Hi Saloon Slug! Sorry about the delay in responding, as I was waiting until I had more info to add! Haven't figured out what sights I'll use beyond the ones on it now.
Well here's the latest in the Hepburn saga. It's going to be back home soon, with the same barrel, but 30" long!
Now I hope I've got your interest peaked, and maybe a few wondering what I've been smokin! I did a lot of checking, asked a lot of questions, and finally contacted Dale Woody at Gun Fancy, (who engraved my other Hepburn) and we discussed making up a new barrel, and having all the original rollstamps copied to it. Dale sent me to a gunsmith friend, who does a lot of barrel work.
When I showed him the barrel, he asked, "Why don't we lengthen it, so you can keep it as original as possible?"
Well I've never heard of this, so I asked for some particulars. After looking at some barrels that had been done, and discussing my project, I left it with him to do the work.
The Hepburn now has the original barrel, lengthened to 30" by welding a 8" section to it, and then relining the whole thing to the original .40-70SS, and rechambering. He even cut the chamber to accept the .405 Win brass I use to reform to .40-70SS, and welded up the old dovetail, and cut a new one at the new location.
Once the barrel is rust blued and I can get it all back home together, I'll post another picture so you can see the end results! Supposed to be stronger than original, as the old barrels were mild steel, and the new liner is 4140 steel. Of course the extension is soft steel too, so it will blue to match the rest of the barrel.
