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

Being a LRBPTR shooter, I've done quite a bit of reading on the early Creedmoor matches. L.L. Hepburn was a member of the 1874 team and worked at Remington at the same time. IIRC, he mentions that he hand built both his and Fulton's match rifles. The question is, what did they look like. Were they just rolling block Creedmoors or something else? Richard Binger has a rifle that looks like a cross between a rolling block and a Hepburn. It has a side lever and has a lot of traits of the #3 with more drop than the rolling block has. Perhaps they were the first prototypes. Shortly after, Hepburn finished the design of his #3 which we see today. I think he had one thing in mind when he developed it; long and mid-range shooting. He wanted ease of wiping the bore which was allowed at that time, and the ease of passing a rod through from the breech end. This, along with a center hung hammer and faster lock time than most rifles of that era.
Remington did make their own sights as some are seen on existing Creedmoor rifles. If your model has the long top tang, it should be drilled and tapped for that sight. The hole spacing should be around 1.925". It will be one difficult sight to find. Because it is in 30-40, the sight may be almost one of a kind in that the staff would not have to be nearly as tall as the bp rifles need. If your rifle has the short top tang, it would have different hole spacings and indeed take a different sight base.
Does the cut for the base of the heel sight look like an after market fix or was it factory? By the time that rifle was made, (1902-1907) the Creedmoor matches were long gone and the Palma matches were being held.

There isn't a cut in the stock, just the evidence of filled holes. I'll take another photo of the heel and add it to the album as soon as I get more batteries for the camera.

How do I determine if my rifle has a short top tang?

I was just thinking today that I should not be so anxious to go shooting the rifle extensively with jacketed bullets, as the barrel is, after all, over 100 years old. What kind of bullet did Remington intend for this barrel? I think I have some cast bullets from shooting .30/06 and I should probably load up some for this rifle. Lead bullets won't hurt the bore.

Thanks for the input. It's been very informative.

As far as I know (which is not a lot) it's called a Remington Hepburn No. 3 High-Power.

They were cataloged in several calibers such as 30-30, 30-40, 32-Special, 32-40, 38-55 and I think 38-72. How many of these were made I have no idea.

You can see one rear sight here and I'm sure if you Google it you will find lots.

http://www.nramuseum.com/the-museum/the-...moor-rifle.aspx

This sight will be both hard to find and expensive but IMO well worth it.

Michael, that rifle in the NRA photo is interesting but it has no provision for windage. Seems very strange for a target rifle.

BTW, while looking for an original sight, you might also keep an eye out for an Axtell reproduction of that sight. I think they made them, but I'm not entirely certain.

I do not believe that any target Remington had a wind-gauge rear, that's why they used a wind-guage front. The NRA rifle may not have one now, but most likley did in the day.

I, finally, got out my 1902 Remington catalog (reproduction). It does notshow a chambering for .30/40 or for an all round barrel. If I understand the parts list you could buy a shotgun butt stock as an extra. Also you could have both the butt stock and the foreend checkered as an extra. I think we can date your gun after 1902. I don't know when the back position was taken out of target shooting. The catalog does not show the Remington Walker modification fo the Hepburn.

Lead bullets and a shoulder saver load of 12gr of Red Dot,,I could sit and shoot that rifle all afternoon.
What a beauty.

I went back and cleaned up my hi-power to the correct High-Power, sorry if this caused any confusion in looking for information.

I always chuckle to myself when folks call a High-Wall a Hi-Wall and then I went and did it.

The High Wall and the Hepburn carry the same patent date.

The rifle that Michael posted has the long tang. It is also equipped with double set triggers. Those usually were not allowed in the early matches. Here is the ASSRA article about Richard Binger's LR rifle that has similarities of both a rolling block and a Hepburn.
http://www.assra.com/feature-may_June-2003.htm