The Ross Arrives!

[C.W. Richter]

Hawk bullets make them it seems.
There was a Canadian distributor Summach Sports. Their website is down which is too bad because nice folks ran it.

View attachment 452993

Thx so much!!! After the above treatise, the cartridge name never appeared. LOL

 

[Aaron N]

Here’s an update for those who are interested:

-I sent the rifle away to a gunsmith, and he fit 1” talley rings for me. The issue is that the rings span a distance of 150mm, and I am now on the hunt for a scope with a tube long enough to accommodate that. Thanks to @rookhawk for pointing me in the right direction.

-I ordered 60 new brass from Quality Cartridge and they finally arrived. These are manufactured brass, and not reformed like some manufacturers are doing.

The right is an original Kynoch case.

-I now have three different bullets to develop loads from. Woodleigh 175gr PPs, and two sizes of Quality’s new line of monos in 150 and 180 grain.

I also have a set of dies, so there is no stopping me from getting some ammo loaded.

I’m excited to see what this rifle and cartridge can do, and also to do my part bringing it back from the dead!

 

[BLJC30]

Very nice! Congrats

 

[sestoppelman]

Way cool! I was thinking about one as well, but the loading process seemed like it would be difficult.
Love to see how it shoots!

 

[Aaron N]

Way cool! I was thinking about one as well, but the loading process seemed like it would be difficult.
Love to see how it shoots!

I’d say it’s more expensive than difficult. There are a few options for brass, and hawk makes bullets of it as well, so there’s three manufacturers that I know of.

I’m sure companies such as Hammer and CEB would also make custom bullets as well if you ordered enough.

 

[rookhawk]

Congrats, @Aaron N . You may have issues getting the bullets to feed as monometals have so much more volume since copper is much lighter than lead. You may be able to seat them deep without a crimp to get them to work, but I’m not an expert handloader so don’t take my idea as a good one. Definitely starting with the Woodleigh is a good plan. If you can find an IMR3031 load that should be a good start as it mimics cordite in its properties.

Load up some light loads and see how it goes.

 

[PerH]

Those look good, just check col etc first as other say due to mono's .

But .280 had a 180 Match bullet and that one must be around to find for comparison as it was a longer beast than the sp's.

 

[rookhawk]

Those look good, just check col etc first as other say due to mono's .

But .280 had a 180 Match bullet and that one must be around to find for comparison as it was a longer beast than the sp's.

I assume the 280 Ross 180gr was a FMJ that looked like the 7x57 alternative, a huge round nose.

Usually these vintage guns have shot out throats which doesn’t matter with the long bullets at max COAL. Surprisingly excellent accuracy. I just suspect the monos will take that too far and won’t feed or fit because they are just huge.

 

[PerH]

.280 Ross | Handloader Magazine

www.handloadermagazine.com

I assume the 280 Ross 180gr was a FMJ that looked like the 7x57 alternative, a huge round nose.

Usually these vintage guns have shot out throats which doesn’t matter with the long bullets at max COAL. Surprisingly excellent accuracy. I just suspect the monos will take that too far and won’t feed or fit because they are just huge.

Not much to be found about the Match bullet, some here. But it outshot much competitors on Bisley, took lot of cups and medals there. Quite windy areas on Bisley so high bc with speed mke it quite useful.

 

[rookhawk]

.280 Ross | Handloader Magazine

www.handloadermagazine.com

Not much to be found about the Match bullet, some here. But it outshot much competitors on Bisley, took lot of cups and medals there. Quite windy areas on Bisley so high bc with speed mke it quite useful.

That’s the wonder of all 7mm and their magic BCs. 275 HH, 275 Rigby, 280 Ross, 280 AI. 7x64. All marvelous.

 

[rigbymauser]

Some suggested reading in regards to Ross rifles and the history.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

View attachment 450316

I don’t remember when or how I first came to learn about this cartridge, maybe it was one of the articles here or some other source, but it began an infatuation over an obsolete Canadian built relic.
View attachment 450320

For the last few years I had watched online for rifles to come for sale, almost pulling the trigger a couple times, but eventually backing out. I had also considered looking for a Mauser chambered in this offering, but they seemed to be nearly non-existent.

Two weeks or so, one popped up in some classifieds, and once the price was agreed upon, the deal was done! Yesterday UPS kindly brought the package to my door.





View attachment 450328

View attachment 450329
After a quick once over with bronze wool and Kroil, there’s a fair amount of petina, but the bore seems shiny and no pitting. The stock could use a refinish, and the checkering gone through, but there doesn’t seem to be any defects that wouldn’t steam out, and the inletting seems flawless to my eyes.

Now before a mother hen on here tells me “I’ll take my eye out with this thing”, you can watch the locking lugs spin 90 degrees into place.

I really want to hunt with this rifle, brass is available, pricy, but available. Hawk makes a 160gr .286 bullet, Woodliegh makes (or made) 140 and 170gr .287 bullets. Hammer bullets said they can make whatever I spec them, and I’m not sure if there any other companies that would do the same. Now dies are a different story, I have to wait for CH4 to do a production run, unless you guys know where would be a good spot to watch used ones come up.

Now optics, this rifle comes with a single folding blade, and I have to say, the front bead seems to have the most visibility of the few I have. There was a Porter Popup Peep sight available as an option, but this rifle didn’t come with one. I would like to scope the rifle, so that would leave me two options, a traditional G&H side mount, which I don't care for, or a more traditional front and rear bridge configuration.

The front bridge is the same as any other rifle, so that’s straight forward, but the rear bridge is another story. It’s screwed into the receiver, and there’s a dovetailed block where the peep sight would go.
View attachment 450336
View attachment 450337

Would there be enough strength to have some sort of base machined to fit in that dovetail?

All in all I’m excited about this rifle, and can see why it was hearlded for being ahead of it’s time. The straight pull is slicker that goose shit, but I can also see why it wouldn’t be great in a muddy trench.

I may post some pages from Terry Weilands “Great Hunting Rifles” later today if any members would like to read a pretty well written in-depth look at the rifles.

Anyway, thanks for reading my ramblings, and I hope I can do my part in reviving some interest for a long forgotten rifle, too advanced for the components of its time, and doomed a fate based on oft repeated third hand hearsay.

@AaronN
What an amazing piece of history. Technically it is not a straight pull as the bolt acts slightly differently in operation compared to a real straight pull like the Schmidt Rubin but still an amazing rifle.
From what I have read the 280 arose cartridge is every bit as good as the280 rem.
That dovetail should be strong enough to mount a scope base on but you will have to take into consideration the bolt operation to make sure it clear the ocular lens.
Just my thoughts tho
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I found a set of dies on EBay this morning, now to order brass and to get some Woodleigh PP’s in .287.View attachment 451366

@Aaron N
A lot cheaper than 300 euro.
I hope you get a lot of joy out of your rifle. You may not like the side mount but it looks like the way to go as it still allows you yo use the iron sights if needed.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Now comes finding something to feed it with. I thought I had a line on Woodleighs, but it was an outdated website!

@Aaron N
Send Geoff at Woodleigh an email and find out when they are likely to have some.

 

[Aaron N]

@Aaron N
Send Geoff at Woodleigh an email and find out when they are likely to have some.

I did find a box of 50, so it’s a good start!

 

[sestoppelman]

Well here is another one! This thread got me all spun up and had to find one for myself!

Just got it home today after the BS 10 day waiting period, looks good in and out, works fine, has the little pop up peep sight that is rare, works slick.
Probably replace the old Pachy pad at some point, not original of course. No provision for glass and no intention to change that, having the peep sight is a real plus in that regard.
I got a bunch of ammo, dies and components from a guy cleaning up an estate, so pretty well fixed for shooting for some time.
Hope to get it out next week for testing.

.280 Ross next to 7x64 on the right.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

I don’t have the Ross rifle, but the Mauser actioned English built equivalent, the 280nitro express (280 Ross, 280N.E. and 280halger magnum, all the same thing) and I managed to pick up 300plus original rounds with it plus a set of dies and 100 odd bell brass cases, and around 500 projectiles, woodleighs and original ones. There is a projectile manufacturer here in Australia, Atomic29, who will CNC turn .287” projectiles,( they will make any size you want and they are great projectiles ) I don’t use it enough as I have lots of other rifles that I grab first, and as cartridge collectors will pay $32 each for original ammo, its not a cheap proposition.
gumpy


i should add my gunsmith mate has 4 Ross rifles, two in 280 and two in 303

 

[sestoppelman]

I got a lot of bullets to go thru before I ever need to buy more. I got 4 sets of dies with all the other stuff, and have sold two sets to offset the initial purchase of components etc.
I also got a fair amount of live ammo, some reloads on resized/formed magnum cases, most will probably get pulled down for the bullets but also some factory ammo, besides the Kynoch of which there is 4 boxes, there is WRA, USSC and even a couple of Ross marked rounds, dont plan to shoot those and the USCC rounds are notorious for split necks so might not shoot those either, the WRA I will try, pretty clean looking for vintage ammo.

 

[Grumpy gumpy]

You could anneal the old stuff if you want to use it( obviously pull the projectiles and powder first) which is what I did with some, also a lot of the older stuff is berdan primed. The stuff I shoot normally in it is either the bell brass or reformed 300 win mag( which has a different powder load to the bell) The reformed is good as I don’t get upset if I loose a case.
gumpy

 

[sestoppelman]

You could anneal the old stuff if you want to use it( obviously pull the projectiles and powder first) which is what I did with some, also a lot of the older stuff is berdan primed. The stuff I shoot normally in it is either the bell brass or reformed 300 win mag( which has a different powder load to the bell) The reformed is good as I don’t get upset if I loose a case.
gumpy

Some of this ammo is so old the necks are split prior to first firing, dont think we can save them. I have now over 40 pcs of new manufacture brass, no BELL, but Qual Cart, HDS and RCC. All are said to be good, I have used Qual Cart in several different rounds for the oldies.

I take it back, I have over 80 pcs of new brass!