Dale, I have a Hepburn and believe it to be as strong as the highwall.  Mine is in 38-50 RH and is as accurate as my other two rifles, one a Shiloh and one a highwall.  There is a fellow from Guthrie, OK by the name of Jim Hamilton that scratch builds Hepburns besides DZ arms.  He advertises in the Want Add section of the Black Powder Cartridge News.  I can't give testimony towards either one however as I've only seen one DZ Arms rifle and don't remember that much about it.  Dave Crossno in Oklahoma would be a source that might give you some advice.  He can be found by doing a Google.  Seems like those Oklahoma shooters like their Hepburns.  Be aware, that there is a cadre of shooters out there that just don't appreciate the real beauty of a Hepburn.  I'll bet there is even a few around here.  

Thanks for the info guys.  I already have a Highwall set up as a target rifle and wanted my next single shot to be something different which the Hepburn certainly is.  Any idea of any sites that may have originals?  I saw one on BACO.  I plan to shoot it alot so it will probably be a reproduction.  The research is enjoyable too.

let's not forget the reason the hepburn came into being....American creedmoor teams wanting an improved version of their rollingblock creedmoor target rifle. Mr. hepburn was given the go-ahead from the remington factory "brass" to design a superior action....i personally believe he did, although i love the rollingblock too. they don't have the camming action of the highwall, but they do have the centrally hung hammer and short hammer fall.....you either love em' or hate em' it seems.....i personally am quite fond of them and am currently getting ready to build mine............good luck...blue

Went through some of the same issues about the Hepburn myself.  Being somewhat of a 'noticer', I began noticing that many of the folks that were winning matches were shooting Hepburn's in Black Powder Silhouette, Mid-Range and Long Range events.

One day I was at the Tucson Rifle Club Range and a National Champion, National Record holder in Black Powder Cartridge Target Rifle was there fireforming brass in a Hepburn that he bought from Dave Crossno.  Caliber 40-65, Green Mountain 1x16 twist barrel, Saeco #740 bullet.

He was somewhat tired of the fireforming process and invited me launch a few.  It was a fairly windy, overcast day.  I laid down behind his Hepburn and shot 23 consecutive hits on the turkey spotter at 385 meters. 

Again, being somewhat of a noticer, I immediately noticed that from the prone position that I did not have to get out of position or away from the spotting scope to manipulate and fire this rifle.  It didn't take much noticing to see that the rifle shot quite well and that it does have a fast lock time.

I had to be careful not to flip the lever down too hard or it would launch the fired case out past my shoulder.

So, next chance I had I bought a Hepburn action, had Mike Lewis of Yampa, Colorado, build a long range 45-90 on the action and I am just as pleased as punch with the outfit.  Problem is, all I want to do anymore is shoot that rifle.  

I am presently looking for another Hepburn action.  Hint, hint !

My recommendation is this, don't get a Hepburn.  You will love it.    

Dale,

You can find about five pages of Hepburn information in the book, Single Shot Rifles and Actions by Frank DeHaas in Chapter 13.  It has sectional views of the action as well as the double set trigger mechanism.

I have two Hepburns.  One is an original action that was re-barreled and re-stocked and I used it for several years shooting silhouette with black powder.

The other is a DZ Arms Hepburn.  I have been using that for almost three years now without any problems.  Initially there were a few small bugs in the rifle but nothing major.  When I pointed these out to Dan Zimmerman, he told me to send it back for correction.  I suggested that I shoot it for a while and see if anything else developed.  After one summer of shooting, no additional problems developed.  I sent the rifle back to Dan and he corrected the few small problems.  My rifle came back to me very quickly in excellent condition.  I am extremely pleased with the rifle and find that Dan Zimmerman is a quality supplier who stands behind his product 100%.  He wants all his customers to be happy with his products.

I find that in shooting black powder cartridge rifle silhouette the side lever is an advantage over the bottom Hi-Wall lever.  However, as others have pointed out, there is no camming action to force a long cartridge into the chamber.  That isn't a problem for me because I set my overall cartridge length so that the bullet is about 0.010" off the rifling.  In fact, I'm able to shoot the same cartridges in both rifles without any affect on accuracy.  Both rifles are chambered for the 45-70 cartridge.  The original is a single trigger while the DZ Arms has the double set trigger.  I prefer the double set and use that rifle almost exclusivly for competition.

I hope this answers some of your questions.

feather

I  have an original Hepburn ,and the only one drawback I have found is from the prone position you lose cheek contact at longer ranges due to the soule sight being higher. I have toyed with the idea of a different stock or simply putting a padded cheek rest on the gun. 45/70sharpshooter

I am see-sawing back and forth between a decked out Shiloh or a DZ/Whomever Hepburn.  I agree with most of you that the Hepburn is just different enough to be a real looker (with the possible exception of a few that is!!!!!!!!) .  

Anywho, I don't really plan to shoot the rifle in competition so I am just looking for a target rifle.  I wonder if the DZ Hepburn's stock drop will preclude getting a good cheek weld with a long range Soule type tang sight?  

I have seen the "risers" and have one built into a couple of McMillan A5 stocks, but what a PITA to clean the bore.  Not looking for an easy way out, but I hate to put it on/take it off to clean.

There is a DZ on BACO for sale, but the stock has some God awful work done to it.  But it sure does have a lot of goodies I won't have to purchase separately.  Anyone know of any other good ones for sale in that price range?

Thanks for all of this help!