Years go by and I then move to Idaho. I lose track of the parts and more years go by. Occasionally I'd look for the parts but never could find them. Finally about three years ago I found a small box with all the parts for the Hepburn.
What a relief! Yesterday I finally started putting it back together. I had it all together except for one screw. The screw on the left side that holds the breech block in place. Just got done making the screw and the rifle is, well, almost complete. I need some front sight inserts. So here it is. Oh, wait, I forgot. Turns out the original barrel in it is not 40 1 7/8 but 45-70. An old rebore. I figure the rifle has been in pieces for about 27 years. And I only lost one screw. A miracle.

Reproduction Remington Hepburn sight. May have to make inserts. Can be a bugger getting the correct size.

Wes,
Sounds like the Hepburn has gone full circle.  Give us a range report when you get a chance.  Hope it shoots as good as it looks.
GT

westerner wrote on Mar 17^th, 2026 at 10:55am:


I bought a Hepburn in .45-90 in the for sale section here last year. Got 250 cases made up by BACO from .348 brass and I made up some loads with 4198, but still haven't test fired them at the range. A little intimidated by the .45-90, and those skinny little Hepburn buttplates.

Such mundane work, making screws.    Here is my replacement screw. Think I did a perty good job making it look like the others.

Thanks Bob. Not so bad if I'd had a button die. Thread was .208 X 28 TPI. My slitting saw was just a bit thin but it worked out okay. Had to dig deep in my pile of stuff to find a sight insert. With the help of a chunk of rubber band it works. 

Took it out last evening for test firing. Everything is good. I even fired some of the old duplex loads in it and it did not hurt me. Will be a piece of cake with some padding. So I plan to use it in the upcoming BPCRS match.

I've heard that before but I've never had a problem with any under lever rifles in the prone position. 

Have had lever/palmrest interference issues however. I have a Pope levered Ballard rifle that can be a bit of a loading puzzle.

Lever guns. New fangled repeating rifles. Nothing but trouble and they'll never catch on. Better to stay away from the bloody contraptions.

Looks like youll need a windgauge front. Are you going to try something different with ammo to see if you can improve it?

westerner wrote on Mar 24^th, 2026 at 10:28am:



You’re suppose to use your right eye Wes!
Bob

bobw wrote on Mar 24^th, 2026 at 11:25am:


Started out on Pigs this weekend. Once I got dialed in my cheek was not touching the stock. Got the first six but missed the last four. Hits were all over the place. Just left a message at Krieger Barrels. Thought I had a blank but it is .403-.401 16 twist. Have a .45 Badger blank but is to small. Always somethin. 

Nah, its me. I had missed the photo of the wind gauge sight and as far as the ammonia,  new phone as of yesterday likes to finish words for me. 
Sorry

Sorry rifleman. I was bamboozled. You would think by now I'd be able to figure these PCs out a little better.

Pat, my test firing was a ten minute drive to my firearms testing place where I stuck the barrel out the window of the Jeep and went bang at the side of the mountain. That was before I even had the sight insert in it. A safety check only.  

I have no idea why POI is 10 feet to the right at 300 meters. Everything on the exterior including the sights are in line and normal. The bore looks normal when looking from the breech. When the original barrel was in place the rifles POI was normal.  When looking at the rifling at the muzzle with a strong light it appears one side has very light rifling and the opposite side has strong rifling. 3 inch groups at 100 yards is not acceptable accuracy nor the grouping on the pigs at 300 meters. So far I've tried three different types of ammo and three different bullets. It likes the 545 gr Darrel Smithson bullets best. But best is not good enough in this case. 

Krieger is not answering the phone or answering calls. Not today anyway. When I called Buffalo Arms they told me all they had was machine gun barrels. 



 

Difficult finding a barrel blank in 40 or 45. I don't mind lousy outings. Didn't expect to do well at the match. Had fun experimenting with old rifles and being around friends.
Used duplex ammo which was so fun. 

I need a new barrel for my Hepburn, Pat. Where can I get one?

Was thinking I might put a liner in it. The rifle is old but nice with matching patina, AKA rust. But I get to wondering about barrel shank runout, or maybe the barrel is bent or some other calamitous defect. If the barrel is bent maybe I could make up a similar jig to straighten it. Worked perfect on this drop axle. Or use the mill as a press. Nah, a new barrel is the best solution.

I'm gun shy about taking the old Hepburn apart. I might not get it back together. Think I just bought a .40 barrel. 

I've seen a few barrels that were bent bad. Green Mountain sent one to me that had a bowed bore but straight on the outside. Easy to see when it's spinning in the lathe. I had a barrel with shank runout. Not sure what I did with that barrel. Can't remember.