I love lever guns, esp. BLR"S...Could I have a takedown BLR in .30-06 or .300 Win. mag. rebarrelled to .375 H7H mag? (thinking Africa) Would the BLR handle the bigger cartridge? If so, gunsmith suggestions? And, lastly, any rough ballpark $$ estimates for the work?? Many thanks!

I would assume no. If you could find a shorter .375 dia cartridge or how about a 9.3x62 ,that would be an easy conversion.

375 wsm or ruger

Woody, Not sure on your reply...I believe the largest WSM is .325?

Talk to one of the reboring people. The H&H case is too long, but you could probably have a 338 rebored to 375 Ruger or 375 Taylor and not have to mess with the magazines...there have been 416 Taylors done on the steel framed BARS.

The BLR will handle anything in the 63KPSI pressure range.

Luck

Thanks for the comments...I found a (local!) gunsmith who will rebarrel a .300 Win mag BLR takedown to .375 Ruger; He's done it before, rebarelled to a 9mm round...

Could you provide his contact information
Thx
Chris

I think you could more easily rebarrel to 35 Whelan or 9.3x62 and get all the punch you would want out of a BLR

That is an interesting project but it sounds to me like it will kick like hell. Maybe I'm wrong but a lightweight like a BLR, a narrow buttstock, substantial drop at the heel all adds up to ouch. I hope it works out to your satisfaction but sounds too painful fom me. DW

Why go to all the trouble? Just pick up a BLR in 450 Marlin and shoot super premium bullets such as 400 grain BBW# 13s, Barnes Busters, Woodleigh Hydros. I would wager these bullets will kill anything Africa has to offer short of an elephant. These bullets put the 450 Marlin and 45-70 into a whole new category.

I would go Taylor.

Joester
Like others have said here, no 375 H&H is too long. Get a BLR in 300win mag or 7mm rem mag and it can be made into a 458win mag or 375 Taylor. This has been done before so its not new ground, the cool factor would be awesome, imagine a lever rifle in 458win mag!

also a WSM rifle could be converted into 375 wsm or 366 wsm once again real different than the average lever gun, good luck....

dwheels

My BLR doesnt have a narrow butt or considerable drop at the heel, its a .358win with 20" barrel put a 24" on a BLR and its weight will come up pretty good.....

As for recoil, I'll see how it feels to shoot & take it from there b/c there are a # of recoil-taming options. My gunsmith suggested interchangeable magnetic recoil pads to start so that my 5-foot-2 wife can shoot also. She's quite good re:recoil.

I chose the .375 Ruger rebarrel b/c , simply, I liked the round, it has long(er) range capabilities (for plainsgame, elk, moose) & I like lever rifles. I do hope to take an elephant with it. I realize, too, that many hunters feel the .375 is light for ele, others cite many eles killed w/that round...

I remember reading a thread a couple of years ago where someone had their BLR rebarreled to .358 Norma.

They stated the conversion worked very well, it fed smoothly with no hiccups, but the recoil in the BLR was HEAVY!

Please let us know how it turns out, if you have it done. I have been considering this as well. The .375 Ruger seems decent enough. Since Savage, and others are chambering it, perhaps more loads will be offered.

Of course, that is also what I hoped for my .376 Steyr Scout, but fear Hornady discontinuing loading for it, since it is no longer produced in a factory rifle. (Even Steyr has dropped it) However the Ruger load offers significant improvement over the Steyr, and seems to do well in a short barrel as well.

Might want to look at the .375 Scovil, based on the 30.06 should work fine.