Ross Rifle

History of the Ross Rifle

The World War I bolt-action rifle of Canadian origin - the "Ross Rifle" - was actually designed by Scottish Charles Ross. Ross began further development of his new bolt-action rifle in 1896, the design of which was heavily influenced by the then Austro-Hungarian Zira Mannlicher series, which was patented in 1897. Extensive testing was carried out in England to make possible takeover of the army, but the period from 1900 to 1912 was finally abandoned. Under Ross' influence, the weapon was officially adopted by the Canadian Armed Forces in 1902 through the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. The impetus for this effort was the desire to further develop Canada's local military industry independent of the British military industry and to support the useful stockpile of rifles needed by the Canadian Army operating in South Africa.

Serial production of the Ross Rifle began in 1903, followed by the release of the first Model 1905 (Roth Rifle Mk I) in 1905. Produced by the Ross Rifle Company in Quebec.

The Ross rifle is a traditional long-armed firearm with machined metal parts embedded in a one-piece wooden body. The body consists of a shoulder rest, grip, receiver and forearm. A strap connects the wood to a metal tube that runs a short distance at the front end.

An elongated trigger ring is mounted near the handle in the usual manner. The bolt-action grip that hangs on the right side of the gun is a straight-pull design, similar to Europa's Mannlicher series. Iron sights are provided, with a flyer assembly in the center of the gun and a front sight behind the muzzle.

Sling loops on the shoulder rest, pistol grip and front end cap allow attachment of slings on the go. There is also mounting hardware for the bayonet under the muzzle.

The weapon holds the ubiquitous 7.7x56 mm (0.303 imperial) rimmed cartridges, five of which are stored in an internal full magazine. Cartridges mount individually as loose circles, rather than the peel-off clips used in competing designs seen elsewhere. The manual bolt action system allows for single rounds to be fired repeatedly until all rounds in the full magazine are used up.

The muzzle velocity is 2,000 feet per second.

At the time of presentation, the local industry showed some of their inexperience by releasing military rifles that were problematic from the start: a failure to lock the bolt caused the bolt assembly to shoot the shooter back in the cheek, resulting in injuries and - in some cases Case - death. The unique bulk magazine case proved snappy, and extracting used magazines was sometimes not an expected cleaning feature.

Frequent component breakage severely affected the reliability image of the entire series. At a time when there were many excellent foreign alternatives - Lee-Enfield in the UK, Mauser in Germany and the Springfield M1903 in the US, the general build quality was considered poor.

Nonetheless, the Ross rifle will become the standard service rifle in Canada in the near future.

However, such failures eventually resulted in the Ross rifle marking having abnormally long lines throughout its lifespan. As sporting rifles they perform well, and as military rifles they are a damned design.

Beset by shortcomings, the Ross Rifle eventually received the obscene designation Ross Rifle Mk II***** - each asterisk denotes a new (official) rifle shape. To hide this fact, the name was rewritten for a short period of time.

The original production gun became the "Rifle, Ross, Mark 1", which used Harris' patented platform magazine system to hold five rounds. The flip-up visor was also constantly being addressed in this early brand itself.

A carbine form was produced as "Carbine, Ross, Mark 1", which lacked the bayonet connection of the pistol, while also incorporating a full-length leading edge that extended to the muzzle.

"Rifle, Ross, Mark 2" followed, a brand that totally needs to improve the Mark 1 rifle line. The breech system was modified to better accommodate the .303 imperial cartridge, and the firing chamber was modified. The modified designation "Rifle, Short, Ross, Mark 1" was used from April 1912 to cover the number of iterations seen in the firearm series to date - "Rifle, Ross, Mark 2" - nomenclature for gun identification . Changes in sight hardware and mass production practices resulted in the designation "Gewehr, Ross, Mark 2*" (warning asterisk). Then followed "Rifle, Ross, Mark 2**" and Sutherland's rear sight. "Rifle, Ross, Mark 2***" and "Rifle, Ross, Mark 2****" feature minor changes to continually improve the type, as well as use a 28" barrel. The Mark 2 series culminates in the aforementioned "Rifle, Ross, Mark 2*****", which includes the embarrassing asterisk showing the number of official iterations the rifle has seen so far.

In order to hide the facts around these, the name was changed to "Gewehr, Kurz, Ross, Mark 2" in 1912. To add to the confusion, the designation "Rifle, Ross, Mark 2" was reused to cover the earlier iteration "Rifle, Ross, Mark 2**".

In 1911, the Canadian Army began to replace its Mark 2 stock with a 1910 "improved" Ross rifle Mark 3 model (M1910). The modifications to these weapons are enough that they are largely considered entirely new rifle designs. A major difference is that the original solid locking lugs used in the action changed the interrupted three-threaded bolt arrangement.

The Model 1910 Ross also had a stronger rear sight assembly and a longer barrel for improved accuracy. The internal magazine has now been modified into a protruding magazine casing that can be seen in front of the trigger ring. The case now accepts a standard UK 303 charger, just like its UK Lee-Enfield counterpart. Visually, this rifle is noticeably cleaned up, with finer lines than its predecessor - a one-piece single-strap stock with a flatter grip and multi-point ring arrangement. The core of the weapon is still a straight-pull bolt-action rifle and retains the original 7.7x56mm rifling.

The launch of the Mark 3 coincided with Canada's entry into World War I (1914-1918).

In practice, these new guns performed better, but did not refine the design of the Ross rifle. Her internal structure is fairly solid compared to her contemporaries, but the problem remains when Rose is stressed in actual combat conditions. It tends to collect various debris on the battlefield, causing service interruptions repeatedly.

The bolt pop-out problem with earlier brands has been resolved to some extent - although the bolt can still be a hazard to the operator if the new bolt stop system fails. Overall, the weapon did not prove to be a viable rifle design on the harsh battlefield, and Canadian soldiers were quick to adopt Lee-Enfield when possible.

Perhaps the most successful form of the Ross rifle came in the Rifle, Ross, Mark 3 (Sniper's) iteration, which modified the basic Mark 3 product into an accurate long-range sniper system. Because these guns were generally well cared for and not subjected to indecent abuse on the front lines of the First World War, they generally performed well. Modifications include a longer 30.5" barrel for range and the installation of a Warner and Swazi (Cleveland) 5.2x telescopic sight.

The shooter praised this type of accuracy.

In addition to the use of the Canadian Army in the war, a relatively large inventory of rifles was taken over by the British Army from October 1915 under the designation "Rifle, Magazine, Ross, .303 Inch, Mark 3B". A Lee-Enfield cutoff was installed, allowing single rounds to be used with full magazines.

This version also modified the sighting device to suit the needs of the British Army, among other minor changes. The shortage of all small arms forced many of the world powers in World War I to scour their stockpiles, and for the British any rifle - including the troublesome Canadian Ross - was enough to keep going.

The Royal Navy also used this gun until the British finally decommissioned the line in late 1921.

Additional stocks of Rus rifles were shipped to the Russian Empire for use in the East and, with the rise of the Soviet Union, operated to a certain extent under this new flag. During World War II, the Lend-Lease Act further reinforced this figure in the Soviet Union. A certain number of Ross rifles were modified by some French factories during World War I to increase their field reliability, but the modification was insufficient to prevent the line from being largely destroyed by the increasing number of British Lee-En Field SMLE (Short Magazine, Lee-Enfield) bolt action rifle.

Ross rifles still in circulation were then transferred to secondary units for security or training purposes, or simply scrapped.

Production of Ross rifles reached a sizable 419,310 between 1903 and 1915. Of these, some 67,100 served in the British Army until the early 1920s. The guns received further service on the eve of World War II, where they were reissued to the British Home Guard.

Beginning in 1940, the Soviet model was eventually converted to the local Russian 7.62x54R cartridge, producing logistically friendly weapons for the Soviet Union's cause against Germany and the Axis.

Special thanks to user "Terry" for helping to clean up the list of global operators and variants.

Specification

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Performance

Changes