1905 Ross Rifle

T

tailgunner82

Inactive
I acquired a 1905 Ross Rifle from my grandfather when he died. Unfortunately, it was nearly all in parts in a coffee can. I was able to assemble most of the parts back into the gun through just simple firearms knowledge, however, I am certain that I am missing a number of smaller parts and screws. I have been unable to find any exploded diagrams of the gun nor have I been able to locate any parts for sale online or elsewhere. I have checked Numrich/Gun Parts Corp with no luck. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Is this a Canadian Ross? WWI or commercial model? IIRC, these were known to put the bolt back into the shooters skulls. NOT user friendly! I would assemble what I had, superglue whatever is loose, spray it with lacquer and hang it on the wall.
 
It was the Ross Model 1910, not the Model 1905, that gained a bad reputation because the bolt (with considerable effort and a lot of stupidity) can be accidentally assembled wrong and installed. The Model 1905 was a good rifle and quite well made. However, I am afraid that parts will be mostly unobtainable. You might check with Marstar (queries@marstar.ca) and see if they have any parts and if they can ship to the U.S.

BTW, the story about the Ross 1910 bolt is not fiction; I can assemble one wrong and the rifle would be very dangerous if fired that way. But, with the bolt assembled properly, it is a very strong rifle. I have used one with ammo that blew a No. 1 Mk III. The Ross never blinked.

Jim
 
There is an armorer (sp?) retro-fit that put a rivet in the bolt body of the 1910's that supposedly kept it from being assembled wrong. I've seen this on several and it appears to work.
I once had a commercial 1910 in 280 Ross. Wish I still had it. What a beautiful rifle. (and interesting cartridge)

Dean
 
The .280 Ross was supposedly the inspiration behind the .276 Enfield cartridge, which is why that round has a very large base (.528"), which is why the Pattern 1913 rifle has a big, bulging, magazine, which is why the Pattern 1914 has a magazine big enough for the rimmed .303, which is why the U.S. Model 1917 has a magazine that will actually hold six rounds of .30-'06.

How's that for "Connections."

Jim
 
There is a wonderful fellow in Batavia, New York, who is one the world's leading authorities on the Ross Rifles. He's even written a book on the topic. Unfortuanately. I haven't had any contact with him in several years. His email address used to be: barryj@localnet.com I hope this helps. Best of luck and good shooting -- Steve
 
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