Comments by "" (@neutronalchemist3241) on "The Ross in the Great War: The Mk III (and MkIIIB)" video.

When your soldiers throw it away to grab something that works, it's garbage.
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@XShifty0311X The ammos were in perfect spec, and infact they worked fine with every other weapon, bolt action or automatic, chambered for them. Simply the manufacturer of the rifle, knowing the real dimensions of the cartridges, said the rifle was fine that way. "Every man wielded an Mk III Ross rifle, with some unease. Overseas, the gun had jammed in close combat during the Second Battle of Ypres. It was claimed the rifle was too finely made to tolerate mud and rough handling. There is truth to this, but the fatal flaw was a specific and avoidable mistake. Before the war, the British re-designed the .303 cartridge, rechambering their Lee-Enfields to a slightly larger size than the Ross. Canadian experts said the chamber of the Ross was already large enough to take the new British ammunition in a pinch, and the tighter fit could only increase accuracy anyway. The chambers were not reamed out. It was all about the money. Besides, the experts said, the men would have Canadian ammunition of the right size, so it hardly mattered." https://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=4114
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@LilSwinney The Canadians could have required to use their own ammos, had they thought they were necessary for their rifles to work. It was not like they had no say in the matter, but, as already said, "Canadian experts said the chamber of the Ross was already large enough to take the new British ammunition in a pinch, and the tighter fit could only increase accuracy anyway". If they didn't tell the Brits their rifles were useless without their ammunitions, are them the idiots, not the Brits.
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@LilSwinney Canada is not exactly surrounded by the United Kingdom, and the Brits desperately needed the Canadian support, not the contrary. UK was not in position to impose anything, nor taxes, nor conscription, nor tariffs (they needed any ounce of materials from abroad, and they would have imposed tariffs? LOL!) nor they could intern some hundred of thousands of Canadian soldiers depriving the front of them (during WWI? Please...). Had the Canadians tought their ammos were useful to keep their rifles working, they could have easily kept them. Unfortunately they didn't "Canadian experts said the chamber of the Ross was already large enough to take the new British ammunition in a pinch, and the tighter fit could only increase accuracy anyway".
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Heavy. Expensive. Despite being heavy and expensive, several parts were flimsy and had to be changed during the war. Several parts of the action were not correctly dimensioned and/or were made of too soft metal. It needed the highest quality ammos and no dirt at all to work properly. If the correct reassembling procedure was not followed, the rifle could seriously harm the user. It was really a series of defects with only one redeeming quality. If everything was perfect, it was an accurate rifle.
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@LilSwinney "in this case the british machine guns were gonna get the superior canadian ammo because as you pointed out they needed ever ounce of material" So to the Canadians were not given ammos? Otherwise this sentence has no sense. Had the Canadians tought their ammos were useful to keep their rifles working, they could have easily kept them. Nothing more difficult than to say "our rifles don't work with your ammos, sorry". Unfortunately they didn't because "Canadian experts said the chamber of the Ross was already large enough to take the new British ammunition in a pinch, and the tighter fit could only increase accuracy anyway". "Also the surrounded canadian troops..." "Nor they could intern some hundred of thousands of Canadian soldiers depriving the front of them (during WWI? Please...)" Again. The Brits desperately needed the Canadian support, not the contrary. UK was not in position to impose anything, nor taxes, nor conscription, nor tariffs, nor to use Canadian ammos, had the Canadians tought they needed them.
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Heavy. Expensive. Despite being heavy and expensive, several parts were flimsy and had to be changed during the war. Several parts of the action were not correctly dimensioned and/or were made of too soft metal. It needed the highest quality ammos and no dirt at all to work properly. If the correct reassembling procedure was not followed (those rifles were issued to conscripts), the rifle could seriously harm the user. It was really a series of defects with only one redeeming quality. If everything was perfect, it was an accurate rifle.
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@LilSwinney What The Brits would have done? Invading Canada? During the IWW?
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@LilSwinney Yes. it's how it works. Had the Canadians tought their ammos were useful to keep their rifles working, they could have easily kept them. Nothing more difficult than to say "our rifles don't work with your ammos, sorry". The Brits had no interest in having some hundred of thousand soldiers on the frontline with useless rifles and, even had they been those cartoonish bad guys you are depicting, they were not in position to impose anything, because they need Canadian men and materials, not the contrary. And please, don't invent supply line issues. To supply the Canadians with their own manufactured ammos was not more difficult than supply the Canadians with their own manufactured rifles. Canadians had been able to keep their rifles, hadn't they? They had been able to IMPOSE the use of their Ross rifles, while the Brits were using Enfields, hadn't they? The supply lines supplied them with spare parts for the Ross, even if the Brits used another rifle, didn't they? Logistically it was a pain in the ass, but THE BRITS COULD DO NOTHING ABOUT IT. Because the Ross had been Canada's choice and the Canadians wanted to use it. Now you are telling me that the supply line could supply them with their rifles, their spare parts, their specific Canadian made uniform, their specific Canadian made webbing, their specific Canadian made showels, every piece of their equipment that was different from the British one, but was unable to supply them with their ammos? They had a sudden amnesia on how to delivery items when it came to rounds? What kind of shitty supply line the Canadians had?
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@matthewbrian6360 Ian is not necessarily right but, as already stated, Had the Canadians tought their ammos were useful to keep their rifles working, they could have easily kept them. So the Canadians didn't keep track of their equipment? That's not how intendance works. None ever questioned the accuracy of the rifle. Fact is that the "ham fisted" British ammos worked just fine in the British rifles. Again, had the Canadians tought their ammos were useful to keep their rifles working, they could have easily kept them.
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@matthewbrian6360 You could have read the answers above, had you been able to understand them. Unfortunately they are above your level of comprehension. The colonial power had not been able to force Canadians to use British rifles, British webbings, British uniforms... but they could force them to use British ammos? Please...
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@obviouspseudonym9345 Ross rifle had ABSOLUTELY been Canada's choice. The refusal of the licence was of 1903. the Canadians had 11 YEARS to choose any rifle they wanted, there were tons of designs and available licences to choose from, and they chose the Ross. In 1914 they were at the 4th iteration of the rifle. The "we were a colony" argument can work had the Brits IMPOSED a rifle, but they didn't. Any country can refuse a production licence to another, it happens evey time. It's not like the other country is forced to use garbage only because they didn't get a specific licence. "oh no!, the US didn't grant me the licence to produce the Humvee! Now our soldiers should reach the battlefield by bycicle!" No, there are many other light trucks to chose from. Canada chose the Ross not because they had been forced. They did because they thought it was good and the Canadian government kept on defending the rifle against any evidence, even accusing the British officers that rised the issue of ignorance and incompetence, so much an oppressed colony they were. The Ross was a piece of equipment specific of Canadian soldiers, as many other pieces of equipment were specific for canadian troops, and none of them had been "forced" onto them.
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