Possible to Convert 7600 to Magnum Cartridge?

W

Wooly Marmot

Inactive
Not asking for any other reason than plain curiosity, but would it be possible to convert a Remington 7600 to an African thumper by rebarreling (and of course, opening up the bolt face some) it to a cartridge such as the .375 Ruger or even .416 Ruger (the reason I pick those cartridges is because they are standard length)? It seems to me that as a pump action is quicker to operate than a bolt action it would be a good choice for dangerous game hunting provided it was chambered in the appropriate cartridge.
 
I seriously doubt it. However, you can convert it to .35 Whelen (which is enough for any of the "non dangerous" African game. In fact, you can buy them from the factory in .35 Whelen.
 
The bolt face is probably too small to recut to .532(or bigger) and the magazine is too short and/or narrow(too narrow to double stack and too wide to single stack) for most of the big thumpers.
 
Throw enough money at it, and anything is possible.

Two thousand would get a conversion to .458 Winchester, most likely a single shot. Five thousand bucks would get you a 7600 in .50 BMG, likely a single shot.

As others have observed, get one in .35 Whelan or have JES convert a .308 based cartridge to .358 Winchester.
 
The .35 whelen is the least common caliber in the 7600 and people generally charge a premium for that. Especially for NIB guns. Sad but true. :(
 
As said, I doubt the pump could be enlarged beyond .35 Whelen or 9.3x62.

There have been a few BARs bunged out to serious safari calibers, but they are made in belted magnums to start with. Conversions from .300 mag to .458 Win Mag and .416 Taylor were written up.
The .458 conversion was left hanging with magazine feeding issues unresolved.
The .416 Taylor shot ok and its builder furnished it with stock spacers for fitting to assorted clients.
 
It seems to me that as a pump action is quicker to operate than a bolt action it would be a good choice for dangerous game hunting provided it was chambered in the appropriate cartridge.
Click to expand...

A little faster for repeat shots, but far less reliable, especially with hotter loads or in harsh dirty hunting conditions. There is a good reason CRF bolt rifles are preferred when hunting stuff that will kill you. And the difference in speed just isn't that great, especially with heavier recoiling rifles. For a man who knows how to work a bolt rifle the difference between 3 shots from a pump, bolt or lever action is a fraction of a second.

Many African countries have caliber restrictions and the 9.3 will meet the legal minimum in many places. In reality it is really no better than 35 Whelen and marginally better than a 30-06 when either is loaded with really heavy bullets. But it will be legal to use in at least some places.
 
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