[daveefish]

mk 2. there is a knurled button that slides on the rear of the bolt. what is the function?

also... this is a sporter rifle. has anyone hung a "no-gunsmith" type of scope mount on a ross mk2? any ideas?

thanks dave

 

[targetman]

The knurled button is in fact a slide bolt safety, these were fitted to the 1905 pattern Mk11 Ross, the later pattern Mk11* and the Mk111 had a revolving flag type safety on the right of the bolt.

 

[mawkie]

I've never seen a no-drill mount for any Ross. All the photos I've seen of Sporters and military issues Rosses, of various marks, had the mounts drilled and tapped into the receiver. And these were not factory installations, most were performed by gunsmiths like Alex Martin in Glasgow. The MKII is especially difficult as it doesn't have any obvious place to hang bits from on the receiver. You might be able to build a "scout" mount that sits in the place of the rear sight and uses a long eye relief scope.

 

[daveefish]

hmmm... the button only seems to slide when the bolt is not in battery, as in pulled back. perhaps something is amiss dave

 

[daveefish]

yes, i was thinking about a scout type mount. these two screws in the sight are a possibility. dave

 

[daveefish]

gunsmith

i turned the ross over to my gunsmith for inspection....

 

[mawkie]

Took a quick look in my copy of "The Ross Rifle Story" and I stand corrected. Forgot that the factory did build 250 MKIII sniper rifles in 1915 based on the Warner Swasey musket sight (same scope as used on many Springfield 1903 sniper rifles in WWI). A second batch of 250 were completed in 1917 for a grand total of 500 sniper rifles.
This is what happens when you post from your work desk while eating lunch, w.o. a good reference book at hand!
Would love to see what your 'smith comes up with (wish my Pop had given me a Ross to play with when I was a lad)! And whatever you do, don't lose the original Sutherland sight on the MKII! That puppy's worth a nice dollar. The Martini crowd found out that these sights just drop onto their rifles, instantly improving the sight system. I even have one on my Martini .22 military trainer. Worlds better than the original sight.
BTW, just found out that I was high bidder on a Ross MKIII that "appears to have a frozen bolt head". Need another project! Got it right (sub $400) and the rest of the rifle looks good. Will post photos for Ross lovers when it arrives. I currently have a MKIII that I take to the range often and it will keep up with my Finn M/28-30. Hope this new acquisition can be salvaged!

 

[daveefish]

serial number on receiver is 63xx, bolt is 13xx. is there data anywhere linking serial number and manufacturing date? btw, i have a grandaughter who sleeps with a dolly named baby josh. a grandson who sleeps with a dolly named baby derrick. this grandson sleeps with a minimum of one hammer. dave

 

[Ross280]

The problem with the rat race is that even if you win you're still a rat!

Rats won't last long with that Wire on the property!

Couple of photos for your enjoyment.

 

[daveefish]

does the frozen bolt match the receiver? if not, i see ross bolts around on ebay, and the gun auctions. dave

 

[daveefish]

cool pics. i had to zoom it to see the lettering to even know what it was! no idea how it might mount. dave

 

[daveefish]

WARNER & SWASEY TELESCOPIC SIGHT MODEL 1913 $1,695.00

copied from the simpson ltd. website. could not copy their picture dave

 

[daveefish]

pic

here's one off ebay. $1200 or so

 

[Joe Turner]

1905 Ross safety

Some of those safetys are hard to push, e good soaking with a gun solvent may help but two of my clean 1905s require a good firm push to engage the safetys. This was an ongoing complaint about this model amongst other things. Basically you are trying to engage a cocked or loaded firing pin with a rather small operating platform. Joe

 

[David Murvihill]

IIRC the years on Ross 1905's were stamped on the stock. If yours has been refinished you're out of luck. I took apart mine (converted to target) and found the serial # in the barrel channel, but the build year was on the butt and sanded off.

 

[daveefish]

david, this sporter stock was heavily sanded. no marking. dave

joe, soaking the slide in mouse milk. dave

 

[mawkie]

Rats won't last long with that Wire on the property!

Couple of photos for your enjoyment.

Thanks so much for the photos, fantastic! I've harbored a hare-brained scheme to mount a Warner Swasey musket sight on a MKIII but just couldn't bring myself to deface a perfectly good Ross to do it.
BTW, you have a good eye for dogs! Tucker is indeed a Wire Haired Fox Terrier (WHTF) and while not nearly the mouser that my first WHTF was (that guy caught any and everything, even chased a white tailed deer one evening) he does just fine. Even brought a dead squirrel into the house through the doggy door to show off what he had caught.