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Thread: This is what passes for intelligent comment on the Ross Rifle?

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    Advisory Panel Surpmil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by vykkagur View Post
    Sorry to show up so late to this post, but I've only just joined and my searches are just now turning these things up.

    Nearly 1,244,000 P14's were produced by the 3 U.S. factories and issued to Britishicon forces, seeing limited service on the Western Front before diminished need for new rifles saw them used for support units and passed on to commonwealth forces. The initial prototypes of the P13, with aperture sight, were designed in 1910-1911, and apertures were fitted experimentally to various Enfields from 1900-on, as a result of Boer War experiences.
    Yes, it was "limited service" on the Western Front indeed: limited to scouts and snipers. The vast majority of P.14s seem to have sat in store with many, perhaps most, sold off during the 1920s and 30s. Some definitely ended up in India, as did many Ross MkIIIs.

    One Dr. Common designed during and just after the Boer War what was for the time a very advanced optical sight for the Lee Enfield which IDS illustrates in his books. Needless to say it was not adopted by the War Office! There is at least one example in the Pattern Room Collection. Short tube, external adjustments, large range dial easily viewed from firing position etc. All features that would be "re-discovered" decades later, but then Dr. Common was a self-taught "amateur".

    There was another advanced optical sight designed by Sir Howard Grubb around the same time, which is detailed here.

    One wonders whether Grubb's work inspired other prismatic sight designs, such as Goerz and Zeiss? That article dates to March, 1901. This would appear to be the first optical sight that allows bifocal use (both eyes open) and therefore predates the Zeiss bifocal of WWI, although the latter was the first true "long eye relief" scope AFAIK.
    Last edited by Surpmil; 12-08-2019 at 01:14 PM.
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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

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