This gun is built with such simplicity and grace that hearing Ian say "...1903" was startling. It wouldn't be out of place at all among WWII era experimental pistols. Truly a sight to behold

That gun is so incredibly beautiful in it's bare bones-ness.

I understand the gun isn't completed yet, but that machine work on the toggle is beautiful. I can't believe that was done so long ago

Forgotten Weapons and Forgotten "Weapon Shaped Objects"

The feature that caught my attention was the very modern looking under cut trigger guard. Then again, ring shaped triggers and guards were very common in that period. The lines and angles all feel contemporary. Would have been a nice piece to see finished.

It looks really shiny for a century old gun - almost like it was machined out of Stainless Steel. Which is pretty damn odd for 1902, 'cause though they had Chromium Steel, modern Stainless Steel with Chromium, Nickel, Manganese (& a bunch of other things) wasn't invented until 'round 1911 by experimenters like Guillet of France. I'd also really like to see the blueprints & design notes of this thing. It would be fascinating to see the trial & error that went into it, as it does seem to have some revolutionary ideas for the time. It's the creativity & engineering of the weapons manufacturers, which truly fascinates me the most about them.

I think this gun shaped thing is beautiful. The frame sleeve around the barrel and the magazine doubling as the handle. It sure would be something to see the toggle action in action.

This pistol looks like some blaster straight out of Star Wars.

If that thing had been finished then I think we'd have been using them for a long time. It is a beauty.

Gorgeous workmanship. A piece of art. Even if they couldn't get it to work.

The Ross Auto is a beautiful piece of work. I love the mag as grip concept. Thanks for posting this.

The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada a reserve army unit in Vancouver Canada Has or had a 1 of 2 only Ross light Machine Gun!

I'm just super impressed at the examples that you guys are able to track down and then actually find information on them. Keep up the awesome work guys

I actually like its aesthetics, it's minimalistic but kinda elegant. Love that skeletonized handle

Prototypes are so interesting. Theres something lovable about how freaky guns can be before functionality has been fully ironed out.

It looks so futuristic. Hard to believe it's over 100 years old

I have always loved the .45ACP round, and have owned more pistols for that round then most any other, I also had one rifle in that caliber but it was one of those cheap Thompson knock-offs with a plastic frame and tin top. It did work and handled the Thompson magazines with ease. It was fairly accurate, but had a problem that I only learned when playing with the gun one night at the city dump grounds. I was on duty in the patrol car, and it was so damn boring that I was about to go bonkers. So I drove out to the dump grounds and saw a 55 gallon drum setting on the berm, so I jumped out of the squad car, pulled my little rifle out and began go fire at the drum. Well I had pulled in at a slight angle, and I noticed sparks flying when I fired. Those damn sparks were the .45 rounds hitting my front fender. Man I was scared shitless that I would loose my job in the morning when I had to report to the Chief. First I figured, perhaps I could come up with some story about a tree branch but that didn't really make any sense. So I just told him the truth. He laughed a bit, then said he would have to tell the Mayor, and would get back to me. Well I didn't get any sleep that day, and when my 12 hours off were over, the Chief pulled into my driveway to pick me up for my shift. I asked him what the mayor said, his reply the mayor just said, "that was stupid" and that was all that was said of it. Well from them, for quite some time I was the but of some jokes about 55 gallon drums jumping out in front of me while I was on patrol....

Kudos for using a version of the Canadian red ensign and not the maple leaf.

It seems a coil torsion spring on the pivot could push the link fully into battery. Having said that, I imagine this pistol would be very expensive to manufacture and not hold any advantages over competing designs. Dropping it was probably a wise decision.

It's amazing the level of detail they could create back then. Just a piece of art. Funny the magazine only fits so few it looks so far ahead of its time

Love these old auto pistol videos. So interesting!

Damn, I really wish there was a completed, functional version of this gun. That mechanism is so cool.

This thing is astoundingly artistic in its awkward operation, a very beautiful and unnecessary way of cycling

That is a really aewsome looking pistol. The ergonomics look spot on. What a pity that it was never finished

"the weight...is a sign of reliability.if it does not fire,you can always hit him with it." ~ Borris the blade this gun has a cool proto-Beretta look to it.

Very unique and very cool looking pistol. Thanks for the review.

"so this magazine looks huge..." *Removes the entire grip*

How cool ! So unique ! ! Love the concept - looks like it would be fun to shoot ! ! Shame it went no where - thanks for showing us 🙂😎👍

I like the looks of it... the grip is interesting. I dont know if it is practical at all but it sure does look cool, looks sorta retro futuristic and steampunk at the same time.

Another great video. I wish there was a video on the manufacturing tools they used back than. It's easy to see how they make guns today with modern tech, but in the late 1800's up to 1920 the process must have been extremely arduous.

Machining looks really impressive!

Maybe the best looking automatic ever! Every bit of metal has a purpose, everything is visible.

1:41 I was not expecting the toggle to stick up that far!

I would Love to see this design concept taken to completion in a 45 acp+p+ or in 357. I would definitely buy one.

You know how I usually like to go all "Hurr durr, classic FPS pistol right here" sometimes? Yeah, this one looks like it came out of a Rare (the game studio) game about the world wars on a Nintendo 64 and would be known as either "That shitty pistol" or "That fucking OP pistol". Absolutely beautiful.

Dang, I wish that toggle locks and toggle link designs had taken off back in day to the point that they would be at least common today. They seem really interesting to operate.

what a beautiful weapon

I think you just hit the sweet spot on "Forgotten". Too bad Ross got it's reputation before perfecting it's guns. Aaaand the ammunition issues.

What a cool hunk of steel!

Could definitely be converted into a very cool film prop!

I’d love to see a complete version of this gun

When the Thompson was first manufactured, it used a proprietary .445 cal cartridge. Any chance of a similarity in case / bore sizes? Anyone else reminded of a Mars pistol?

I kinked this to a Canadian friend, only saying that apparently Ross designed a pistol. His only response was: "How did they screw that up then?".

It’s awesome looking

Love these videos, It's really interesting to find out the history of some really rare/weird weapons,That gun is a thing of beauty, Just wish I wasn't in Britain or I'd have a collection.

In perfect hindsight, this is an over-complex way to create a short recoil system, and it reaffirms the Browning tilting barrel system that predominates.

Thanks for showing

This look really cool i like the mag as the grips

Looks like this is where Taran Tactical got his mag extension design from.

I wanna make a video game in an alternate universe where all the guns are like this... Only weird odd ball unique guns and prototypes.

If they make a Canadian DLC for Battlefield 1, I would not be surprised if they tried to shove this in there somewhere.

would be really cool to see this fire, looks very interesting

I just love weird funky Receiver actions like this :D

As much as I like this sort of weapons I do belive it is just one more proof of Browning genius.

This would be a good project gun for a gunsmith.

How about a Ross 1911 study Contract Pistol? My Father set up the Production Line. Some Unofficial pistols were made by the American setup crew and lunchboxed specialed them out of the factory.

Wow the undercut on the trigger gaurd looks very modern, the mag looks like it has competition basepads lol

This is my new favorite pistol

I can't believe someone outdid the Germans or Swiss in making a more complicated gun than they could with a toggle action.

looks super cool!

And you thought the luger toggle action was funky...

I wounder if they planned on putting grip panels on it. It is hard to tell with it being such an early, unfinished prototype.

It was nice of you to use a 1911 as a size refenence. Now whe kind of know how big the pistol is.

Such a neat looking prototype, especially since most look blocky, boring or unsophisticated. This one started out svelte!

your channel is simply awesome!

Striker fired with a double stack mag? Friggin Glock clone.

Reminds me of a small steam locomotive, not only the locomotive style engineering of the linkage, imagine it without the grip (mag) and trigger guard

Do more guns from Canada please

That is a very elegant looking gun shaped object.

With Picatini rails it had some futurist aspect !

These weird ones are so cool... it's like a 3d cutaway diagram.

If someone could get this working, this would be one of the sickest pistols on the market, this looks like something straight out of Cyberpunk!

This gun looks like a Flash Gordon prop, I love it

a really unique looking pistol, i really like it, great vid :)

Yay! A Canadian firearm!

Now that’s a forgotten weapon!

Looks very sleek without the chunky top rail. And then you look at the back and see the child-bearing hips.

Beautiful idea. I wonder about the spent cartridge exit path? Extraction is relatively easy. Reliable ejection is not with large calibers.

.45 Ross .874" case, 1.274" overall length .

The recoil action somewhat reminds me of the parabellum P.08 Luger.

That grip really reminds me of the CZ 75 pattern pistols

Forgotten Paperweights Although I would love to finish the design....

kudos for using the period correct flag on the thumbnail.

The Toggle Lock system in general is awesome

I like the look.

Ian is like the Bob Ross of guns

I'd love to see that action shooting in slow motion

That thing looks like its from star wars

This is such a strange pistol. It's very simple, but almost TOO simple.I'm sure the answers to my questions however are all on the actual blueprint itself. Otherwise it boggles my mind how it'd even cycle reliably.

You're a little wrong about it's history: General Ross drove it's development forward to stop the Hulk. But this story is classified as top secret.

that's in remarkable shape for 1903

The barrel sleeve then goes forward and the toggle fails to go fully into battery... I got a laugh out of that. Good video

Has the owner of this pistol considered having a chamber cast made to improve our knowledge of the .45 Ross proprietary cartridge?

Wow I never even knew Ross made other weapon

_The Man With the Silver Gun!_

Wow, I'd be a damned liar if I said I haven't learned something that raises my eyebrows every single day about my home province ever since moving back here from the USA

That thing is bananas. I want one. A lot.

Looks like my failed attempt to make a Luger in Pimp My Gun.

This is a true "all steel" pistol.

Damn, this is prime Battlefield 1 material. Seeing how DICE could have fleshed it out would have been super cool. It’s an intriguing action, and Battlefield 1’s appeal to me is it’s ignorance of historical accuracy in favour of on wacky experimental weapons, from before the basics were figured out.