NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ross rifle

The Ross rifle was a straight-pull bolt-action .303 calibre rifle produced in Canada from 1903 until the middle of the First World War, when it was withdrawn from service in Europe due to its unreliability under wartime conditions, and its widespread unpopularity among the soldiers. Although the Ross .303 was a superior marksman rifle, its mechanism proved too easily clogged in the adverse environment imposed by trench warfare in the First World War. With the Mk III, it was also possible for a careless user to disassemble the bolt for cleaning and then reassemble it with the bolt-head on back to front, resulting in a highly dangerous and sometimes fatal failure of the bolt to lock in the forward position on firing. Snipers, however, who were able to maintain their weapons carefully and use them to maximum effect, retained a considerable fondness for the weapon.^[1] A sporting version using a new .280 calibre "magnum" round was produced for some time, and both the Ross rifle and the .280 Ross cartridge acquired a very considerable international reputation among target shooters, deer-stalkers and safari hunters. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1950x402, 200 KB) Canadian Ross Rifle, displayed at the Royal Canadian Regiment Military Museum in London, Ontario. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The word calibre (British English) or caliber (American English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. ... In firearms terminology, an action is the system of operation that the firearm employs to seal the breech (in a breech-loading firearm), and to load consecutive rounds. ... A bolt-action firearm is one that is manually operated (i. ... (for paintball markers also)Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2046x780, 485 KB) Canadian Ross Rifle, displayed at the Royal Canadian Regiment Military Museum in London, Ontario. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2046x780, 485 KB) Canadian Ross Rifle, displayed at the Royal Canadian Regiment Military Museum in London, Ontario. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2048x1009, 582 KB) Canadian Ross Rifle, displayed at the Royal Canadian Regiment Military Museum in London, Ontario. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2048x1009, 582 KB) Canadian Ross Rifle, displayed at the Royal Canadian Regiment Military Museum in London, Ontario. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 341 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (567 Ã— 997 pixel, file size: 115 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Ross Mk III (1910) and MK II* (1907 - Commercial Target) actions File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 341 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (567 Ã— 997 pixel, file size: 115 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Ross Mk III (1910) and MK II* (1907 - Commercial Target) actions File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that... A bolt-action firearm is one that is manually operated (i. ... .303 cartridge The . ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... A US Marine marksman. ... The . ...

History

During the Second Boer War, a minor diplomatic fight broke out between Canada and the United Kingdom, after the latter refused to sell or license the Lee Enfield design for production in Canada. Sir Charles Ross Bart., a Scottish nobleman, soldier, inventor and entrepreneurial businessman, offered his newly designed straight-pull rifle as a replacement. Ross was well connected in Canadian society and eventually landed his first contract in 1903 for 12,000 Mark I Ross rifles. Combatants British Empire Orange Free State South African Republic Commanders Sir Redvers Buller Lord Kitchener Lord Roberts Paul Kruger Louis Botha Koos de la Rey Martinus Steyn Christiaan de Wet Casualties 6,000 - 7,000 (A further ~14,000 from disease) 6,000 - 8,000 (Unknown number from disease) Civilians... The Lee-Enfield was, in various marks and models, the British Armys standard bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle for over 60 years from (officially) 1895 until 1956, although it remained in British service well into the early 1960s and is still found in service in the armed forces... Sir Charles Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart Ross, 9th baronet of Balnagowan (born April 4, 1872, Scotland died June 29, 1942 in St. ... This article is about the country. ...

Although he claimed the design was entirely his own, Ross proposed an action that was actually patterned very closely after the Steyr 1890. In this design, the bolt locking lugs are mounted on a screw, and when the operating handle is pulled or pushed, the screw automatically turns to rotate the locking lugs into place in the action receiver. The design is generally similar to that used on most artillery pieces. Unlike the more common bolt actions found in the Mauser and Lee Enfield, the Ross action did not need to have the handle rotated a quarter turn before the bolt was pulled back, and this feature theoretically offered a higher rate of fire. In addition to this alleged advantage over the Lee Enfield, the Ross was also a pound lighter and could be disassembled more quickly without special tools.^[2] For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... Mauser is the common name of a German arms manufacturer, maker of a line of bolt-action rifles from the 1870s to present. ...

Service

The first 1000 rifles were given to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for testing. Routine inspection before operational testing found 113 defects bad enough to warrant rejection. One of these was a poorly designed bolt lock that enabled the bolt to fall right out of the rifle. Another was poorly tempered component springs that were described as being as "soft as copper". In 1906, the RCMP reverted to their Model 1894 Winchesters and Lee-Metfords. RCMP redirects here. ... The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms during the late 19th Century and the early 20th Century. ... The Lee-Metford rifle was a breech-loading British army service rifle, combining James Paris Lees rear-locking bolt system and ten-round magazine with a seven groove rifled barrel designed by William Ellis Metford. ...

The Ross rifle was modified to correct these faults and became the Mark II Ross (Model 05 {1905)). In 1907, the Mk II was modified to handle the higher pressure of newly designed .280 Ross, this variant was called Mk II**. The Model 10 (1910) was a completely new design, made to correct the shortcomings of the 1905. None of the major parts are interchangeable between the 1905 and the 1910 Models. The Model 10 was the standard infantry weapon of the First Canadian Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force when it first arrived in France in February 1915. 26th Battalion of the Second Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915 The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the group of Canadian military units formed for service overseas in the First World War. ...

The shortcomings of the rifle were made apparent during the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. The rifle showed poor tolerance of dirt when used in field conditions, particularly the screw threads operating the bolt lugs, jamming the weapon open or closed. Another part of the jamming problem came from the bolt's outer face hitting the bolt stop, then deforming the thread shape. The bolt could also be disassembled for routine cleaning and inadvertently reassembled in a manner that would fail to lock but still allow a round to be fired, leading to serious injury or death of the operator as the bolt flew back into his face. "Thankfully such incidents were minor."^[3] Another well-known deficiency was the tendency for the bayonet to fall off the rifle when the weapon was fired.^[4] Many Canadians of the First Contingent (now renamed the First Canadian Division) at Ypres retrieved Lee Enfields from British casualties to replace their Ross rifles.^[5] Lieutenant Chris Scriven of the Tenth Battalion commented that it sometimes took five men just to keep one rifle firing. ^[6] This article or section is incomplete and may require expansion and/or cleanup. ... The Calgary Highlanders are a Land Force Reserve Infantry Regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armoury in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ...

Complaints rapidly reached the rifle's chief sponsor, the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence Sam Hughes. He nevertheless continued to believe in its strengths, following professional advice from Sir Edwin Alderson. In particular, the Ross was more accurate at long range than the SMLE, and this potentially overcame the serious problem British and Canadian troops had faced during the Boer War, with the accurate long-range fire from the 7 mm Mauser. Sam Hughes The Honourable Sir Samuel Hughes, PC (January 8, 1853 â€“ August 23, 1921) was the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence during World War I. // Early life Samuel pooes was born January 8, 1853, at Solina near Bowmanville in what was then Canada West. ... Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson (8 April 1859 â€“ 14 December 1927) was an English officer who served in the British Army during the Second Boer War, and later commanded elements of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. External links Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online Categories... The 7x57 Mauser, also known as the 7 mm Mauser, 7 mm Spanish Mauser, and .275 Rigby, was developed as a military cartridge in 1893 for use by the military forces of Spain. ...

In all, approximately 420,000 Ross service rifles were produced, 342,040 of which were purchased by the British. ^[7]

Replacement

Canadians retained the Ross even as additional contingents arrived in France. By the time of the Somme battles of July 1916, Sir Douglas Haig, the new Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, had ordered the replacement of all Ross rifles in the three Canadian Divisions by the Lee-Enfield, which was finally available in quantity. Hughes refused to accept that there were problems with the Ross, and it took the intervention of many influential people to persuade him otherwise. In November 1916, Hughes resigned after Sir Robert Borden's decision to appoint a Minister of Overseas Forces. Ross rifles were then used in training roles, both in Canada and the UK, to free up more Lee-Enfields for the front. (More were also shipped to the U.S. in 1917 for the same reasons, freeing up supplies of the M1903 Springfield rifle.) Hughes' reputation was inevitably tarnished, but Sir Charles Ross had already made a considerable fortune from his rifle design and manufacturing contracts. Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (June 19, 1861 - January 28, 1928) was a British soldier and senior commander during World War I. He had independent wealth: his family manufactured Haig & Haig whisky. ... The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the British army sent to France and Belgium in World War I and British Forces in Europe from 1939â€“1940 during World War II. The BEF was established by Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War in case the... Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC, DCL, LL.D (June 26, 1854 â€“ June 10, 1937) was the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911, to July 10, 1920, and the third Nova Scotian to hold this office. ... The Springfield M1903, formally the United States Rifle, Caliber . ...

At around same time, the Dominion Rifle Factory (Quebec City) converted a number of Rosses to light machine guns (LMGs), under the guidance of a designer named Huot. It was an ugly but effective design, feeding from a drum magazine, and cheaper than a Lewis Gun. Unfortunately, despite the Canadian Corps' facing a severe shortage of LMGs, protracted trials led to its being rejected for reasons of flimsiness of construction.^{[citation needed]} Nickname: Motto: Don de Dieu feray valoir (I shall put Gods gift to good use; the Don de Dieu was Champlains ship) Coordinates: , Country Province Agglomeration Quebec City Statute of the city Capitale-Nationale Administrative Region Capitale-Nationale Founded 1608 by Samuel de Champlain Constitution date 1833 Government... The M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, one of the most popular modern 5. ... Huot is a place name for an unincorporated community in Red Lake County, Minnesota. ... A drum magazine. ... The Lewis Gun is a pre-World War I era squad automatic weapon/machine gun of American design that was most widely used by the forces of the British Empire. ...

Because of its long range accuracy, the Ross rifle continued in use among Allied snipers after it was withdrawn from normal front-line use in Europe. British snipers found the rifle accurate out to 600 yards and more, with only one inherent disadvantage: the Ross accepted only perfectly clean ammunition, totally free of mud and grit, or else it invariably jammed.^[8]

Sporting variant

Sir Ross settled a gun factory in Hartford, Connnecticut, with machinist J. A. Bennett, to produce a sporting rifle called Model 1897 Magazine Sporting Rifle a hinged hammer type rifle. By the same time, he made commercial agreement with famous gunnmaker Charles Lancaster, inventor of the oval bore, to be his exclusive U.K. agent.^[9]^[10] When used by itself in a sentence, the term Hartford can refer to one of several places in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area Ranked 48th - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 kmÂ²) - Width 70 miles (113 km) - Length 110 miles (177 km) - % water 12. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the European Union. ...

Early 1900, he brang out the Model 1900 Sporter, still made in Bennett's factory. This action used a coil spring to activate the firing pin, instead of the hinged-hammer of the M1897. Very few of these sporting rifles are known to exist. The militarized Pattern 1900 was also the first to be offered for trial to Canada..^[9]^[10] A compression coil spring A tension coil spring A selection of conical coil springs A Coil spring, also known as a helical spring, is a mechanical device, which is typically used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces. ...

Following was Model 1903 Sporter some of these rifles were made in Hartford, Connecticut, but most (200 units, made from spare parts) were assembled at the brand new fabricating plant in Quebec City. Some of the Pattern 1903 Sporting Rifles were made in the .370 Express caliber, while some prototype chambered for .450/.500 Nitro is known to exist..^[9]^[10]

Some sporterized M1905 (Mk II) military rifle were made availlable to general public in 1906.This model was called Model M. In 1907, Ross brought out the Model E, his first entirely Canadian-made rifle, based on the 1905 military action, chambered for .303 British and .35 WCF. Following was Model R, wich was a plain looking rifle, no checkering, in caliber .303 British only. In November 1906, Sir Ross while in the process of developping a new and very powerful .280 caliber sporting cartridge, made some experimental testings with a necked-down version of the new 30-06 Springfield case wich he called the .28-1906 (one rifle is known to exist). This led to the design of the .280 Ross. The new high-pressure round required some strengthening of the bolt and action receiver, but the rifle was otherwise only slightly different from the .303 Mark II. This design, called MK II**, was a transitional step between Mk II and Mk III actions.^[9] Eight . ... The . ...

Model 1910 (Mk III) was made with a totally different bolt head; instead of having the solid bolt lugs travel in a vertical position and lock in a horizontal position, like for the Mk II and Mk II** (see illustration), Ross turned it 90 degrees so it travels in an horizontal position and locks vertically. Then, he used screw threads on the lugs outside wich are locking into the matching threaded receiver. Some very scarce Mk II** with the same threaded lugs and receiver are known to exist. He also used the same shape of heavy barrel as used on the Mk II**. The M-10, in .280 Ross, is considered by many as being the finest rifle ever made by the Ross Rifle Co.^[9]^[10]

1912 saw the introduction of the .22 rimfire sporting rifle. While using a simpler mechanism, it was still a straight-pull action. This model was very popular in Canada.^[9]^[10] (Redirected from . ...

The problems with the Ross in combat were that it was really a sporting design of rifle asked to do the work of a military rifle under trench warfare conditions, so it is not surprising that in the sporting role the Ross became quite popular after the war. The new .280 Ross cartridge gained it a fine reputation for medium-sized game, and for a time after 1918 it was a fairly common rifle on safari. It also proved itself as being an outstanding Match Rifle, building a strong reputation for accuracy. Map of Africa 1890 Look up safari in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Ross Mark II** Commercial Target Model in caliber ,303 British, with a 30 1/2 inches (775mm) heavy barrel, was a real success in the Match Ranges from 1908 to 1913. This rifle was looking like the military Mk II**, using the same bolt, except having the sight bridge mounted on the receiver. A scarce Presentation Target Rifle was also availlable. Unlike it's military counterpart, it had the serial number stamped on the barrel.^[10]

Model 1907 and 1905/1910 Match Target Rifle These very important single-shot rifles (two rifles are known to exist) are bearing special feature that would make the M11910 so different; the threaded locking lugs and receiver.^[9]^[10]

Military Match Target Rifle unlike the military Mk III this rifle was using a box type magazine with flat floorplate. It was using the Ross Mk III military sight modified to fit the .280 Ross ammunitions. Barrel was 26 inches long.^[9]^[10]

Developments

After the rejection of the Ross as a battlefield rifle, the Dominion Rifle Factory adapted the action to a light machinegun, the Huot, using surplus rifles. While ugly, these were cheaper than the Lewis guns. They were put to extensive trials; the war ended before they entered service.^[11] Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... The Huot was a Canadian World War I light machinegun project. ... The Lewis Gun is a pre-World War I era squad automatic weapon/machine gun of American design that was most widely used by the forces of the British Empire. ...

Other users

Ross rifles were used once again in the Second World War. The Mark 3 Ross rifle was supplied to the Royal Canadian Navy, the Veteran's Guard of Canada, coastal defense units, training depots, the British Home Guard and the Soviets. ^[12] Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Contents

History

Service

Replacement

Sporting variant

Developments

Other users

See also

References

Sources

External links