A British royal marine issued mkiii ross rifle

[rayg]

This is one of the cal 303 Ross rifles that were issued and used by the British Royal Marines during the war. The Ross rifles replaced the Lee Enfield's that were originally issued to them but were needed for the ground war. The letters “PLY” are stamped on the barrel knox in front of the receiver which represents the Royal Marine Naval yard Depot in Plymouth, England. Along with the British added stamped serial number #5113 on the receiver. And the letters “CRB”, are stamped on the bolt handle representing the Crombie Royal Marine Depot along with the British added serial number #3663. There is also a number #624 stamped in the wood on the underside of the forearm near the front band. Possibly a rifle rack or ship number.
The rifle still retains its original Ross Canadian serial number of #871 which is still visible on the butt stock cartouche with a 1916 date. There are no import stamps on the rifle with the exception of a "England" stamp.
The rifle and bore are in excellent condition. The front sight cover is missing and may have been removed by the depot as being un-necessary on ship board. Complete with a British sling.

I have read that most of these British Marine rifles were sold off to commercial companies in England who converted them to sporters by cutting the stocks and barrels back so one that escaped this alteration and is still full length could be fairly rare.

Not sure if the photos of the individuals are Marine or Navy guys but does show the Ross in use, Ray


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Information

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[browningautorifle]

Very nice catch Ray...

[Sentryduty]

I will check the number but I have a PLY marked sporter as a tinkering project.

[rayg]

Sentyduty if it's not too much of a problem could you post a photo of it. Curious of how they cut them down, Ray

[Sentryduty]

I will post a photo or two, but given the "quality" of the work, I would not be convinced any "company" made the final product I have.

Mine has the hallmarks of a home built chop. The stock is quite short on the fore-end, the barrel band has been flattened out by peening and moved back, the front sight band has been "split" to force it over the thicker part of the barrel, and the cut-off at the "crown" appears to have been done with a hack-saw and not well dressed.

On the plus side, the barrel has only been shortened a little, the action is complete and matching, but it is definitely in hard shape, it's a tinker project.

[rayg]

OK, thanks but if you want you can disregard photos as it doesn't sound like one of the commercial altered ones that I mentioned in my post. I was hoping it was but apparently it's not, Ray

[flying pig]

Ray, I'm pretty sure the first MkIII I had was one of the Royal Marines rifles that was sold off to a commercial sporterized. 26" barrel with a nice crown, nicely cropped fore end, and checkering nicely cut. Was a decent rifle, with a nice looking bore, but I just couldn't get it to shoot minute of moose at 50 feet so away it went.

[rayg]

Thanks F.P. I was just curious what the sold ones that were converted to sporters looked like Ray

[rayg]

I just saw some one is fraudulently trying to sell my Ross today in the F/S section on this site.

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=69730

My rifle is home in my safe. Ray

[browningautorifle]

Interesting, too bad you can't reach through and grab this guy. Apparently someone's decided this is a place to try harvest...Badger'll get 'em...