I bought this rifle off Ron Heilman many years ago. Last century in fact. Was 45-70 and the bore was rough at the breech end. It shot okay but not good enough for BPCRS. Took the barrel to a reputable gunsmith in Puyallup and had him install a .40 liner and chamber to 40-50 SS. I wanted to mess around with that cartridge. My instructions were to chamber it so the head of the cartridge would be flush with the barrel shank face. When I get the rifle assembled find out the chamber was .040 to deep. Case head was .040 lower than the shank face. Gunsmith said bring it back to me and I'll fix it. I had had enough of that so I sold the barrel and installed a GM cut rifled .40 barrel in it and chambered to 40-65. Never finished the project as I was real busy working back then. Years go by and I found an original Hepburn barrel marked 40-1 7/8. Pulled the GM barrel out and sold it. Now the Hepburn had an original barrel in it and it sat around for many years because I was busy. Continued.

That's a great story Joe! What make is the front sight you need inserts for?
You have too many old single shots if you're losing them, or misplacing them!

well, I'm sure glad to learn that you got it together, lacking but a single screw. Lost screws are bad enough, but it's all those loose screws that've caused the trouble. 
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is the same Hepburn that tried to separate my collar bone from my shoulder bone. I made up a hundred rounds of ammo loaded as such. 10 gr Reloader 7, 60 gr Swiss 1 1/2, Saeco 530 gr bullet. Still have most of that ammo. I often wonder what the hell I was thinking... No, I won't be repeating that trick. The old ammo will be disassembled.

Nice thing about the 45-90 is, it can be loaded just like the 45-70 with extra case length to cover lube grooves. Eliminates the need for special two diameter bullets when shooting very long ranges. 
I have considered rechambering the Hepburn to 45-90 since I have a lot of brass. Thinking now that it's all put back together why take the chance it may be scattered and lost in parts for years again.

westerner wrote on Mar 18^th, 2026 at 6:35pm:



You did do a nice job of matching.   
I still like making screws!
Bob

Nice old Hepburn. Glad you got it repaired. I have shot rollers, Sharps, and Win. Hi Wall but I find the Hepburn the easiest to shoot. The side lever is so convenient especially in prone. 



JMH

I totally agree. I for some reason always had a bit of trouble at times with my lever guns but it could have been my overall setup. I have just become enamored with the Hepburn over the last couple three years.


JMH