I just won this at an auction. A Canadian Ross Rifle. The full story on these is quite fascinating and I highly recommend the video by C&Rsenal. The short version is that Canada decided to adopt a rifle of her own design and manufacture due to frustration with being dependent on British whims. The rifle that they adopted was a straight pull designed by Charles Ross, who had powerful friends high-up in the decision making process. This led to a rifle that was never properly tested before adoption and it consequently went through a series of iterations that only led to the final version actually being the worst of the bunch. The Mark III was a disaster in the trenches of WWI and was withdrawn from service in 1916.
This particular version that I just purchased is the Mark II, which is generally considered the best of the bunch. It fixed most of the issues that the Mark I had, and didn't have the worst of the vices introduced with the Mark III. It has an amazing target rifle quality rear sight, with both course and fine elevation adjustment, and windage adjustment. The most unique feature to me is the large button that can depress the magazine follower so that loose rounds can be dumped in. I don't know how anyone thought this was better than stripper clips or en-bloc clips, but it is certainly neat.
Another unusual feature is that there are no serial number markings anywhere on the metal. The Canadians only marked it on the wood, near the butt plate.
The US actually purchased 20,000 of these rifles from Canada to use for training when the US joined the war due to a shortage of arms. Ironically, the rifles were surplus to Canada because they had been replaced by P14's made in the US! The US markings include a second serial number added underneath the grip.
This is one I really look forward to getting to the range, they have an excellent reputation for accuracy.
The following two photos show the magazine follower being depressed by the large button. The location of the button looks awkward, but it is actually very easy to do with the support hand when holding the rifle in the normal manner. It was just hard to photograph.
This particular version that I just purchased is the Mark II, which is generally considered the best of the bunch. It fixed most of the issues that the Mark I had, and didn't have the worst of the vices introduced with the Mark III. It has an amazing target rifle quality rear sight, with both course and fine elevation adjustment, and windage adjustment. The most unique feature to me is the large button that can depress the magazine follower so that loose rounds can be dumped in. I don't know how anyone thought this was better than stripper clips or en-bloc clips, but it is certainly neat.
Another unusual feature is that there are no serial number markings anywhere on the metal. The Canadians only marked it on the wood, near the butt plate.
The US actually purchased 20,000 of these rifles from Canada to use for training when the US joined the war due to a shortage of arms. Ironically, the rifles were surplus to Canada because they had been replaced by P14's made in the US! The US markings include a second serial number added underneath the grip.
This is one I really look forward to getting to the range, they have an excellent reputation for accuracy.
The following two photos show the magazine follower being depressed by the large button. The location of the button looks awkward, but it is actually very easy to do with the support hand when holding the rifle in the normal manner. It was just hard to photograph.
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