Today we feature a true legend of Canadian military history—the Ross rifle.
The Ross is an excellent example of how legends are not always built on positive associations.
The rifle was invented by Sir Charles Ross in the 1890s. Ross, an army officer, sharpshooter and big game hunter, designed the rifle with automatically-rotating bolt locking lugs, similar to the mechanism found on many artillery pieces. This allowed the bolt to be operated with a simple pull/push action—two movements, instead of the four required to manually rotate the bolt of a Lee-Enfield or Mauser rifle (respectively, the standard rifle of the British and German armies of the time). In addition to the higher rate of fire this feature delivered, the Ross scored high points for accuracy, and was a full pound lighter than the Lee-Enfield.
The attributes of the Ross rifle looked good on paper, but field-testing the weapon revealed some serious drawbacks. One is that the rifle was susceptible to jamming under rapid-fire conditions, or when using dirty ammunition. Another problem was that the complicated bolt could easily be assembled incorrectly, and upon firing could blow back into the face of the shooter. Redesigns of the rifle in 1905 and 1910 intended to correct these deficiencies. The Ross, championed by Minister of Militia Sam Hughes, was officially adopted, and equipped the first waves of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War.
Upon arrival in Belgium and France, it was clear the Ross was still plagued with problems. In addition to jamming easily in the mud and dirt of the trenches, it was found the rifle’s bayonet had a tendency to fall off during firing. Many Canadian soldiers at the Second Battle of Ypres (April, 1915) threw aside their Ross’ at the first opportunity to acquire a Lee-Enfield from British casualties. In July 1916, Sir Douglas Haig ordered the replacement of all Ross rifles with Lee-Enfields.
That wasn’t quite the end for the Ross, though. It remained popular through World War One with snipers for its long range accuracy, providing it could be kept clean. In World War Two, the Ross was issued to home guard units, training depots, the Royal Canadian Navy, and to Veteran’s Guard units. Following the Second World War, large numbers of Ross rifles were sold as military surplus—which was the fate of the rifle pictured above. It was acquired by a farmer near Hilda, Alberta, and used to hunt deer which supplemented the farm’s income. Many such rifles had their wooden stocks cut down to lighten them as hunting rifles—this one is almost in complete military configuration. The one concession made to adapt it to hunting was to cut off the foresight hood, as it was found too confining when trying to target game. Like so many other Ross rifles, it remained in use on the farm…until it was replaced by a Lee-Enfield.
The Ross is an excellent example of how legends are not always built on positive associations.
The rifle was invented by Sir Charles Ross in the 1890s. Ross, an army officer, sharpshooter and big game hunter, designed the rifle with automatically-rotating bolt locking lugs, similar to the mechanism found on many artillery pieces. This allowed the bolt to be operated with a simple pull/push action—two movements, instead of the four required to manually rotate the bolt of a Lee-Enfield or Mauser rifle (respectively, the standard rifle of the British and German armies of the time). In addition to the higher rate of fire this feature delivered, the Ross scored high points for accuracy, and was a full pound lighter than the Lee-Enfield.
The attributes of the Ross rifle looked good on paper, but field-testing the weapon revealed some serious drawbacks. One is that the rifle was susceptible to jamming under rapid-fire conditions, or when using dirty ammunition. Another problem was that the complicated bolt could easily be assembled incorrectly, and upon firing could blow back into the face of the shooter. Redesigns of the rifle in 1905 and 1910 intended to correct these deficiencies. The Ross, championed by Minister of Militia Sam Hughes, was officially adopted, and equipped the first waves of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War.
Upon arrival in Belgium and France, it was clear the Ross was still plagued with problems. In addition to jamming easily in the mud and dirt of the trenches, it was found the rifle’s bayonet had a tendency to fall off during firing. Many Canadian soldiers at the Second Battle of Ypres (April, 1915) threw aside their Ross’ at the first opportunity to acquire a Lee-Enfield from British casualties. In July 1916, Sir Douglas Haig ordered the replacement of all Ross rifles with Lee-Enfields.
That wasn’t quite the end for the Ross, though. It remained popular through World War One with snipers for its long range accuracy, providing it could be kept clean. In World War Two, the Ross was issued to home guard units, training depots, the Royal Canadian Navy, and to Veteran’s Guard units. Following the Second World War, large numbers of Ross rifles were sold as military surplus—which was the fate of the rifle pictured above. It was acquired by a farmer near Hilda, Alberta, and used to hunt deer which supplemented the farm’s income. Many such rifles had their wooden stocks cut down to lighten them as hunting rifles—this one is almost in complete military configuration. The one concession made to adapt it to hunting was to cut off the foresight hood, as it was found too confining when trying to target game. Like so many other Ross rifles, it remained in use on the farm…until it was replaced by a Lee-Enfield.
Very nice Ross Mk II, and an early one based on the early rear sight. Thank you for posting the details and the story. These rifles had their military history literally stamped into the woodwork on the buttstock, indicating which military unit(s) to which the rifle was allocated. Just to further elaborate, the rifle pictured, the Mk II, is not the Ross Rifle with which Canada went to war in 1914. That was the Ross Mk III. Though flawed, these rifles represent an important part of Canadian history, and it's great to see the Museum with one in its possession.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional info, YYCflier!
ReplyDelete