Interesting reference to the Palmer, although of course the interrupted thread breech was in general use for artillery by the time Ross began his designing. It would be interesting to know if Ross was aware of or inspired by the Palmer though.

I agree with the conclusions of the authors of "The Ross Rifle Story", but that wasn't an issue I wanted to raise here. The scanner cut off most of the caption and I cleaned off the rest. The Ross is still an interesting design with plenty of history attached, especially for us Canadians.

This Newton looks to be in the 8000 range so perhaps the receiver ring was thickened from earlier specs? It's a pity there wasn't more information on how that Newton was blown-up, or by who.

Semantics aside, I guess it's obvious what I referring to vis a vis the flats for attaching scope mounts to.

I hope you weren't offended by my post. I'm not casting aspersions on the Newton, but it is a pretty clear case of "the sincerest form of flattery", I think.