Jim L. Hamilton
Stockmaker Metalsmith
Jim L. Hamilton, Custom Single Shot Rifles, does complete complete restoration of antique firearms and custom guns, specializing in buliding Remington Hepburn #3 match and sporting rifles. All labor is done with conventional machines and tools, using many of the same methods of gunmakers one hundred years ago. Jim does both wood and metal work, building sporting and target rifles on any sound single action Winchester Highwall, Ruger, Martini, etc.
Pictured above are DST Remington Hepburn rifles he crafted completely from scratch. Note the closest one is a left-hand Hepburn.
Back in what Jim refers to as the “good ole days” or maybe the good medium days (1994-95), when he was associated with Oklahoma Territory Arms, the man who financed it was left-handed. Deciding he wanted a left-handed Hepburn gave Jim a challenge. Taking a receiver he was machining, Jim drilled holes on the opposite sides of the receiver, made up a left-handed lever, although not a ruly mirror image Hepburn.
Pictured below are Jim’s efforts after mentally refining a true mirror image for several years. The unique left-handed Hepburn was created when a left-handed client decided he wanted a Hepburn. Jim even made up left-handed springs.
Photography by Jim L. Hamilton.
