[Krag]

I just found this photo from WW2 of Russians in a store room full of Ross Mk. IIB rifles.

 

[DocAV]

Probably in the Baltic States, 1940-45 period. The Baltic States ( Estonia in particular) received large quantities of .303 calibre equipment in 1919-1920 from England, and .303 was one of their Issue calibres till the annexation by Soviets in 1940. Then their rifles etc wewre issued to "people's Militia in the 1941 german Invasion ( Defence of Moscow and Leningrad...One rifle, one clip of ammo.) Ross rifdles are rarely seen, more often P14 rifles and Occasionally Long Lee Enfields.
( Movie news reels).

Regards,
Doc AV
AV Ballistics.

 

[Krag]

Doc:

Yeah, I've got quite a few pics of the Balts with P14 and Ross rifles - some courtesy of Brent. I found that picture on a Russian language website about WW2.

 

[RETREAD]

I remember reading about post war Soviet Olympic target rifles being based on the Ross action. Does anyone here remember or care ?? This action was reputed to be quite accurate at targets, but was a severe disappointment in field usage.

 

[doughboy1953]

Supposedly in the late 1950s Russians won "running boar" event (or some such) with Rosses.
The Ross was reputedly the most accurate shooting sniper rifle of World War I and some Ross fans claimed US target rules in the first decade or 15 years of the 20th century had to be rewritten to exclude Rosses from service rifle matches to give US made rifles a chance to win.
Ironically, when Canada officially dumped the Ross, the immediate problems with improper disassembly of the Mk III had been resolved. However, there were still probably primary extraction problems supposedly endemic to straight pulls.

 

[Clyde]

A properly set up Ross was and is an excellent target arm. I know the Russians had a straight-pull they won a lot of medals at moving targets with, but for the life of me I cannot recall if anybody ever claimed or admitted they were based on the Ross.

With ammo loaded to reasonable pressures in good (that is - toward the minimum specifications) cases, they are quite trouble-free in operation. On a nice, dry, clean range....

I know that McBride (A RIFLEMAN WENT TO WAR) was quite fond of his Ross for sniping and managed to hang on to it for some time after the Lee-Enfields were issued to the Canadian forces he was part of in lieu of the M-1910 Rosses that were such disasters in terms of reliability in the trenches. Or at least that's what he claimed in his book, and I presume he knew.

 

[DocAV]

Soviet Post war Olympic and World Shooting match rifles included a "Ross"-derived Running Deer/Running Boar Target rifle. A couple were "souvenired" during the Melbourne Olympics ( 1956) by Aussie Shooters...they still pop up occasionally in discussions here in Australia. Of Course, they had a Tula Model designation, but Absolutely No reference to the Ross Rifle Co. origin. Calibre was 6,5x54R ( or 6,35x54R).

These led to the Aussies trying their own "Straight Pull" Target rifle, based on a "manualised" M1 Garand, and with custom shell cases and cartridges made by Footscray ( a "Rimless" .303 case, loaded with a 125 grain projectile). It was fielded in the 1958 World Shooting competition, but then disappeared from the scene. The Russians took a keen interest in the design, at the 58 Shoot, but nothing more....

Regards,
Doc AV
A V ballistics.

 

[David Murvihill]

IIRC the complaint was that the Canadians weren't using an issue military weapon because their target rifles were in .280 Eley and couldn't fit a bayonet. the Mk 3 Ross problems were 1. the upside down disassembly issue, fixed by adding a rivet to the bolt preventing upside down reassembly, 2. a chamber designed for tighter tolerances than British ammunition manufacturing standards, fixed by reaming out the chamber and 3. the lips of the first thread on the locking bolts were too thin and susceptible to damage, causing cycling difficulty. The soldiers would get an oversized cartridge, pound it in the chamber with various trench utensils and cause damage to the locking threads making the gun more stiff rather than less. Quickly the gun would seize entirely and the soldier woulld end up with an expensive spear. All these issues were fixed in field workshops, but by that time the decision had been made to arm the Canadian contingent with Enfields.

Supposedly in the late 1950s Russians won "running boar" event (or some such) with Rosses.
The Ross was reputedly the most accurate shooting sniper rifle of World War I and some Ross fans claimed US target rules in the first decade or 15 years of the 20th century had to be rewritten to exclude Rosses from service rifle matches to give US made rifles a chance to win.
Ironically, when Canada officially dumped the Ross, the immediate problems with improper disassembly of the Mk III had been resolved. However, there were still probably primary extraction problems supposedly endemic to straight pulls.

 

[Baribal]

Little precisions to the above;

It was re-assembly and not dis-assembly wich was in cause with the Mk III bolt (you got it right at the end of the sentence). And it,s a "out of timing" of the mating threads of the bolt head and the bolt body wich caused the failure, not really a "upside-down" procedure.

Also, on the mk III, the rear lug (last portion of the screw thread of the bolt head) is hammering on the bolt stop and the first versions used a small diameter of bolt stop, wich was cured in later by using a larger diameter bolt stop. This small diameter was mating on on smal surface and the use of a larger diameter bolt stop provided much more mating surface.
The bolt heads were also re-heat treated in England, under suspect procedures, resulting in soft and brittle heads.

 

[DRC]

My father fought in North Africa and Italy during WW2, he was attached to an Austrailian unit. He always said that the finest fighting man was a sober Austrailian, the most accurate rifle was his 'Ross', the best grenade was the German stick and the most useful CQB firearm was a Thompson with a 50 round magazine.

He also liked small Italian light tanks and 31/2 tonners. He seemed to have had an 'interesting' war.......