Hello Roy,

I have been following the progress of various people over the past few years on several Forums who have ordered and attempted to build one of these kits. As you will know, they come in two forms, i.e. Basic, and, the part machined (where holes are pre drilled in the castings and some parts are surface ground). 

This latter kit is I would suggest, is the better of the two to purchase. Admittedly it is more expensive, but not perhaps as expensive as ordering the basic kit and then having to replace parts you may have erred in certain ways. The second choice does seem to be the popular choice of making this fine rifle action. If you do the drilling of the holes yourself you only have to be a few thousandths of an inch out on some of them to really spoil your day. I've done that myself on a different action and it is not something to be recommended. Such an instance can change the geometry of many parts inside unless it is rectified. Buy the parts already drilled and if there's can error the maker has to replace it FOC.

As to what powder to use, well it pays to follow the manufacturers suggestions and in this instance they suggest BLACK POWDER only. After all the original was BP only and there's more fun in shooting that anyway.

Good luck with your action building and don't forget to photograph your progress as you go along, especially set up's you have to 'jury rig'. I and others like to see what's going on.

Harry

You could ask C. Sharps if they will sell their Hepburn as an 'action kit', which they do with their 1885 and 1874. As it is one of their 'custom' rifles, they may not. But, you'll never know if you don't ask. Same with DZ Arms. They are two that are offering new Hepburn rifles and both sell the various parts.

If were me, I'd start my Hepburn project here - see the second post.
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Roy you might consider The cost of set up to thread the barrel shank hole, or the cost of a tap, verses buying the machined kit.

ron

Quote:


I looked at this one and a few others. Since I only want the action and would replace barrel and wood, I thought a kit of finish receiver would be the more economical way to go.

Plus a modern steel receiver would be much stronger for milder loads of smokeless.

Here is the URL to my homemade action. Long time ago. Has worked pretty well for several thousand rounds. May be some later pictures of the finished rifle.

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Chuck

Roy,
I am in the process of finishing one of the kits you asked about.  The castings were good quality--no blow holes, etc.  Mine did have a cracked extractor which was replaced at no charge.  Remember that these are castings so nothing is to any specific dimension.  There is enough extra stock that you will have no trouble finishing the kit unless you make a bad boo boo.  The only points on the action that can be used for reference are the front action face and the threaded barrel channel.  The sides of the action appear to have been flattened with a belt sander.  One side of my action was pretty flat, the other side had about 0.040 runout.  If you have some machine experience and the equipment, there are places that you will benefit.  Expect to do a lot of hand fitting--filing and sandpaper, etc.  Purchase a good set of files.  Almost any coarse file will hog the metal off--what I'm talking about are the fine files that will remove metal efficiently but not leave deep scratches.  Remember, all those scratches will have to be removed somehow.  Expect to have problems.  Make yourself some jigs--a barrel stub and an accurate trigger jig are almost a necessity.  The most difficult part is cutting the slot for the extractor.  Another difficulty is getting the face of the action, the face of the breechblock, and the back lugs the block rides on all to be parallel.  The kit is doable.  I've been working on this one since February, 2014.  Take your time and think each operation through--nothing is straight forward with a cast kit.  Try to anticipate trouble spots before they occur.  If you expect a finished job accurate to the nearest 0.001 of an inch, you're going to be disappointed.  You will have a nice shootable rifle when done.  The action is 8620 steel and will case harden nicely--do not attempt to shoot it if you do not harden the action.  The kit is for black powder only--stamped on the underside of the upper tang.  Good luck with the project.   
Barry C Jolly