I've told part of this story before, but it bears repeating:

When I was a kid, I fell in love with the Browning Safari Grade rifles at Roach Sporting Goods in the Buckhead community of Atlanta. Roach was THE sportsman's headquarters in the metro area, and I got a job there as a stock boy after school. One of my duties was to wipe down the rifles on the shelf with a silicone rag every day to keep their luster.

On the shelf, we had Weatherbys, Winchesters, Remingtons, and gaudy looking (and expensive) Winslow rifles, but the Browning Olympia and Safari Grades always got a little extra loving care with from my rag as I dreamed of a day when would stalk big game in Africa with one of these Belgium made works of art (in my dreams, I carried the Olympia grade; why not, it was a dream!).

Well, it only took 35 years, but five years ago, I bought a Browning Safari Grade, FN long extractor, in .375 H&H. The gun I got was made in the late 60s, and then custom stocked with a beautiful Bishop stock. The beauty of it was that it was unfired. It had been built for a man who planned a safari that was never taken, and it sat in his gun case for 35 years. I paid $1500 for it. My childhood ambition was now complete.

That's the good news; the bad news is from day one, this rifle would not shoot well! By "well" I mean better than two minutes of angle. I had Roger Ferrell bed it; had Burell Sullivan true the action and then recrown it. This is about all I know to do. Oh, I still hunt with it, and I killed an elk at 200 yards with it but I wish it would do better. I have an Interarms Mark X .375 that shoots extremely good that was half the Browning's price.

When I made my last African safari, I thought about taking it as a backup to my .404 Jeffery, and as my primary leopard rifle, but decided that a Model 700 in .300 Win Mag that was shooting well under one-inch groups at 100, was a better choice for leopard (I got my leopard with it). What it boiled down to was I had confidence in the .300, even though the Browning would have been fine at the less than 75 yards you shoot leopard at. Confidence is a major part of hunting and shooting.

The only thing I know to do now is rebarrel it, which ain't going to happen. I did find that it likes Remington Core-lokt, 270 grain factory ammo, and will shoot them into about an inch-and-a-half group at 100, and three inches at 200 (this is what I shot the elk with), however, being a reloader, I have an ethical problem with shooting factory ammo. I'm still experimenting with handloads, and it seems the 260-grain Nosler Partition may equal the Remingtons, but I need more work.

So, I guess I will just have to learn to love the gun for what it is: a beautiful work of art that won't shoot well (kind of like Kimber of America rifles.)

All this said, I would not hesitate to use this rifle as a backup on a purely dangerous game safari. It shoots 300 grain solids into about two inches at 100, which is well better than minute of buffalo. However, I somehow think the better shooting Interarms will find its way into my gun case next time I leave for Africa. Confidence is a strong motivator.

There might be an easy solution to your accuracy problems with this rifle.

Try the Barnes TSX bullets in your handloads.

I've had 2 rifles now that went from 1.5 inch and 2 inch groups (100 yards) to less than 1 inch groups just with the TSX bullet alone (no other changes).

You don't have much to lose by trying it.

BTW, I'm not trying to promote Barnes bullets with this suggestion. I look forward to other manufacturers making similar bullets (or better!) that do the same thing.

Garrett

I enjoyed reading your story.

Borrow a borescope, or find a gunsmith who has one. The bore may have serious flaws (toolmarks, erosion, damaged rifling, etc.).

The barrel may not be straight, or its steel may have serious stresses. Consider cryogenically treating it.

It sounds like too nice a rifle to be a 'safe queen'.

George

I 1/2" at 100 Yards? With factory ammunition? You should be happy with that.

quote:

Originally posted by enfieldspares:
I 1/2" at 100 Yards? With factory ammunition? You should be happy with that.

Considering the ammunition, it doesn't do him much good. I would consider that bullet too soft for game requiring a .375H&H.

George

Another thought. What is the freebore? I had a M70 300 Win Mag that was hard pressed to do better than 2" at 100yds. The rifle had almost 3/8 inches of freebore when loaded to factory . OAL.

As I increased the OAL the accuracy increased. I now load this to an OAL of 3.60 and shoot groups close to 3/4".

This length will not fit in the factory magazine but fit into the factory 375H7H magazine which is a drop in item.

My friend has a 300 WBY that did not shoot well until he loaded for 1/4" freebore.... go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
I enjoyed reading your story.

which part of his story of woe gave you pleasure?

Jeff,

It's not really a tale of woe. I ended up with a beautiful gun that will make a good DG rifle inside of 150 yards.

I accept the fact that there are some guns that just won't shoot the groups you wish they would.

............Did you have it re crowned ??? Have you tried a SIMS barrel de resonator .....??? Moly coated bullets ????

this may sound strange but i would change the firing pin spring...

An inch and a half is good enough for any hunting rifle..You have unreasonable expectations it seems to me...I have many rifle that shoot sub minute but I have had way more that shot 1.5 to 2.0...

Only on the internet does every rifle shoot 1/4" groups off hand consistantly..

I am by no means an expert, but love to tinker, shoot and hunt. I gotta agree with Ray. inch and half in a hunting rifle will do the job all the time, within reasonable distances. a DG rifle is not meant to be a 500 yard competition gun.
IMHO

every time i get one of these (and there have been many) i end up with the same solution. Re-barrel it or send it down the road. kinda like my old friend that shot the palma team for years did. rudy had a 308 load and if the gun didn't shoot it , he screwed on a new barrel.

Below are my two .375s. The Browning is the one on the bottom. I think you can see why I am going the extra mile to make it shoot.