Ross Rifle - Replacement

Replacement

Canadians retained the Ross even as additional contingents arrived in France. 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 Lee-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 same time, the Dominion Rifle Factory (Quebec City) converted a number of Rosses into the Huot automatic rifle, under the guidance of a designer named Huot. It was an effective design, feeding from a drum magazine, and cheaper than a Lewis Gun. Unfortunately, despite the Canadian Corps' facing a severe shortage of light machine guns, protracted trials led to its being rejected for reasons of flimsiness of construction.