The Ross M10
History has given the Ross rifle quite the beating, some of it justified some of it not. It started out with the British snubbing the colony of Canada and denying them the use of the SMLE No.1 pattern for their own use, forcing the Canadian government to try and find their own combat rifle. Designed by Sir. Charles Ross and through some alleged back room dealings the Ross was adopted by the Canadian Army. Heavier, longer and machined to tight tolerances it proved in battle to be unreliable and cumbersome. The Ross rifles did not handle the lower quality British made .303 ammunition very well and when combined with the dirt from the trenches it would jam up. It is alleged that during the heat of battle Canadians could be seen stomping on their bolt handles to try and get them open, most would abandon the Ross for the SMLE when possible. The other major problem encountered with the Ross had to do with the assembly of the rifle after it had been dissembled. In the earlier models the bolt if assembled wrong in the rifle would fire out rearward upon firing, smashing the face of the person firing the rifle. This was fixed in later models by a small rivet installed in the bolt that prevents the bolt form being assembled incorrectly.
I purchased this rifle, again from my brother-in-law. It is quite possibly one of the most fun rifles to shoot. The straight pull action takes a little getting used to but I would argue its faster and smoother then the Lee-Enfields. The rifle was sporterized when I got it with replica stocks running about $400-$500. However the impossible part to find is the nose cap making restoring the stock pointless at this point. The previous owner also decided to modify the rear sights, unfortunately they didn't do a very good job and I have yet to hit paper at 100 meters with it.
I purchased this rifle, again from my brother-in-law. It is quite possibly one of the most fun rifles to shoot. The straight pull action takes a little getting used to but I would argue its faster and smoother then the Lee-Enfields. The rifle was sporterized when I got it with replica stocks running about $400-$500. However the impossible part to find is the nose cap making restoring the stock pointless at this point. The previous owner also decided to modify the rear sights, unfortunately they didn't do a very good job and I have yet to hit paper at 100 meters with it.
Below are a couple pictures of the butchered sight.
To help illustrate the size of the Ross I placed it next to a SMLE No.1 and a P14. The SMLE is 44.5" long, the P14 is 46.5" long and the Ross is 50.5" long.