Thread: Looking for the rough value of a special Ross rifle

Asking for a family friend.

This particular Ross .303 was presented to a General when they were first made, in the hope that he would convince the British military to buy and use them as standard issue. It has a small silver plaque on it with an inscription and there is a similar one in the gun cupboard at Sandringham.

Any clue as to value? It's in good condition and shoots well. Brought over decades ago from a descendant of that General.

Cheers

Originally Posted by mcdeee

Asking for a family friend.

This particular Ross .303 was presented to a General when they were first made, in the hope that he would convince the British military to buy and use them as standard issue. It has a small silver plaque on it with an inscription and there is a similar one in the gun cupboard at Sandringham.

Any clue as to value? It's in good condition and shoots well. Brought over decades ago from a descendant of that General.

Cheers

You can't leave us hangibg like that.

Lol, I'll see what I can do.

Sorry for the privacy of the family I've had to black out the name of the General as it's a major giveaway as to the current owners.

So, any idea as to the value? This Canadian fellow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hughes) gave it to the British General to try to get them to adopt it. So there's some significance there.

Man that is beautiful. No help to you sorry.

Usually between $1400-2000 for average military Ross rifles like the one pictured. That one there is in exceptional condition. So you could potentially double those sums if the provenance is desirable. Our family bought Vivian Donald's 280 Ross (that shot the first licensed Wapiti) for around $3500 if my memory serves.

Donalds one had also been Charles Ross's personal property at one stage and was supported by a letter from him and some other material.
But man that is a nice piece.

The value is greatly influenced by the identity of the General.Without knowing who he is,it is impossible to gauge the value of the Rifle.Any supporting paperwork is also a huge bonus as to a potential buyer who "buys the Gun,not the story" see's a nice Rifle with a Plaque on the Stock.

A tidy Ross like that would be $1000 US,you might get the same in Euro if a collector really wanted it,providing the bore is as clean as the rest of it looks.

A well known General and its upwards from the figue quoted.

You mention in your first post about a similar one in Sandringham. Does that have a similar provenance? That would be where I would start.

The value will be determined by what someone is prepared to pay over another. If it is truly desirable to a buyer and it is the only one then in some ways the price could potentially be what ever the seller wants as long as the buyer has pockets deep enough.......The most likely scenario is the person who buys this will be buying the history and not the rifle. As mentioned, the prominence of the General in the story will have an affect on the value. But I do understand why the name is not included in the details. I would suggest getting in touch with Museum curators, here and overseas. Particularly with people who deal with these history's. And then look into what rifles with similar provenance to history have sold for in the past.

@gundoc may have an idea on where to start asking and be able to point you in the right direction.

Joint Canada gun nuts forum, and ask there, be a lot more knowledge that anywhere else, good condition ones, sell quickly, on the sell/exchange section.

You could send a few pics to Holts auctioneers they might be able to help.
You would get a half decent price for it in the states Id say.

The NRA museum in the us could be very keen to acquire such piece. Rock island auction I reckon would be the place to sell if you wanted to maximise your return.contact them, you never know.

that is by far the best condition Ross I have seen, and I have been trying to find one for years. Im not much help on value, if the story has suporting documentation it could affect it to some extent- Hate to say it but stuff like this is hard to put a value on without it actully going to auction

that is very very tidy indeed.....I sure hope you manage to get a very fine price for it.