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The Ross Rifle in U.S. Service (Page 2)
One of the best things said about the Ross Rifle was it was better than a broomstick.
By Bruce Canfield (RSS)
May 28, 2013
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After World War I, the American-owned Ross rifles were declared surplus, and some were sold via the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM) to NRA members, initially for $5 each. There were few takers, and the price was later reduced to $3.50, but they still weren’t big sellers. By 1926, the remaining unsold Ross rifles were returned to storage until 1940, when they were repatriated to Canada under provisions similar to Lend-Lease. It is reported that many of these rifles were still in their World War I-era Canadian military packaging when they were returned.
While the Ross rifles did not see overseas combat duty in the hands of the American Doughboys (which was a good thing given their prior performance with the Canadians), the rifles did make available a number of badly needed M1903s and M1917s for combat units rather than training duty. While obviously a flawed combat rifle, it was entirely satisfactory for the limited role it played as a training rifle in the U.S. Army’s arsenal during the “Great War.” It is a rather sad legacy for a military rifle, though, when among the best things that can be said for it is, “Hey, it was better than a broomstick!”
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