| |
|
| Country |
Canada |
| Type |
Rifle |
| Manufacturer |
Ross |
| Introduction |
1903 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Ross rifle was a straight-pull bolt-action 0.303 inch calibre rifle produced in Canada from 1903 until the middle of the First World War, when it was withdrawn from service in Europe due to its unreliability under wartime conditions, and its widespread unpopularity among the soldiers. Although the Ross .303 was a superior marksman rifle, its mechanism proved too easily fouled in the adverse environment imposed by trench warfare in the First World War and its tight chamber dimensions were unsuitable for larger tolerance British cartridges. With the Mk III, it was also possible for a careless user to disassemble the bolt for cleaning and then reassemble it with the bolt-head rotated a half turn, causing it not to rotate and lock into the receiver. This could result in a highly dangerous and sometimes fatal bolt blow back on firing. Snipers, however, who were able to maintain their weapons carefully and use them to maximum effect, retained a considerable fondness for the weapon.
During the Second Boer War, a minor diplomatic fight broke out between Canada and the United Kingdom, after the latter refused to sell or license the Lee Enfield SMLE design for production in Canada. Sir Charles Ross Bart., a Scottish nobleman, soldier, inventor and entrepreneurial businessman, offered his newly designed straight-pull rifle as a replacement. Ross was well connected in Canadian society and eventually landed his first contract in 1903 for 12,000 Mark I Ross rifles. In all, approximately 420,000 Ross service rifles were produced, 342,040 of which were purchased by the British.
|
