doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Smokeless Powder Remington Hepburn in .30-40 Krag

I bought this Remington No 3 "Hepburn" rifle today. I am told it is a rare smokeless powder gun in .30-40 Krag. The rifle has traces of casehardening on the action. The 30 inch barrel has a serial number under the fore end that matches the number on the lower tang. This gun is number 9844, a pretty late gun in the production, I hear. I don't see any marking on the spirit level front sight. There is no evidence of a rear sight except for filled screw holes in the heel of the stock where a back position sight was mounted at one time. The former owner told me that it was used in competition at Seagirt. (I hope I spelled it right.) I have a Lyman tang sight coming that came off another Hepburn. Below is a full-length photo and a link to an album with 19 photos. What can you tell me about this rifle?

http://s396.photobucket.com/albums/pp48/Vol423/Remington%20Hepburn%2030%2040%20Krag/

I have never been a Hepburn fan...but I am a fan of your gun. Congrat, truely a wonderful find. You must be just giddy with joy.

Contact Tom Rowe

I can tell you it is a damn nice rifle for sure.

I didn't realize that Remington did a .30-40 in the Hepburn but I am no expert. I imagine Grant lists it there. But no matter to me. It's a fine rifle.

Congratulations.

You did. Tangentially of interest and worth printing out, to keep with your new rifle.

http://www.seagirtboro.com/history.html

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/07/history-notes-of-interest-to-sea-girt.html

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B10F7395A17738DDDAA0A94D0405B888CF1D3

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50816FD3A5414728DDDA80B94D0405B818CF1D3

I believe it is a Match Grade B, based on the checkering on the fore end and the schnable fore end tip (C has a horn tip, I think).

Tom Rowe has a book, perhaps not yet published, on the Hepburns. I saw a Draft copy at Las Vegas in January.

I ask someone more knowledgeable than me about Hepburns and this is what he said.

"Mike Best guess is that it is a Hi-power. Round barrels, I believe, indicate ordnance steel. All hi-powers I have seen have been in Krag. Unusual to see the checkered forearm. If someone used it at Sea Girt I would take with a grain of salt. Too much drop in the stock. I also believe, as in WAG, that Hi-powers are rarer than Walkers. This may be in error as the Walker is so easy to identify and most folks wouldn't know a Hi-power if it fell on them."

"Looked again. It has an optional shot gun butt which was a $2 extra. Neat."

What is the name on the barrel? The early ones were E. Remington. The later would be Remington UMC.

They made Hepburns for thirty yers but they only made about 10,000. It was not a big seller.

I think the big fault ofthe Hepburn was the amount of drop in the stock. I have seen some that were rebarrelled into varmint calibers and restocked for a scope. They really had a strnage looking stocks.

I was at a local gun show today and talked with a friend who is a Hepburn collector and I described your rifle to him. He has one and it is a High-Power as yours is.

If the rifle were mine I would find an original Remington tang sight.

Congratulations you have a very scarce and desirable rifle, enjoy.

Thank you all for the great information. I assume the comment about the drop in the stock vis-a-vis Seagirt was directed toward using the rifle in the back position. I obviously have no evidence that the rifle was used at Seagirt, but the only evidence of the rifle ever having a rear sight are the filled screw holes on the heel of the stock. I can't think of any way to use a sight on the heel except in the back position. As an aside, I can't think of a more uncomfortable way to shoot a rifle than from the back position, stock drop or not.

Regarding the identification of the rifle as a Hi-Power. Is Hi-Power a sub-model of the No 3 designation or part of a separate model line?

With respect to a rear sight, did Remington make their own tang sights or were they purchased from another company such as Lyman and then Remington marked? I have a Lyman tang sight coming in that was removed from a Hepburn because the owner installed a taller sight with windage adjustment for use in BPCR competition. I'll use that sight to get the rifle running again and pursure authenticity in the future.

Incidentally, the bore is as perfect as I can see with the naked eye. Someone took good care of the old girl. The man from whom I purchased the rifle owned it twenty-five years and never shot it.