Not sure if there was a rhyme or reason, but I have one lettered on the right side under the lever like shown in your photo above. 

Note: Now shown in the photo below since you moved them.    

Nice pics, SSS.  That action looks to be in excellent shape.  Very little pitting.  You'll have to get the action annealed before any polishing can be done.  The two I've worked on were harder than a woodpeckers lips.  The only thing that touches them without annealing first are diamond files and the case is quite deep.  Let me suggest getting the receiver polished and ready and also fit your forearm.  Then have JT do the barrel work.  He can then send it back to you with the barrel screwed off so you can send the action out for engraving. Have the barrel and receiver colored to your choice and then reassembled.  Less chance for any dings or what not done to your engraving.

I polished mine out without annealing it, and I asked Dale if he wanted it annealed before he engraved it. He said he doesn't have any trouble engraving them without annealing. 
I asked for very simple engraving on mine, but gave Dale free run to do what he thought best. It was much more than I had planned, but I was happier with it when I saw his idea of what it should be.
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He also engraved the bottom of the trigger guard, and lower tang. And since he had the barrel, he did a bit there too.

marlinguy, very nice indeed! I gave Dale the same freedoms and I left it up to Dale. I suspect mine will look allot like yours. I am having Dale do an antique french grey type of finish that he recommends. All my past work on Ballards have been CCH'd and wanted to see what he recommends on the grey that he says is much more durable than other greys. 
SSShooter,  When I get mine back in a week or so, I will post before and after photos to give you an idea of what his work looks like on mine. Like Marlinguy, I polished mine without annealing and didn't have any problems. My Hepburn had been reblued over a pitted receiver so I had to draw file it and then polish to 600 grit. Of course, that took off all the original lettering. It also had a modern 30-40 Krag barrel on it. Took me several months to find an original 32", three digit serial numbered, part octagon, part round barrel, that I polished and rust blued. I refinished the original stock and forearm, but also had Treebone make fancy new stocks that I will send off to Dave Crossno later to fit. Putting a shotgun plate on it, probably similiar to what Marlinguy did. These projects can take a year or more to complete!
Richard

SSShooter wrote on Jul 13^th, 2012 at 5:55am:


I had Dale hot blue the screws and the hammer/block. I've seen mostly blued blocks and hammers on Hepburns, and I love the contrast myself.

Marlinguy,
I think our buttplates are almost identical, but I got mine from George at Treebone. I had some nice wood I had bought some time ago. I really like the skeletal plate and like to try one in a future project.
Richard

SSShooter,
Your original stock is nicely figured and I agree with you to keep it. It's nicer than mine and when you get all the years of accumulations off of it, I would bet it will look outstanding. The last several years I have been using Pilkingtons to refinish wood. Dave Crossno recommended it to me and it does great filling in and has a low to high gloss depending what you do with it. After using Pilkingtons I then just put on layer of wax for protection. I've included a couple of photos of the hepburn I did. The wood was dinged and soft from years of oil. Hot iron and damp cloth took most of the dings out and used Whiting to take oil out of it. I still need to do more wet sanding to finish it. I had Tim Smith-Lyon do the re-checkering as it was worn smooth. Had to do some filling with accra-glass around the buttplate as it was chipped, plus I filled the buttplate cavity with glass to keep more chipping from occurring.
Richard