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Ross rifle
The Ross rifle is a straight-pull bolt action rifle chambered in .303 British that was produced in Canada from 1903 until 1918.
The Ross Mk.II (or "model 1905") rifle was highly successful in target shooting before World War I, but the close chamber tolerances, lack of primary extraction and length made the Mk.III (or "1910") Ross rifle unsuitable for the conditions of trench warfare, exacerbated by the often poor quality ammunition issued.
The Ross Rifle Co. made sporting rifles from early in its production, most notably chambered in .280 Ross, introduced in 1907. This cartridge is recorded as the first to achieve over 3,000 ft/s (914 m/s) muzzle velocity and the cartridge acquired a very considerable[clarification needed] international reputation among target shooters and hunters.[page needed]
During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), a minor diplomatic fight broke out between Canada and the United Kingdom, after the latter refused to license the Lee–Enfield SMLE design for production in Canada.[clarification needed] Sir Charles Ross offered to finance the construction of a factory in Canada to produce his newly designed straight-pull rifle for Canadian service. This offer was accepted by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Ross was awarded his first contract in 1903 for 12,000 Mark I Ross rifles.[page needed]
It is generally accepted that Ross' design was inspired by the straight-pull Austrian Mannlicher M1895 rifle introduced into Austro-Hungarian service in the 1890s and used throughout World War I, and as secondary weapons into World War II. Ross' earliest rifles unmistakably borrowed a number of mechanical details directly from the Mannlicher which was a relatively new design at the time Ross was producing his first rifles in the late 1890s.
The operating principle of the straight-pull bolt action comprises a bolt "sleeve" to which the bolt lever or handle is attached. The sleeve is hollow and has spiral grooves or "teeth" cut into its inner surface in which slide corresponding projections or "teeth" on the outside of the bolt head or "body". As the bolt lever and sleeve are moved, the bolt head is forced to rotate through about 90°, locking or unlocking it in the receiver of the rifle. The bolt handle and sleeve thus need only be pushed backwards or forwards to open or close the action of the rifle.
In conventional bolt-action rifles such as the Mauser, Mosin–Nagant or Lee–Enfield, the bolt is unlocked or locked by the raising or lowering of the bolt handle, before the bolt is drawn back and after it is pushed forward. The single motion required to open or close the bolt of a straight-pull-action rifle is theoretically faster and easier for soldiers to learn, thus perhaps offering a higher rate of fire. Unlike the Lee–Enfield, the bolt of the Ross rifle could be taken apart without special tools, although this was not necessarily an advantage as it encouraged unauthorized disassembly by soldiers.
The first 1,000 rifles were given to the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) for testing. Routine inspection before operational testing found 113 defects bad enough to warrant rejection. One of these was a poorly designed bolt lock that enabled the bolt to fall right out of the rifle. Another was poorly tempered component springs that were described as being as "soft as copper". In 1906, the RNWMP reverted to their Model 1894 Winchesters and Lee–Metfords.[citation needed] The Ross rifle was modified to correct these faults and became the Mark II Ross [Model 05 (1905)]. In 1907, the Mk II was modified to handle the higher pressure of new .280 Ross, this variant was called Mk II**. The Model 10 (1910) was a new design, to correct the shortcomings of the 1905. None of the major parts are interchangeable between the 1905 and the 1910 models. Although the British were now encouraging standardization in the Empire on the Lee–Enfield, Canada stayed with the Ross. The Model 10 was the standard infantry weapon of the First Canadian Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force when it first arrived in France in February 1915.[citation needed]
Ross rifle
The Ross rifle is a straight-pull bolt action rifle chambered in .303 British that was produced in Canada from 1903 until 1918.
The Ross Mk.II (or "model 1905") rifle was highly successful in target shooting before World War I, but the close chamber tolerances, lack of primary extraction and length made the Mk.III (or "1910") Ross rifle unsuitable for the conditions of trench warfare, exacerbated by the often poor quality ammunition issued.
The Ross Rifle Co. made sporting rifles from early in its production, most notably chambered in .280 Ross, introduced in 1907. This cartridge is recorded as the first to achieve over 3,000 ft/s (914 m/s) muzzle velocity and the cartridge acquired a very considerable[clarification needed] international reputation among target shooters and hunters.[page needed]
During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), a minor diplomatic fight broke out between Canada and the United Kingdom, after the latter refused to license the Lee–Enfield SMLE design for production in Canada.[clarification needed] Sir Charles Ross offered to finance the construction of a factory in Canada to produce his newly designed straight-pull rifle for Canadian service. This offer was accepted by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Ross was awarded his first contract in 1903 for 12,000 Mark I Ross rifles.[page needed]
It is generally accepted that Ross' design was inspired by the straight-pull Austrian Mannlicher M1895 rifle introduced into Austro-Hungarian service in the 1890s and used throughout World War I, and as secondary weapons into World War II. Ross' earliest rifles unmistakably borrowed a number of mechanical details directly from the Mannlicher which was a relatively new design at the time Ross was producing his first rifles in the late 1890s.
The operating principle of the straight-pull bolt action comprises a bolt "sleeve" to which the bolt lever or handle is attached. The sleeve is hollow and has spiral grooves or "teeth" cut into its inner surface in which slide corresponding projections or "teeth" on the outside of the bolt head or "body". As the bolt lever and sleeve are moved, the bolt head is forced to rotate through about 90°, locking or unlocking it in the receiver of the rifle. The bolt handle and sleeve thus need only be pushed backwards or forwards to open or close the action of the rifle.
In conventional bolt-action rifles such as the Mauser, Mosin–Nagant or Lee–Enfield, the bolt is unlocked or locked by the raising or lowering of the bolt handle, before the bolt is drawn back and after it is pushed forward. The single motion required to open or close the bolt of a straight-pull-action rifle is theoretically faster and easier for soldiers to learn, thus perhaps offering a higher rate of fire. Unlike the Lee–Enfield, the bolt of the Ross rifle could be taken apart without special tools, although this was not necessarily an advantage as it encouraged unauthorized disassembly by soldiers.
The first 1,000 rifles were given to the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) for testing. Routine inspection before operational testing found 113 defects bad enough to warrant rejection. One of these was a poorly designed bolt lock that enabled the bolt to fall right out of the rifle. Another was poorly tempered component springs that were described as being as "soft as copper". In 1906, the RNWMP reverted to their Model 1894 Winchesters and Lee–Metfords.[citation needed] The Ross rifle was modified to correct these faults and became the Mark II Ross [Model 05 (1905)]. In 1907, the Mk II was modified to handle the higher pressure of new .280 Ross, this variant was called Mk II**. The Model 10 (1910) was a new design, to correct the shortcomings of the 1905. None of the major parts are interchangeable between the 1905 and the 1910 models. Although the British were now encouraging standardization in the Empire on the Lee–Enfield, Canada stayed with the Ross. The Model 10 was the standard infantry weapon of the First Canadian Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force when it first arrived in France in February 1915.[citation needed]
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