five.five-six
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I’ve been enjoying restoring milsurp rifles for some time. I learn some history and improve my process wit every one. Lately I’ve gotten some real doosies 1894 Kraig carbine, 1886 miller conversion, and now these two Canadian Ross Mk II US contract rifles. These have me almost scared, not only because of how rare they are but because of what fantastic condition they are in.
The US was not always the world’s super power. Today we spend more on our military than the next 10 countries combined but it wasn’t always like that. In WW I we didn’t even have enough rifles to train our troops. As a consequence, we purchased 20,000 of arguably the worst military rifles ever built to save our 1903’s and 1917’s for our fighting troops.
Sir Charles Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart Ross, 9th Baronet was the wealthiest land owner in Europe and a Canadian citizen. He was an avid marksman. He held annual competitions on his private 1,000 yard range at his home and manufactured some of the finest sporting rifles in the world. When Canada was having trouble getting Enfields from England, Ross offered to supply Canada with his rifles modified for war. Due to their tight tolerances, wartime ammunition production, mud and a steep learning curve, they didn’t work well at war at all. They were still outstanding sporting rifles, which is a major reason why very few of the surplussed rifles survived in original military condition. I have 2 of them.
Well, not exactly. Mine are not in original military condition. They had been chromed for ceremonial purposes but not demilitarized or DP’d for drill purposes. As it turns out, chrome does an exceptional job of persevering the metal underneath it. It’s just more difficult than cosmoline to remove and it takes the bluing with it when done correctly. Notice how crisp the roll marks are and even some light tool marks were preserved
The US was not always the world’s super power. Today we spend more on our military than the next 10 countries combined but it wasn’t always like that. In WW I we didn’t even have enough rifles to train our troops. As a consequence, we purchased 20,000 of arguably the worst military rifles ever built to save our 1903’s and 1917’s for our fighting troops.
Sir Charles Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart Ross, 9th Baronet was the wealthiest land owner in Europe and a Canadian citizen. He was an avid marksman. He held annual competitions on his private 1,000 yard range at his home and manufactured some of the finest sporting rifles in the world. When Canada was having trouble getting Enfields from England, Ross offered to supply Canada with his rifles modified for war. Due to their tight tolerances, wartime ammunition production, mud and a steep learning curve, they didn’t work well at war at all. They were still outstanding sporting rifles, which is a major reason why very few of the surplussed rifles survived in original military condition. I have 2 of them.
Well, not exactly. Mine are not in original military condition. They had been chromed for ceremonial purposes but not demilitarized or DP’d for drill purposes. As it turns out, chrome does an exceptional job of persevering the metal underneath it. It’s just more difficult than cosmoline to remove and it takes the bluing with it when done correctly. Notice how crisp the roll marks are and even some light tool marks were preserved
