Канадалық ұңғыл құлпы бар мылтық: Росс мылтығының тарихы

Canadian bolt action rifle

The Ross rifle is a straight pull bolt action rifle chambered in .303 British that was produced in Canada from 1903 until 1918. The Ross Mk. II (or "model 1905") rifle was highly successful in target shooting before World War I, but the close chamber tolerances, lack of primary extraction and length made the Mk. III (or "1910") Ross rifle unsuitable for the conditions of trench warfare, exacerbated by the often poor quality ammunition issued. By 1916, the rifle had been withdrawn from front line service but continued to be used by many snipers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force until the end of the war due to its exceptional accuracy. The Ross Rifle Co. made sporting rifles from early in its production, most notably chambered in .280 Ross, introduced in 1907. This cartridge is recorded as the first to achieve over muzzle velocity and the cartridge acquired a very considerable international reputation among target shooters and hunters. However, reports of such incidents with regard to this specific failing were relatively minor. Still another deficiency was the tendency for an affixed bayonet to become dislodged and fall off during discharge of the rifle. Lieutenant Chris Scriven of the 10th Battalion, CEF, commented that it sometimes took five men just to keep one rifle firing. Major T. V. Scudamore of the British Columbia Regiment, having been captured at Ypres after being wounded, wrote of the "contemptible" Ross rifle, "Those in the front line with that rifle will never forget what it is like to be charged by the flower of the German army and be unable to fire a shot in return." Complaints rapidly reached the rifle's chief sponsor, the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence Sam Hughes. He nevertheless continued to believe in its strengths despite the professional opinion of Sir Edwin Alderson, the British Army officer who was commander of the First Canadian Division. The rifle became an element in political issues within Canada and between Canada and the British. Hughes responded to Alderson's criticism by accusing Alderson of ignorance and copied the letter to many officers in the corps. The effect was to undermine confidence in Alderson and the rifle. Hughes also made accusations that Canadian officers were induced to produce adverse reports on the rifle. After negative reports regarding the rifle were published through the Ottawa Citizen, it became increasingly clear that his own claims before the House of Commons that all the faults of the rifle had been cured were patently false, and Hughes' defence of the rifle could no longer be supported by the Prime Minister. In particular, the Ross was more accurate at long range than the SMLE, and this potentially overcame the serious problem British and Canadian troops had faced during the Boer War, with the accurate long range fire from the 7×57mm Mauser chambered Mauser Model 1895 rifle. In all, approximately 420,000 Ross service rifles were produced, 342,040 of which were purchased by the British.

Canadians retained the Ross even as additional contingents arrived in France. On 12 June 1915, the 1st Canadian Division replaced all its Ross rifles with Enfields. By the time of the Somme battles of July 1916, Sir Douglas Haig, the new Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, had ordered the replacement of all Ross rifles in the three Canadian Divisions by the Pattern 1914 Enfield, which was finally available in quantity. Hughes refused to accept that there were problems with the Ross, and it took the intervention of many influential people to persuade him otherwise. In November 1916, Hughes resigned after Sir Robert Borden's decision to appoint a Minister of Overseas Forces. Ross rifles were then used in training roles, both in Canada and the UK, to free up more Lee–Enfields for the front. After the United States entered the war in 1917, Ross rifles were shipped to the U. S. for the same reasons, freeing up supplies of the M1903 Springfield rifle. Hughes' reputation was inevitably tarnished, but Sir Charles Ross had already made a considerable fortune from his rifle design and manufacturing contracts despite its reputation. At around the same time, the Dominion Rifle Factory (Quebec City) converted a number of Rosses into the Huot automatic rifle, under the guidance of designer Joseph Alphonse Huot. It was an effective design, feeding from a drum magazine, and cheaper than a Lewis Gun. Despite successful trials, it was never adopted for service.

In 1907, Rifle, Ross Mk II became Rifle, Ross Mk II with Sight, Ross Mk II and Rifle, Ross Mk II with Sight, Ross Mk III. Two types of Mark III sniper rifles are identified by different telescopic sights. Five hundred rifles were fitted with 5.2× Warner & Swasey Company Model 1913 prismatic telescopic sights manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio. Serial numbers for rifles manufactured in 1915 have a FK prefix; while those manufactured in 1917 have a LU prefix. Another 907 rifles were fitted with Winchester Repeating Arms Company A5 telescopic sights. Both telescopic sights were mounted offset so the iron sights were usable and the rifle could still be loaded from charging strips.

Ross settled a gun factory in Hartford, Connecticut, with machinist J. A. Bennett, to produce a sporting rifle called Model 1897 Magazine Sporting Rifle a hinged hammer type rifle. By the same time, he made a commercial agreement with the famous gunmaker firm Charles William Lancaster, inventor of the oval bore, to be his exclusive UK agent. Early 1900, he brought out the Model 1900 Sporter, still made in Bennett's factory. This action used a coil spring to activate the firing pin, instead of the hinged hammer of the M1897. Very few of these sporting rifles are known to exist. The militarized Pattern 1900 was also the first to be offered for trial to Canada.

British Coast guard units in Ireland were armed with Ross rifles during 1920 to 1921. Ross rifles were issued once again in the Second World War. The Mark 3 Ross rifle was supplied to the Royal Canadian Navy, the Veteran's Guard of Canada, coastal defence units, training depots, the British Home Guard, Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, Port of London Authority Police and the Soviets. Ross Rifles were collected hurriedly from stocks held in the Shetland Islands in May 1942 to re equip the survivors of Operation Fritham in Spitsbergen who had lost everything when their ship was sunk. The Ross rifles and equipment being delivered by Catalina 210/P captained by Flying Officer Tim Healy. In the 1950s straight pull Rosses were well known in European sport shooting for biathlon and running deer disciplines. During the World Shooting Championships in Moscow, visiting shooters were allowed to sign for Ross rifles converted to 7.62x54R to try out the competitions. Before biathlon switched to .22LR rifles, it was fired with full bore cartridge rifles. While various models of Swedish Carl Gustav rifle were popular, Soviet biathletes had success with Ross rifles outfitted with slings, target sights and 3 position stocks.

– Standard issue rifle of the CEF from 1905 to 1916, where it was replaced with the SMLE MK. III and MK. III*. Still used by snipers throughout the war for its accuracy. Chile – In 1920, Britain finally delivered the Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre , which had been sold to Chile, but snapped up by the Royal Navy when World War I broke out. Aboard the ship were 200 Mk III Ross rifles which became property of the Chilean Navy. Nazi Germany Ross rifles captured from Canadian soldiers designated the Gewehr 280(e). Ross rifles captured from Soviet soldiers designated the Gewehr 280(r). 🏴󠁵󠁳󠁴󠁸󠁿 Israel Haganah – The Haganah (Jewish paramilitary organization in the British Mandate of Palestine) purchased and used the Ross Rifles during the 1947–1949 Palestine war. The rifles were called "Canadian Rifles" by the Haganah soldiers. British Raj – Around 8,000 Mk III Rosses were supplied to India in 1942 for "police duty", but were withdrawn in 1943. The rifles were also issued to members of the Aizsargi paramilitary guard and, since 1928, the Latvian police. Lithuania They were mainly distributed among infantry regiments, although they were disliked, as they weren't as accurate as the Mauser rifles. – Issued to the Grand Ducal Guard in 1945, replaced by Lee–Enfield in the same year. Netherlands – Britain is believed to have supplied Mk III Rosses to Netherlands forces bound for Indonesian "police actions", issued from stores at Woerden. Used on minesweepers to detonate floating mines with rifle fire. The home guard had a number of Ross Mark IIIB rifles that were previously purchased in World War I. These were supplemented with 75,000 Ross Mark III rifles supplied by the Canadian government. United States – The US purchased 20,000 Mk II3* for use as training rifles for World War I. 🏴󠁵󠁳󠁴󠁸󠁿 Russia White Movement – The British supplied arms (probably including Mk III Rosses) to the White Movement after World War I which most likely fell into the hands of the Soviet Union after the end of the Russian Civil War. Around 1,000 rifles were issued with little proof of them being used or even working. Most of the shipments sent were captured by the Red Army.