Canadas Use of the Ross Rifle

The Ross Rifle was a straight pull bolt action rifle produced in Canada from 1903 until 1918 in its military configuration1. The Ross Rifle was invented by Sir Charles Ross and patented in the 1890s. It was first adopted by the Canadian military in 1905. They were the personal favorite of Minister of Militia and Defence, Sir Sam Hughes. Because of this Hughes overlooked the numerous design flaws and was the one who pitched it to the Canadian military. Sam Hughes obstinate pushing of the Ross Rifle was a cause of major loss of life in the early years of World War I. The Ross Rifle was a straight pull bolt, which means the bolt handle does not have to be rotated when opening or closing the action. Because there are less mechanical actions to be preformed between firing, the theory was that you could achieve a much greater rate of fire than the Lee Enfields cock on closing bolt, which had to be rotated a quarter turn to open and close the bolt. In clean conditions on the firing range this was true, but when any dirt or grit got into the action it would often jam the fired case into the chamber2. This was due to tighter chamber tolerances than the Lee Enfield and the lack of leverage due to the straight pull bolt. The quarter turn on the bolt of conventional rifles of the time used the mechanical advantage of screw threads to extract the fired case from the chamber, which greatly reduced the effort required to eject the spent case. All brass cartridges expand slightly when they are fired, which made it harder to extract than to put into the chamber. With hard brass and tight tolerances on the cases dimensions, the Ross Rifle would eject reliably, but standard British cases used a softer grade of brass and were often slightly oversized. This didnt matter in the Lee Enfields
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Blais, Mike. "Ross Rifle." The RCR Association Photographic Database "Modern Firearms." - Ross. http://world.guns.ru/rifle/repeating-rifle/can/ross-e.html

oversized chamber, but would make it nearly impossible to extract in the Ross. Another problem was the safety catch, which was located above the bolt handle, was reported to often cut the thumb of the soldier using it due to poor placement and a fairly small, sharp handle. Yet another factor that made it unsuitable for trench use was the fact that the bolt could be incorrectly reassembled unknowingly and when it was fired in this arrangement, the bolt would fly back into the shooters face, injuring or even killing him3. This was especially disadvantageous in the trenches because maintenance activities had to be performed at night in the dark, making it easy to make a mistake, especially if the soldier is inexperienced in firearm use, which is often the case with newly enlisted soldiers. There were approximately 420,000 Ross rifles produced between 1903 and 1918; the majority of these went to the Canadian army but as many as 100,000 were sold to the British army. The U.S. military purchased about 20,000 of the mark II model for training, due to the shortage of their primary infantry weapon, the Springfield rifle. When modifications were made to the original Ross prototype they added a pound in weight and several inches to the height, which made it unwieldy and unsuitable for trench use. These factors made it unsuitable for trench use, but this was not the fault of Sir Charles Ross, he simply applied it to the wrong market. Sir Charles Ross was born in Balnagown Castle on April 4th, 1872. He inherited Baronetcy from his father in 1883 at the age of 114. He was educated at Eaton College, then later at Trinity College. He was known as a capable big game hunter and a sharpshooter. Over the course of his life he invented many things, from ships propellers to hydroelectric apparatus, but the most notable of which was the Ross Rifle. While attending Eaton College, Charles patented his first straight pull rifle, which was so complicated it never saw use. After the governments
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The perception of safety of Ross rifles." The perception of safety of Ross rifles. Bodinson, Holt. "Sir Charles Ross And His Straight Pulls." Guns Magazine RSS.

difficulty obtaining Lee Enfields in the Boer War, Ross decided the market was ripe for the picking and received a contract from the government for 12,000 rifles in 1902. The Mark I model was made from parts manufactured in the U.S. and suffered from faults and was reintroduced in 1905 as the Mark II. The first use of the Ross Rifle was in 1905. 1000 rifles were given to the RCMP in 1905, and of this lot, 113 of them being defective to the point of being discarded5. Some modifications were made, but it is a wonder that they were supplied to the military for wartime use. The first use of the Ross Rifle in battle was the second battle of Ypres in 1915. The faults in the rifle design were so apparent that of the 5000 survivors at the battle, over 1400 of them replaced their malfunctioning Ross Rifles with British Lee Enfields6. This sentiment was being echoed throughout the western front and many soldiers continued to obtain Lee Enfields, despite the threat of harsh punishments from the officers. Even after receiving many complaints, Sam Hughes persisted that Canadians needed a Canadian Rifle. Other than these design flaws, the Ross Rifle had a very strong action and the large locking area made a very strong lockup if the bolt was assembled properly. The Ross Rifle was also very accurate to the point where snipers elected to keep them over the Lee Enfields7. The reason the Canadian government chose the Ross over the Lee Enfield was because of the trouble they had over obtaining the rifles from the British as well as the British government refusing to grant a licence to produce the Lee Enfields in Canada. Although no Lee Enfields were manufactured in Canada during World War One, in 1940 the Longbranch Arsenal began production of Lee Enfields in Toronto.

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Rockford, Frank. "The Ross Rifle -." Fire On The Hill The Canadian Encyclopedia. "Ross Rifle." - The Canadian Encyclopedia 7 "Modern Firearms." - Ross. http://world.guns.ru/rifle/repeating-rifle/can/ross-e.html

Sir Sam Hughes was the Ross greatest supporter because he was a strong Canadian nationalist and felt that Canada should use a Canadian rifle. Sam Hughes was also an avid shooter and when he tested the Ross Rifle on the range he was thoroughly impressed by the accuracy and fine form8. After the many shortcomings of the rifle were reported Sam Hughes refused to acknowledge them and persisted that the Ross Rifle was superior to the Lee Enfield saying I will swallow the Lee-Enfield that does not jam when I fire it. While he had his downsides, Sam Hughes thought he was doing everything for the good of Canada. He simply felt that Canada should have its own rifle instead of borrowing a design from Britain so we could be more self-contained. While he cannot be forgiven for his refusal to replace the Ross Rifle with the more reliable Lee Enfield, it is important to realize that he thought he was benefitting Canada. It was because of his support that the Ross Rifle was responsible for the magnitude of loss of life in the early years of World War I.

Castlereagh, Robert Stewart. "The obsessions of Sam Hughes: he was the minister of militia and the commander of Canada's World War I forces. And he managed to offend just about everyone.(

Works Cited Bodinson, Holt. "Sir Charles Ross And His Straight Pulls." Guns Magazine RSS. http://gunsmagazine.com/sir-charles-ross-and-his-straight-pulls/ (accessed October 24, 2013). Castlereagh, Robert Stewart. "The obsessions of Sam Hughes: he was the minister of militia and the commander of Canada's World War I forces. And he managed to offend just about everyone.(leader of the Canadian Expeditionary Force)(Related article: The Ross soldiers on (Ross rifles))." The Beaver: Exploring Canada's History, October 1, 2003. Rockford, Frank. "The Ross Rifle -." Fire On The Hill. http://www.sambiasebooks.ca/fire-onthe-hill/canada-ww1/ross-rifle.html (accessed October 24, 2013). Wikimedia Foundation. "Sir Charles Ross, 9th Baronet." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Charles_Ross,_9th_Baronet (accessed October 24, 2013). The Canadian Encyclopedia. "Ross Rifle." - The Canadian Encyclopedia. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/ross-rifle (accessed October 23, 2013). "The perception of safety of Ross rifles." The perception of safety of Ross rifles. http://rossrifle.com/forum/index.php?topic=7.0 (accessed October 23, 2013). Blais, Mike. "Ross Rifle." The RCR Association Photographic Database. http://rcrassociationniagara.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=22.0 (accessed December 16, 2013). "Modern Firearms." - Ross. http://world.guns.ru/rifle/repeating-rifle/can/ross-e.html (accessed December 16, 2013). Chicago formatting by BibMe.org.