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Description
So our story today goes back to Second Boer War (1899–1902), at the time there was a bit of conflict between United Kingdom and Canda because UK didn't want to give license rights for Lee-Enfield rifles to be produced in Canada.
Then comes Sir Charles Ross, scottish inventor and entrepreneur (but also capable sharpshooter and big game hunter), he offers to finance construction of factory to instead produce his brand new rifle.
This was Ross Mk I, a straight-pull bolt-action rifle in .303 British.
This offer was accepted by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Ross got awarded his first contract for 12 000 rifles in 1903.
Ross rifles were inspired by Austro-Hungarian Mannlicher M1895. Earliest rifles of Sir Ross borrowed a number of mechanical details directly from the Mannlicher design, which was a relatively new design at the time.

First 1000 rifles were given to Royal North-West Mounted Police for testing where they found 113 defects bad enough to warrant rejection. Yes, just a bit flawd.
Some of those defects included a poorly designed bolt lock that enabled the bolt to fall right out of the rifle and poorly tempered component springs.
In 1906 RNWMP went back to Winchester Model 1894 and Lee-Metafords
Ross rifle was modified to correct these faults and became the Mark II in 1905. In 1907 Mk II rifles were modified for new .280 Ross, that was known as Mk II**.
In 1910 rifle was completely redesigned to correct shortcomings of 1905 version. Parts were not interchangeable between those two.
At this point United Kingdon encourages standardization of Lee-Enfield rifles in the British Empire, but Canada decided to stay with the Ross.
The 1910 model was the standard infantry rifle of First Canadian Contingent and Canadian Expeditionary Force when it arrived in France in February 1915.

And here, in the first world war is when the worst of Ross comes out to light of day.
Soldiers constantly complained about it, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was first to state objection and quickly replaced their rifles with Lee-Enfields.
Ross Rifles had poor tolerance of dirt, particularly the screw threads operating the bolt lugs, jamming the weapon open or closed. And in Trench Warefare, you can't avoid dirt, it's everywhere.
Also there were problems with British-made ammunition, which was produced with lower tolerances than Canadian-made ammunition.
Another part of the jamming problem came from the bolt's outer face hitting the bolt stop, then deforming the shape of thread.
The bolt could also be disassembled for routine cleaning and inadvertently reassembled in a manner that would fail to lock but still allow a round to be fired, leading to serious injury or death of the operator as the bolt flew back into his face. Not good, but not that many people actually had this malfunction.
The affixed bayonet could get loose or fall off after fireing the rifle.
Many Canadian soldiers tended to take Lee-Enfield rifles from fallen British soldiers to replace their own rifles
Major T.V. Scudamore of the British Columbia Regiment after being captured at Ypres wrote about 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." One of greatest burns of 1915.

One person who never stopped believeing in the Ross rifles was Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence, who didn't want to hear complaints and even said that Attacking Ross is Attacking Canada. (I get you love Charles so much, just get a room already and leave soldiers alone), also making accusations that Canadian officers were induced to produce adverse reports on the rifle and responding to critisism of Sir Edwin Alderson by accusing him of ignorance.
The rifle became an element in political issues within Canada and between Canada and the British, untill Sam Hughes resigned from his position in 1916.

Okay, but for the good things, the Ross Rifle was more accurate at long ranges that SMLE, which made them bit more popular with Canadian Snipers compared to Infantry.
In all, approximately 420,000 Ross service rifles were produced, 342,040 of which were purchased by the British
Ross rifles were continued to be used as training rifles for both Canada and UK (and about 20 000 for USA), so more Lee-Enfields could be used on frontline.
Hughes reputation was terrible at this point, but Charles Ross made a big fortune from this rifle. Good for him.

Name: Ross Rifle
Type: Bolt Action Rifle
Bullet: .303 British
Country of Origin: Canada
Year: 1903

Description
So our story today goes back to Second Boer War (1899–1902), at the time there was a bit of conflict between United Kingdom and Canda because UK didn't want to give license rights for Lee-Enfield rifles to be produced in Canada.
Then comes Sir Charles Ross, scottish inventor and entrepreneur (but also capable sharpshooter and big game hunter), he offers to finance construction of factory to instead produce his brand new rifle.
This was Ross Mk I, a straight-pull bolt-action rifle in .303 British.
This offer was accepted by the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Ross got awarded his first contract for 12 000 rifles in 1903.
Ross rifles were inspired by Austro-Hungarian Mannlicher M1895. Earliest rifles of Sir Ross borrowed a number of mechanical details directly from the Mannlicher design, which was a relatively new design at the time.

First 1000 rifles were given to Royal North-West Mounted Police for testing where they found 113 defects bad enough to warrant rejection. Yes, just a bit flawd.
Some of those defects included a poorly designed bolt lock that enabled the bolt to fall right out of the rifle and poorly tempered component springs.
In 1906 RNWMP went back to Winchester Model 1894 and Lee-Metafords
Ross rifle was modified to correct these faults and became the Mark II in 1905. In 1907 Mk II rifles were modified for new .280 Ross, that was known as Mk II**.
In 1910 rifle was completely redesigned to correct shortcomings of 1905 version. Parts were not interchangeable between those two.
At this point United Kingdon encourages standardization of Lee-Enfield rifles in the British Empire, but Canada decided to stay with the Ross.
The 1910 model was the standard infantry rifle of First Canadian Contingent and Canadian Expeditionary Force when it arrived in France in February 1915.

And here, in the first world war is when the worst of Ross comes out to light of day.
Soldiers constantly complained about it, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was first to state objection and quickly replaced their rifles with Lee-Enfields.
Ross Rifles had poor tolerance of dirt, particularly the screw threads operating the bolt lugs, jamming the weapon open or closed. And in Trench Warefare, you can't avoid dirt, it's everywhere.
Also there were problems with British-made ammunition, which was produced with lower tolerances than Canadian-made ammunition.
Another part of the jamming problem came from the bolt's outer face hitting the bolt stop, then deforming the shape of thread.
The bolt could also be disassembled for routine cleaning and inadvertently reassembled in a manner that would fail to lock but still allow a round to be fired, leading to serious injury or death of the operator as the bolt flew back into his face. Not good, but not that many people actually had this malfunction.
The affixed bayonet could get loose or fall off after fireing the rifle.
Many Canadian soldiers tended to take Lee-Enfield rifles from fallen British soldiers to replace their own rifles
Major T.V. Scudamore of the British Columbia Regiment after being captured at Ypres wrote about 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." One of greatest burns of 1915.

One person who never stopped believeing in the Ross rifles was Sam Hughes, Minister of Militia and Defence, who didn't want to hear complaints and even said that Attacking Ross is Attacking Canada. (I get you love Charles so much, just get a room already and leave soldiers alone), also making accusations that Canadian officers were induced to produce adverse reports on the rifle and responding to critisism of Sir Edwin Alderson by accusing him of ignorance.
The rifle became an element in political issues within Canada and between Canada and the British, untill Sam Hughes resigned from his position in 1916.

Okay, but for the good things, the Ross Rifle was more accurate at long ranges that SMLE, which made them bit more popular with Canadian Snipers compared to Infantry.
In all, approximately 420,000 Ross service rifles were produced, 342,040 of which were purchased by the British
Ross rifles were continued to be used as training rifles for both Canada and UK (and about 20 000 for USA), so more Lee-Enfields could be used on frontline.
Hughes reputation was terrible at this point, but Charles Ross made a big fortune from this rifle. Good for him.

Name: Ross Rifle
Type: Bolt Action Rifle
Bullet: .303 British
Country of Origin: Canada
Year: 1903