I Have This Old Gun: Ross Rifle

This week on “I Have This Old Gun”, we take an in-depth look at the history of the Canadian-made Ross Rifle.

[@zrig1]

I just acquired one of these rifles. Saved it from being destroyed.

[@sgtcrab1]

The Ross was a great piece of technonogy but too precise for the mud environment. I would LOVE to have one!

[@lockherup2339]

The only issue is when you reassemble them wrong. Actually a very good gun. I own and shoot one.

[@Nooziterp1]

There's a video on YT, I think by Ian of Forgotten Weapons, that debunks the 'easy to reassemble them wrongly' thing. Also, one detail missed out. The British Home Guard received some in 1940. Found it kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5K2ppyVitZ3jpo

[@s.patrick6136]

Reassembly is critical. Once you have the knack you’re golden.

[@musek5048]

Wtf? No comments? Thats really odd. Well as the first comment i wanna just say i have the mk.3 model and its such a joy to go hunting and out to the range with. Its a shame they got a bad rep for having issues but at least it makes them a bit easier to get and not as expensive! I got mine from a friend who traded some guitar repair work for this rifle. Never letting this beauty go!

[@charlesross8449]

I would love to have this rifle because I have the same name as the creator (Charles Frederick Ross), I've read about this rifle in one of magazines years ago!

[@philt5782]

I've got a 1910 in .280 So very well made. The bolt has exquisite tolerances for a 100 year old rifle. I can understand how it would foul up in a trench. The Smellies are great and served their purpose well but I'm glad I have the Ross as a sporter. So much better made imo.

[@slaughterhound8793]

I still love straight-pull bolt-action rifles!

[@thes.a.s.s.1361]

Thank you for uploading.

[@kentr2424]

The major problem with the Ross wasn't its design. Yes, it had manufacturing flaws (particularly in the bolt head not being properly heat treated) but the real issue with the Ross Mark III was that it was a rifle with very close chamber tolerances slightly modified for military service. If you kept the rifle clean and used in-spec ammo(which is what the snipers did), none of the issues that caused the jams occurred. However, the British Army supply system (which the Canadian Army relied upon) would often assign ammunition made by pre-war existing manufacturers (Kynoch, Eley, Dominion, etc) to machine gun units - machine guns of that era just didn't work with out-of-spec ammo. The riflemen got what was left, and some of it was - shall we say - nowhere near specification and often made by manufacturers who had almost no experience in making ammunition. The bolt was easy to assemble wrong - but it was also easy to see if the soldier had assembled it wrong. Yes, if the soldier did put it together wrong, the Ross could fire without the bolt being locked - obviously not a good thing (Forgotten Weapons has a great video on this). That said, a corporal, sergeant, or officer could take one look at the bolt and see if it was assembled right (a properly assembled Ross bolt is much longer than a wrongly assembled one) and tell the soldier that he did in fact do it wrong and he'd better get it right toot sweet....😁 The solution to these problems was quite simple - the chamber was reamed out slightly to better accept the out of spec ammo, QC was improved at the factory in Quebec, and a pin was inserted into the bolt to prevent wrongly assembling the bolt. However, by the time this was all figured out, the Ross acquired such a bad reputation that the Canadians decided to hell with it, give us the SMLE. Read the book A Rifleman Went To War by Herbert W. McBride. In that book, he says that the First Contingent (1st Canadian Infantry division) that fought in France in 1915 did not have the issues everyone else using the Ross rifle did. He also says that he suspected it was out-of-spec ammunition that caused the problems that cropped up later. Othias of C&Rsenal also has a video on the Ross in which he explains exactly how the out of spec ammo would cause the jamming issue, which led to the shooter literally kicking the bolt open, which would deform the left side of the bolt head (often due to improper heat treatment) when it smacked against the bolt stop. At that point, the rifle was only good as a bayonet mount, so yes, Canadian soldiers would dump the Ross and pick up the nearest SMLE they could find.

[@thebigeasy8609]

Love this channel!

[@ShinobuSakurazaka]

Having shot a number of Lee-Enfield patterned rifles I would say that the Ross rifle is best under ideal conditions but the trade-off is the fact that it is a rather "highly strung" firearm. The British SMLE was cruder in design and function but could keep firing when the going got tough which is exactly what you in war-zone especially in the conditions of trench warfare.

[@GIGATHEBOT]

ahh the rifle that's also a grenade

[@s.patrick6136]

I’ve heard that the Mk 1 had the issues. They apparently corrected the problems with the Mk 2 and later.

[@pukalo]

0:19 he kinda looks like Robert Borden.

[@1joshjosh1]

I have one. Keep her clean and she's a dream

[@winstonskafte5505]

They have the greatest iron sights ever . Love my ross rifles great moose guns .

[@michaelmcgourty9535]

I watched this video a couple days ago and gave it a thumbs up. I came across it again, and it's like I've didn't mark it. Hmmmm.

[@michaeldelucci4379]

I thought the Canadian troops in South Africa used the Lee-Medford

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

watch C&R Arsenal's video on the Ross Rifle. all the issues had been fixed but right as that happened the Canadian government and everyone was just tired of the rifle and just opted out to get SMLE rifles . SMLE also had 10 round magazine so in the end it was a better rifle

[@toddsb07]

I need one!

[@tberkoff]

Phil needs to subscribe to Forgotten Weapons and watch Ian's testing of the Ross Rifle. Even when re-assembled incorrectly, the rifle does not explode and the bolt does not leave the rifle. Seems like all those stories are urban legends or greatly exaggerated.

[@Jarod-te2bi]

Proudly Canadian made 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@chris.3711]

WW1 was the true testing ground for military rifles across the world, leading to numerous reworks and replacements of guns before the second world war.

[@davidbrown4097]

Ross was forced to use 303 he didn’t think it was better

[@lukeWiz44]

MOVE BETWEEN THE LINES

[@SeanDahle]

Good for snipers, bad for infantry

[@crowcommander4791]

Canada eh :)

[@j.ongman5512]

too bad, it's a fine rifle if not a muddy trench rifle

[@bobbycollings6964]

I'm Canadian and I hate the Ross Rifle. That's how bad it is