I am glad you volunteered Joe to do the checkering. I hear you can do a pretty good job. Post some photos of your checkering.

I think that dark wood and case coloring will look real nice out in the sunlight.

Plan to have it checkered next year while I have the sorry job of bluing redone. Am taking bids if anyone is interested in the work. Should have the new mould (BACo 400gr M4) by the end of the week, so will be putting some lead down-range next week, weather permitting. May shoot it with the 28" MVA scope just to add another pound of weight. Only weighs 10#. Am starting to think deer.

westerner wrote on Feb 25^th, 2013 at 12:42pm:

You are correct and here it is. Had it checkered last winter (difficult to see, but is traditional Hepburn with ~1/2" uncheckered wood between the panels on either side of the forearm & pistol grip), along with a new 32" GM barrel with a Win 3 1/2 profile and 14.5" twist. Did not care for the light weight and the new barrel added about 1.5#, which is much better. Have started to learn to shoot it (the checkering surely helps) and made AAA this past season with a couple of 2nd places at regional matches. Hoping to continue to improve in 2016. Is a terrific rifle.

Absolutely. Please don't let that 44-70 reamer go without thinking about me first.
Have a 38-50 Hepburn to finish before I can start on the 44-70. Woody has the wood and the action goes out for case-color after the new year, so am hoping I'll have it all together by summer. Then I'll get the 44-70 'into the works'. 

That is a very nice rifle, but I do have maybe a bit of a silly question. In the past I have, or at least I think that I  have seen people say that the Hepburn stock is not all that good for prone shooting and that it is a bit low. Your stock seems to solve that problem but I am just curious if it meets the guidelines to be silhouette legal.
Thanks
Sam

The green sticker is from the 2014 nationals. All rifles are weighed and have to fit in their jig, which measures the stock configuration. The original non-shotgun Hepburn stock likely would pass, but I find quite uncomfortable to shoot. To me, it is a real kicker with an almost crescent buttplate and too much drop. YMMV. From the first pic to the last I've taken about 1/2" off the comb.

Getting close. The barrel is fitted and goes on this week, as should the wood.

Wow!!! Stunning!

Yes, great craftsmanship, but nice to see another Hepburn saved, and done the right way too!

Instead of putting in a liner. I'm not sure if Ken Bresine
is still in business but he could recut &rifle the bore to 33-47.

Got the stock taken down (thank you Don Faulkenberry) to match my other Hepburn and now I can get down into it for some proper shooting. Compare to the pic above to see how much wood was taken out of it. Will be trying it in both mid-range (200/300/600yd) and BPCR silhouette in June. Should be fun. Has the best triggers of my Hepburns. Only thing left is to have it checkered the next off-season.

Thanks. Me, too.
Forgot to post the "before" pic of the rifle. This is the starting point of the current wood. Barrel looks short and stubby with all that wood. Engraving, barrel bored from .22 to 38cal and 13" twist, chambered in 38-50R, blued with CC action. You've come a long way, baby.

1991Goldenmatch11th. Ken Bresein died on August 11, 2014 Great guy and missed.
Golden 1983 no 20!

OK....... time to get this thread back on the "Hepburn" track. Here is a pic of Hepburn #3. Everything has been fitted so it operates correctly. Hammer-spring needs some work as it takes both thumbs and a good looking girl to cock the thing. And then just barely. Have the original #3 weight, full-octagon 28" long 32-40 barrel, which, unfortunately, was lined down to a 22 Lovell before I found it. Everything goes off to the gunsmith next month for a new TJ liner to get it back to 32-40. Once everything is fitted, will be refinished (perhaps engraved) and the wood put on. Another year or so and it will be a shooter.

Doing my best. Only have three originals (the .22 is a DZ Arms repro - he does a very nice job) and, oddly enough, they are all three within 300 of each other based on their serial #'s. The first one had a 'chopped' barrel (20") and the other two had been 'varmintized' (.219 Zipper & .22 Lovell). This one has been the most effort due to the bad trigger-guard. Was actually rusted through, but the receiver is in excellent condition. Must have been some sort of galvanic action going on. Am thinking I may put it together and shoot it for a while before doing the refinish on the metal & wood. With a 32-40 the original butt-plate shouldn't be too bad, shooting off-hand.

Been alerted that my Bartlein gain-twist 38cal barrel ships at the end of the month. Plan on the Hepburn Creedmoor rifle profile with the short octagon section. Another step in the process.

BOY OH BOY,if you just won this item,in Oct. I was bidding,but then my son-in-law asked to use my comp.when he was done,nothing worked RIGHT!!! It was a barreled action. ??.Well at least it went to a good home, just picked up stocked action,have barrel 38-55. just not as GOOD a price. The son-in-law,4 grands,he puts up with my daugther and he is a DR. than shoots. Will keep him! Good shooting with that new Hepburn!! I dod believe it is a disease  57thahc

SSShooter wrote on Nov 2^nd, 2016 at 2:39pm:


Didn't know Remington ever blued Hepburns, and wonder why they would put lacquer over bluing? Are you sure that was original?

Otto Carter just sent this drawing of the engraving that he will cutting on the receiver he is doing for me. Should have it back for case-color by the end of the month.

Love the pattern..............and am literally addicted to Hepburns like I am redheaded women!    Don't know which would turn my head quicker.  At least Hepburns don't usually have tempers. 

My full coverage Stevens 44-1/2 Breisen also had all the screw heads clocked and engraved and a real nice added touch. It is not often seen and maybe something to also think about to add a little more charm to it all. If nothing else just having all the screws clocked seperates the custom from just not being so and if not it just simply becomes another everyday engraved action and not anything overly special.

Beautiful, and delicate looking engraving! I like the pattern even more now that it's done!

Very nice. Like the overlaps in the pattern. Adds depth and dimension.
Chuck

Had an occasion to get three of my four Hepburns (3 original & one DZ Arms .22LR) out of the safe, so thought I'd snap and pic & post. All are DST models.

The top Hepburn is the 35-40. It came to me chambered in 219 Zipper and I had it lined to 35cal and chambered in 35-40. Will eventually have all that rubber on the end of the stock removed and a piece of wood scabbed on and a proper buttplate installed. The barrel is 26" long and it weighs in at 9#5oz with an 8oz mercury recoil suppressor in the stock (purely for adding some weight) and the tapered, round, 26" long barrel. With the 23" MVA scope it still only a 10#13oz rifle. Very handy & a real pleasure to shoot. In the process of working up loads. 35-40 is a pussy-cat.

The middle rifle is the DZ Arms .22LR. 28" half-octagon, half-round Shilen rachet-rifled barrel. Great shooting rifle and DZ Arms does excellent work.

The bottom rifle is my 40-65 BPCR/BPTR rifle. 32" long Win #3 1/2 profile, 14.5" twist GrnMtn barrel and it shoots much better than I do. As can be seen from the various stickers, it has been to the nationals (Raton) and any number of regional matches and has served me well. A real pleasure to shoot.

Not shown is the 38-50, which is out for case-color, bluing and chambering. Will have a 32" Bartlein gain-twist barrel (16.5-11.5"). It started life with me as an all original rifle (other than the 22 Lovell barrel liner) and, after I'm thru shooting it as a 38-50, will be returned to the original 32-40 with 28" full octagon barrel.

Making some headway. My case-color (bone charcoal) guy did the buttplates (original for the original wood) and new M70 for the new shotgun stock wood. Action to follow (receiver, triggers, trigger guard, sear) and rest will be rust blued (including screws).

SSS
I think something like that pattern you have on your Hepburn would look great on my planned Hi Wall, who did the work ?, perhaps if my engraving guy is too busy to do my Hi Wall within the next six months I could give your guy a call.
Mike

Glenn, who is doing your case-coloring ?  Dale.

Here's the block.

jy3855 wrote on Apr 12^th, 2017 at 8:39am:

I agree! A fair number of professionals have trouble getting all the colors your friend is getting! He must be doing it right and figured it out!

OK........... here's Hepburn #3 (3rd CF Hepburn for me). Now wearing a new 30" half-round GM 38cal 'X' barrel with 12" twist and chambered in 38-50, all put together by Steve Durren. Also, the original 28" full-octagon original barrel was lined back to 32-40 (how it started life some 125yr ago) from the 22 Lovell someone had changed it over to. Steve fitted the wood (maple), which is off to be checkered tomorrow. Once I become so static that I want to shoot from the bench just need to swap out barrels, put on the original wood and develop loads.

Just got the wood back from being checker.ed It is going to have to live with a couple of coats of oil to keep the moisture out until it is warm enough to put some stain on outside. Looks like it will have some good figure. Will be going with Laurel Mtn Forge's Nut Brown stain.

Glen, Beautiful wood and checkering, but have a question.
Always thought wood was checkered after finishing.
Maybe Maple is different.
Chuck

Checkering first means the finish will build up in the checkering. Every stock maker or checkerer I ever used told me to finish the wood first, and then checker. Then apply thin coat of finish over checkering to seal it.

I just read this front to back. Fun!
Hepburns make me happy! They are near the top of the list.