Picked up a damn near perfect Belgian browning safari grade with a vxiii Leupold for 600 bucks. I don’t need another 7mm mag but at that price I figured I was foolish to not grab it.

Would it be blasphemous or just plain wrong to sell the scope and have JES rebore it to a 375?

Always wanted a safari 375

Don’t really know if they are worth keeping original or building off of?

Those are great rifles and you stole it. I wouldn’t touch it.

Unless you're starting a museum, a collection, or you bought it to flip, changing it to better meet your specific needs seems OK to me.

Is there enough barrel contour for do a rebore from .284" to .375"?

Hope it isn’t a salt gun!

Collectable? Probably, but not rare or unique, so the only issue might be the potential hit to your bottom line from altering it; in other words you might be able to sell it at a fair profit and use that towards another .375. Check prices on the various auction sites for similar rifles that actually sold, then do the arithmetic. My cousin bought a pair of Medallion-grade rifles cheaply about 20 years ago, a 7 and a .375. We took them to the range and shot them, but the potential profit got to him and he sold them. Nice guns.

I'd be inclined to follow your own notion, or sell another 7mm if you really like this one. Does it have stock bolts to prevent stock splitting?

It’s got 2 stock bolts and for sure it’s not a salt gun unless it was caught years ago and browning replaced the stock. Which I have no way of knowing other than the metal is absolutely spotless with zero rust anywhere from pad screws to the forend

I’m gonna call JES tomorrow.

Assuming you are going to make a Whelen, it might be a fun conversion. If you are thinking of an H&H or similar, I would not put that much into a conversion. By the time you opened up the action and the bolt face, you could just buy a magnum. My brother has one like yours. I refinished the stock and took that bowling pin gunk off of it. Finished it with oil and it is one beautiful piece of walnut.

Its a magnum bolt face already and magnum length

You have to take a salt gun apart to be certain they are not... some show very little to no sign of rust above decks.

Stock bolts do not prevent splitting... at best they reduce the likelihood of splitting quite a bit....

Well hell. I figured I scored me a deal reckon not.


Only reason I want a safari browning is my daddy carried one on 3 continents and it burned up in a fire. He’s was a rebarrel.

He shot coyotes with his 375 around our chicken houses. The big houses with 25k birds a piece and he had 40+
I’ll save this 7mm .for something else and just buy me a 375.

Damned good idea don't change it. did it have a 3.6" mag box? MB

The old Belgiums once rebored, may be have a dark bore. Personal experience--not an issue for me.

If it is "damn near perfect" it has more value as it is on your way to trading up to the 375.

A 375 Belgium is going to set you back a bit...;)

You got a deal, welcome the blessing by buying some 175gr Swift A Frames and an 8lb jug of H-4831, work up a load, zero three inches high at 100 and go kill the chit out of animals!

Are you sure it's magnum length? A 7RM isn't as long as a 375H&H and doesn't require a mag length.

375 is a lot longer.

That right there would be sweet and offer a bunch of killing.

Or a 358 Norma with a 1-10 twist done by JES.

I finally took it apart and the magazine box is only 3.125” so looks like it’s staying a 7mm unless I can find something different and bigger that will fit

I got dreams or plans or thoughts or something like that of something 35 cal or bigger open sighted and pretending like I’m in Africa on my daily cattle feeding/ pig killing rounds.

Why they are there and what they actually accomplish may be not turn out to be the same thing. At any rate, better there than not.

Mule Deer's Weatherby FN .300 has an extra recoil lug brazed or soldered to the barrel, IIRC, a dandy idea.

You can still pretend; no one will laugh (much😂).

You made an outstanding snag. Bask in the glow.

If you don't keep it a 7 mm RM the 358 Norma might be an option but maybe a 350 Rem Mag might work better with a 3.125" magazine. You would certainly have lots of room to load out bullets unlike a lot of 350's.

The 375 length FN (Browning) mauser actions were opened up altering the feed ramp, as well the magazine opened for the longer shell. There were not separate magnum actions per se.

Belgium Safaris are beautifully made old guns with a lot of individual fitting by the FN smiths. It is worth far more as it is than anything you may convert it to---but have done same...

There are still a few Safari 375s out there--as all old Browning collectors die off eventually...:) Have bought and sold a number of them in the past when there were more on the market. Do wish I had kept one...a 64 IIRC, in new condition along with a beauty 270 of the same vintage--both with more figure in the wood than is typical for Safaris, as a pair to a guy headed for Africa.

I’m sitting here drinking beer deciding what I wanna do.
Usually cost me money or a mistake.

You bet Buddy, I always start my or any buds I load for with h-4831 or h-1000 in 7 or 300 mag type cartridges, you can see I stopped with h-1000 in my mashburn, done deal.

Leaving the rifle as is will give you more beer money.

The more I think about it, the more I think " leave it be".