirante Latorre. The Chilean Navy stamped the rifles and bayonets with a DA number.

These rifles were brought out of Chile in the 1980's or so, and surface from time to time. Most are early production, 1914-1915, and have CEF issue stampings still on them in addition to later British and Chilean stampings. The "DA" stamp and accompanying number are always on the left receiver rail of the rifle, and the DA and number are always on the crossguard of the bayonet. It is believed there were around 500 such rifles.

On the Rossrifle.com thread, many members listed their rifles, so I compiled the rifles mentioned into order, listing the rifle DA #, actual serial number and date of rifle if available or legible, whether or not it has its matching bayonet, and bayonet # if not matching,the location of the rifle in terms of continent, and any comments, like mismatched bolt. We have a couple of "bayonet only" as well.

From the photos some have sent me, and from my own DA rifles, quite a few seem to have M and a number stamped on the top of the stock, and a couple have a RM and # on the side of the stock, presumably Marine or Royal Marine markings. A few of the bayonets have an M and number on the wood, suggesting some sort of rack number perhaps put on by the Brits before being sent to Chile, which makes sense; these rifles and bayonets would have had to be in Royal Marine hands and on the ship when it was sent to Chile. Either by serial number or by description sent to me, most, not all, of these rifles are early--1914-1916 and have the early style front band, and many have CEF markings on them.

Interestingly, some rifles seem to have DA numbered bolts, some do not (some match, some don't). So, either these rifles did not all have their bolts numbered, or else a number of bolts were lost and just replaced (perhaps on import?) with bolts from other Rosses. The latter seems unlikely, but I'm not sure why some would have had bolts numbered with the DA stamp and some not. Unless of course some were on the ships, and some were on shore, and one or the other had the bolts stored separately?

Anyway, if anyone wants to add to the table, they can contact me by pm and I will update the list on both sites. I am hoping that posting this here will catch the attention of others with DA marked Ross Mk III rifles, and perhaps they can PM me with the details of their rifle--the DA number, date and serial number if legible, whether or not it has a matching bayonet with it, etc, and then the list can be updated. Likewise, if anyone has a DA marked bayonet only they would like to list, we could match it up to its rifle, possibly, and it should be simple enough to arrange for a DA marked bayonet owner to get a standard non DA marked Ross bayonet in exchange should they so wish.

Note that DA12 and DA 21 are the same rifle, but it is hard to know which is the typo. Cheers Ed


DA12, DATE 1915, SN# *684FP, has matching bayonet, located in Canada, was listed in Edgecomb’s Defending the Dominion
DA21, DATE 1915, SN# *684FP, has matching bayonet, in ON Canada NOTE: This is the same rifle as above. The original post lists DA21, the book by David states DA12. *One is wrong....
DA19, DATE and SN# is unknown, unknown if has matching bayonet or not. In Australia
DA33, DATE 1918, SN# 433OX, has matching bayonet, in the USA
DA44, DATE 1915, SN# 169GG, does not have matching bayonet, in Canada—AB. NOTE: Bolt # is DA 129 *M290 stamped on stock wrist. Bayonet has 188 stamped into wood, no metal stamp.
DA67, DATE 1916, SN# 900 rest illegible, unknown if has matching bayonet or not, in Australia, NOTE: Bolt # is DA 58
DA72, DATE and SN# unknown, has matching bayonet, in Australia, NOTE: Bayonet and scabbard US marked
DA88, DATE and SN# unknown, has matching bayonet, in Australia, NOTE: Bolt # is DA115
DA98, DATE 1914, SN# 448ED, has matching bayonet, in Canada—BC
DA120, DATE 1915,SN# illegible, has matching bayonet, in Canada—BC
DA148, DATE and SN# unknown, has matching bayonet, in Australia
DA170, DATE and SN# illegible, has matching bayonet, in Canada
DA175, NOTE: REceiver and bolt only, (both are numbered), in US
DA176, DATE 1915, SN# 328FV, unknown if has matching bayonet, in Canada
DA181, DATE 1916, SN# 243HP, has bayonet, but not matching, Bayonet number is DA317, in Canada—NS
DA188, DATE and SN# unknown, unknown if has matching bayonet, had been noted on another forum
DA190, DATE 1916, SN# 270GS, has matching bayonet, in Canada—BC
DA209, DATE and SN# unknown, has matching bayonet, imported from Canada to US in 1999 NOTE: reported by BDL
DA214, DATE and SN# unknown at present, does not have matching bayonet, in Canada—BC
DA254, DATE unknown, SN# 438, has matching bayonet, imported from Canada to US in 1999 NOTE: reported by BDL
DA264, DATE 1915, SN# 328EO, has matching bayonet, in Canada—SK
DA286 BAYONET ONLY, in Canada, from another member. BAYONET ONLY
DA300 “range”, DATE and SN# unknown, noted in France, no other details
DA300, DATE and SN# unknown, does not have matching bayonet, in Canada--?ON
DA312, DATE and SN# Worn and illegible, has matching bayonet, in Canada—BC
DA320, DATE 1915, SN# 990GJ, has matching bayonet , in South Africa. M281 also stamped into small of butt
DA329, DATE 1915, SN# 779FR, has matching bayonet, in New Zealand. NOTE M49 stamped on top of wrist
DA335, DATE and SN# unknown, has matching bayonet
DA364, DATE 1914 SN# 281DR, does not have matching bayonet, in Australia
DA366, DATE and SN# unknown, had matching bayonet, in Canada—BC
DA371 BAYONET ONLY, in New Zealand, NOTE: Seen in auction BAYONET ONLY
DA386, DATE 1915, SN# 175GO, does not have matching bayonet, in Canada
DA395 BAYONET ONLY, in USA, BAYONET ONLY
DA398, DATE and SN# unknown, has matching bayonet, from David Edgecomb in Canada, NOTE: Mentioned in “Defending the Dominion” book, as having sold at Gunscanada auction
DA401 BAYONET ONLY, in Canada, BAYONET ONLY
DA416, DATE 1914 SN# 343EB, does not have matching bayonet, in Canada—BC
DA426, DATE unknown, SN# A1625, does not have matching bayonet, in Canada, NOTE: Anomalous SN, but has all early production features and a CEF 16 issue stamping, so clearly early and saw action. NOTE: DA number is engraved, not stamped, bolt is stamped with matching number, stock has 4 holes drilled on stock perhaps for a hasp.

The end thus far...........

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