The Remington-Hepburn rifles were designed by Remington Mechanical Department Superintendent Lewis L. Hepburn. He was also a member of the American Creedmoor International Shooting Team which meant that he fully appreciated what a rifle needed to stand up to the rigors of the booming target shooting scene of the late 19th century. Between 8,000 and 10,000 Remington-Hepburn sporting and target rifles were manufactured from 1880 to 1907. A few thousand more Hepburns were built in other variations for marksmanship matches at short, mid, and long range, and a limited number were built for hunting and military use. This example is a Sporting/Target model upgraded with more advanced sights consisting of an adjustable spirit level globe front sight, "WILLIAMS" marked rear dovetail filler block, and an adjustable Lyman peep sight on the upper tang. The bottom of the barrel is marked "12045" at the breech, "NO R.S. 7705" behind the forearm lug, and "38" just ahead of the forearm. The smooth walnut forearm is a replacement with no serial number and an ebony inlayed Schnabel tip instead of a metal Schnabel style cap. The round knob pistol grip buttstock has checkering at the wrist, feathered figure, no cheekpiece, and a standard sporting buttplate.

Very good as altered. The refinished barrel is a smooth plum brown, and the action and buttplate retain subdued, but visible, original case colors. The hammer and trigger have strong original blue finish. The wood is fine and has minor edge wear, crisp checkering, a chip on the right side at the corner of the lower tang and receiver, and a few minor scratches. The action functions fine, and the markings are crisp.