.280 Ross

Personally endorsed by George Grey?

What are the two bands on the barrel?

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
What are the two bands on the barrel?

One appears to be for the rear sight and the second one appears to be for the front swivel.

So the front swivel goes through the stock to the barrel band? I had never seen that.

500 grains,

I recognize the picture background but cannot remember the website or dealer name. Isn't he out of TX?

quote:

Originally posted by Prewar70:
500 grains,

I recognize the picture background but cannot remember the website or dealer name. Isn't he out of TX?

Chadick's, Ltd.

Herschel Chadick, Proprietor
119 E. Moore Ave
P.O. Box 100
Terrell, Texas 75160
(972) 563-7577
fax (972) 563-1265

I wouldn't call that rifle a "classic, but I would call it obsolete

AD

I think I just read something the other day on the .280 Ross getting some hunters killed when they used it on lion (bullets blowing up or something like that). Has anyone else heard/read about this?

quote:

Originally posted by MHC_TX:
I think I just read something the other day on the .280 Ross getting some hunters killed when they used it on lion (bullets blowing up or something like that). Has anyone else heard/read about this?

Back in the '70's I read an article about a guy who got killed by galloping lions with a 280 Ross. Keep in mind that it was the 1920's and the velocity was on par with a 7mm rem mag. Those old bullets fragmented, and the lion munched the man holding the Ross rifle.

quote:

Back in the '70's I read an article about a guy who got killed by galloping lions with a 280 Ross. Keep in mind that it was the 1920's and the velocity was on par with a 7mm rem mag. Those old bullets fragmented, and the lion munched the man holding the Ross rifle.

This is possible however the thing I recall is the failure of the bolt mechanism that occasionally blew the bolt thru the face of the shooter causing immediate death or worse.

It was a truly powerful Canadian cartridge but in a somewhat flawed straight pull bolt action.

You have to be very careful with those. I believe they were a relatively strong rifle, but the bolt head (with the lugs) screwed on the front of the bolt body. If you didn't screw it on the proper number of turns, the bolt would cycle, however the lugs didn't rotate and it was possible to fire the gun with the lugs completely disengaged. It is probably worse than having a complete lug failure, since there is almost no resistance to the cartridge.

Appearantly no one got it...

George Grey was the one who was chasing a lion on horseback and carrying a 280 Ross. The idea being that you chased the lion till he charged, then you turned the horse, backed off and shot the lion.

George Greys 280 Ross didn't stop the charge and he was munched. He died a few days later.

And yes, you can reassemble the bolt wrong and catch a bolt in the face, which is almost as pleasant as having pissed lion in your lap.

quote:

and catch a bolt in the face, which is almost as pleasant as having pissed lion in your lap.

I'll pass on both.......thank you

In the lion incident, according to published reports, Grey's rifle functioned perfectly. His bullet, however, did not.

No one should blame a cartridge for the failure of a bullet, or any particular rifle that chambers it, for that matter. In any case, it was bad bullets that pretty much killed the Ross.

If anyone wanted to resuscitate it, using good, modern bullets, the .280 Ross would be as good a cartridge as any other moderately souped-up seven on the market today.

All that aside it is a classic beatiful rifle and a great caliber IMO...It was never intended to be a Lion rifle but it would certainly work on Lion, Grey wasn't privy to super premium bullets unfortunately....

quote:

Originally posted by allen day:
I wouldn't call that rifle a "classic, but I would call it obsolete

AD

It seems to me that getting mauled by a lion is pretty classic.

A very nice rifle.
Isn't the bullet diameter of the Ross .288, which if so, doesn't this make it difficult to reload for? Does anyone make .288 dia bullets nowadays, are cases available?
Does any one make 280 Ross ammo any more?

There was a rifle quite like the one in the picture for sale here recently, except it was in 303British. It sold quite quickly

oldun,

According to COTW, the bullet diameter of the Ross is 0.287" and I don't know if anyone makes them anymore.

I sure haven't seen any bullets or ammo advertised anywhere--but of course I really haven't been looking.

Woodleigh and Hawk make bullets of the correct diameter for the Ross (which it shares with the 280-333 Jeffery and 275 H&H Mag).

I'd go with the Woodleigh, the Hawks would surely get Mr. Greys grand children et!

Can't see the picture but the rifle chambering the 280Ross was responsible for a lot of jamming related deaths in the trenches in The Great War. Eye witnesses reported seeing soldiers franticaly stamping on the bolts of their Ross rifles in vain attempts to open them.

It is a classic cartridge which was certainly handicapped by the available bullets, just as others have said. John Taylor was one writer/hunter who was prone to dismiss CARTRIDGES because of the available BULLETS, which same we now recognise to be the problem. We are truly blessed to have the bullets of today.

I now notice that many of today's premium "super-softs" are being used in places and on game where only solids were recommended even just twenty years or so in the past. I attribute this changing emphasis to the fact that we now do have softs which can be relied on for penetration and weight retention. Certainly there are still places for solids, but I do see a change in what roles are allotted to the expanding bullets.

I once owned a beautiful Charles Lancaster Mauser OVAL-BORED .280 Ross (or "Rimless Express") from around 1920. Fantastic wood, 28" barrel, gold inlays, 5-leaf express sight, it was altogether a lovely package. It would NOT shoot conventional .284" bullets at all, giving full-bullet-profile keyholes at 100 yards. Strangely, the keyholes were very consistent, with the tips of the holes only an inch or so apart, and all the holes oriented almost exactly the same....bases at 4:00, tips at 11:00.

With some .288" Barnes Original 175-grain copper-tubing bullets, the bullets struck point-on, but the groups ran 3"-4" at 100 yards.

The Ross rifle has taken some very unfair hits. ONE model can be assembled incorrectly, but you have to work at it. Even then, any rifleman worth his salt can IMMEDIATELY see that something's wrong. Efforts to trace the stories of people killed by the bolt have been unsuccessful, according to ancient and respected Canadian gunsmith and gunmaker, Elwood Epps. Lots of war stories, but no proof. One case was identified where a man was killed by a round which ignited while feeding in a Ross, before the rifle was locked.

My own Grandfather was issued a Ross .303 before leaving Canada for WW I France in 1915, with the 48th Highlanders of Canada. (This regiment was raised from the Toronto area.) He and his mates did indeed dispose of their Ross rifles ASAP for Lee Enfields, except for a couple of dedicated souls who appreciated the accuracy of the Ross. The Ross shot fine, but didn't tolerate trench conditions at all well. Thankfully for me, his SMLE saw him safely through THREE YEARS of almost continuous trench warfare without serious injury. Pretty rare statistic for those places and times!

.

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
The thing about their version was they were cranking out 100 gr bullets at 3900 fps ! That was a lot of FPS for a pre war rifle !

With a 100 grain bullet that's a lot of FPS for any post war rifle!

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