Recently purchased a Hepburn that had been re barreled to 38-55 win. Have seen them from 32-40 Hepburn to 30-40 Krag to all manner of 40 and 45 cal. rounds. How rare are the odd calibers like say the Krag round?


JMH

So is the 30-40 one of the more common calibers? Had a Krag once that for what it was fairly accurate.


JMH

I like Hepburn. I have six. Here is my 32/20 Remington.

I have Hepburns in .45-70, .40-70SS, .32-40 B&M, and .32-20 cartridges. The .32-40 is a Match B with 34" half octagon barrel, and the .40-70SS is a DST with extra weight 34" full octagon barrel.

Here are my Hepburns. I have a .219 Donaldson Wasp & a Hepburn Sporting rifle in .38/50 also.

All these guns are very nice.  Thanks for showing them.

My Match B:
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.45-70 Sporter (this one is at the checkerer finally!):
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.40-70SS:
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.32-20:
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Please do! The more the better...




JMH

These are nice pinup pictures. Please add to them? We need a centerfold. Maybe a Walker? I haven’t got one. Someone must.

Match A in 38/55 H.P.

Engraved 40/70 SS. I dont shoot this one.

Match A 38/55

John Robert wrote on Dec 4^th, 2023 at 6:53pm:


I believe all the Krags were the late round ordnance steel. My 38/55 H.P. is the same full round, as would be a 32/40 H.P. Wheres Tom Rowe when you need him?

Wow, great looking Hepburns!

I am constantly amazed at the craftsmanship it must have taken to build these guns. Mind you this was 1800's early 1900's technology. No CNC machines here. The wood to metal fit looks like it grew there. Can't wait to get out and shoot mine some more...


JMH

Wow! There are some gorgeous Hepburns out there to be really proud of! Would love to have a Walker Hepburn like one of those that Warren Greatbatch sold at auction a few years ago.

Here's one not so gorgeous. Was originally a 25-20SS. Now it's a 38-55. It's been used a lot. One of my favorite old rifles. Nothing ever goes wrong with it and it cannot be wore out. 

That wingnut on the palm rest is cadmium plated. Cadmium. 

Spud wrote on Dec 5^th, 2023 at 6:48am:


He told me mine with 34" barrel was the only one he knew of!

On the Hepburns with the .30-40 Krag barrels, how are they marked for this cartridge on the barrel? Is it .30-40, or .30 Krag, or???

Totally different fonts and a non factory looking stamping. I would have expected a 30 USA marking.

Could it be a rebore?

Caliber stamp looks correct. The later Hepburns used bigger font. And of course they all look like they were done by a child.

My 34" barreled Match B in .32-40 B&M is .995" at the receiver, and .745" at the muzzle. But not sure this would be standard dimensions for every Hepburn, or if mine might be lighter dimensions to stay at 10 lbs. with the longer barrel? My barrel measure exactly 34" chamber to crown total length.
Cartridge marking on mine is ".32-40 B&M" and smaller font, but more carefully marked than any of my other Hepburns also. My older Hepburns with lower serial number and E. Remington rollstamp have the larger font like Spud's and sort of sloppy cartridge marking.

i have or have had hepburns chambered from 22s to 50-110 and just about all in between. gonna get some pictures of my 2 walkers and some real nice match b's.   tony<><

JHM,
FWIW,
MY Brg BPCR, rebarrelled to 32-40 Remington-chambered with my Dan Theodore tight neck match reamer, 
has an 8 twist x 0.308" groove dia.
It shoots very well with the Lyman 311299/200gr
I use it for Schuetzen so far with smokeless loads.
I do have some longer bullets, NOE 311-247gr FN
that I want to work with, which I can with the 8 twist.
I will eventually also work with BP and these heavy bullets
beltfed/arnie

Marlinguy,

Could you give me a dia. at 30 and 32 inch? That way I will be covered either way. Thanks




JMH

40/60 Maynard and 219 Donaldson Wasp, both single triggers.
I need to source a standard Rolling Block trigger to attempt some trigger work on the Wasp. I don't want to modify the original Hepburn part. The 8lb trigger on that Heppy will drive you nuts in a prairie dog town.

Check out the case color under the lever!

Kurt_701 wrote on Dec 4^th, 2023 at 11:29am:

I noted your 32-30 Match rifle. I’ve become interested in the cartridge and the Hepburns in general.

Do you shoot that rifle, if so what can you say about the performance?

What is the twist or heaviest bullet it can accommodate?

Any help appreciated.

Rifleman, that a neat Hepburn, and looks like some careful cleanup will make it even better! 

This has been a great topic discussion, with some nice Hepburns!

.45-70 Hepburn with original Remington long range vernier tang sight but missing the front windage sight.

.22 Hepburn,
Very nice group of .22 Hepburns! Still miss Dave & Pam Crossno, he did a lot of wood and metal work for me over the years.
Interesting cut down Hepburn. Was just right side cut down or both sides. What was done to make the hammer a speed-locked. 

C C; only the right side of the receiver was cut down. To speed-lock the hammer, the cock notches in the horns were were moved, so this moved the hammer forward. Also, note that the upper of Dave’s rifles has both sides of the receiver cut down. He wanted to copy a Hepburn that is pictured in one of the John Grant books. 
FYI, here is a favorite pic of him that I took one year at Raton.

.22Hepburn wrote on Dec 12^th, 2023 at 1:36pm:


Thanks for the info! Do you know if Dave made his actions from billets, or did he have them cast or forged, and then do the machining work?

Great picture of Dave!

Val, he used castings for his actions.

thanks greg,  top one is w-6. in the hepburn book. just got it a couple months ago.lower one is w-24. i found this several years ago. it wasn't completely finished.  2 barrels, 2 breech blocks 2 extractors.  22lr and 38-55. all metal work was done, stock on it was not remington but had the correct buttplate.kept it for a long time and finally decided to get the gun finished with the correct stock and colors.  found the walker palm rest at denver gun show on a gun it didn't belong on so i bought the gun and now it is where it should be. when i got it was told it was probably one that was on the bench and wasn't finished when they stopped making them. i was told many years after they stopped there was a lot of parts left and they made they're way out into the gun world. 
  been a while since i have seen a picture of dave crossno. i was with him 4 days before he died and told my friend goodbye. miss him

Tony and Dave at the Tulsa Gun Show. RIP Dave

That pic records a historic event;
Dave opened his wallet, took out real money and bought a Winchester 25-20 lever gun from Tony. This really happened, lol.

Greg, one of my Hepburns has the receiver cut away just like this. Mine is a single trigger gun, no serial number, and the upper tang has been cut off and the buttstock has a thru-bolt in it. Also, my rifle was built in a prone/position configuration.

Tony, your rifle looks a bit familiar, mine.

it has taken a long time and a lot of miles to get here.

22 hepburn all it takes is money, a lot of them are for sale. these 3 are not some of them

i tried being grown up ,i didn't like it so i went back to being a kid. now i just get bigger toys.

I know I shouldn't covet other people's guns, but can't help wanting a bunch of those I see on this thread!

Got a nice surprise at our monthly OAC collector gun show this morning! Last month I gave the stocks from my very first Hepburn to my gunsmith friend so his checkerer could checker them. I built this rifle up from a project I bought from a friend over 20 years ago, but never got around to checkering the wood when I finished. Always put it off, until my gunsmith friend kept showing me checkering his friend did for guns he built!
The checkerer is a retired logger whose mid 80's and still doing great work. And at prices half of what professionals charge too! I'm really happy to finally get this very old project finally finished. This is a .45-70 and Dave Crossno carved my blanks for me, and I put 16 coats of Wipe On Poly on after fitting and finishing. Then hand rubbed the finish with rottenstone and buffed the stocks.

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Crown-C wrote on Dec 17^th, 2023 at 6:12pm:


Thanks Richard. He asked what I wanted, and I told him to just do whatever he wanted to do.

JerryH wrote on Dec 17^th, 2023 at 7:00pm:


Thanks Jerry.
I was surprised when I got the stocks back checkered, and saw he had stained and sealed the checkering too! I thought I'd have to do that after he was done?

And I just realized my later Hepburns have the serial number stamped so when the gun is upright in the rack they are right side up.

The others are stamped upside down when stood on butt.

Beautiful rifle Vall.  Nice job on the wood, finish and for 80 he does nice work in checkering.
Bob

This is my .39 caliber Hepburn. It's a Stevens-Pope barrel originally marked 38-55. Shoots a .396 diameter bullet. Not an everyday Hepburn caliber.

This is a rifle that was in the Remington factory collection at one time. Caliber is .45-70, and the side lever cocks the action. I would guess that it was designed to be used in a long-range rifle similar to what may be found in some of the British Farquharsons.

Normal Hepburn. I do have the two Walker Patent Models with the camming block.

If you have any passion at all for the Heartburns, you NEED Tom's book, and a bib.