Hey all,

I am going to be selling off a bunch of brass I have in .264winmag. some of it I want to keep though for forming brass for my 270 Apex (case necked up). I have Winchester brass and Herter's brass. How do the two compare? I have never used herter's, can anybody tell me anything about it? (i.e. thin, thick, hard, soft)

I appreciate it.

Red

Check that Herters carefully. Last time I checked Herter's brass hasn't been available since the early '70s when they shut down. I know the name has since been licensed for some hunting accessories, but those folks didn't offer brass the last time I checked.

This is old, new herter's brass. I bought it when I first got my rifle and was searching for 264 brass. somebody had this and I bought it from them. It looks to be in perfect condition, but I don't know how it stacks up to the winchester brass.

Red

I still have some Herters brass left in 6.5x55. Structurally it's pretty sound, doesn't seem to split or anything like that, but I don't get good results with it. My groups are shoddy at best compared to when using Lapua, Norma or even Remington. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Herters was a mail order company that went out back in the early 70's. They sold a wide range of cloths, fishing gear, stock blanks, barreled actions, hunting stuff and reloading tools and components too. The tools were CH brand as I recall. I still have some .222 Rem Mag. brass, it was Norma brass as was a lot of their brass. Herters products were all top quality and low priced. I miss them, I use to get a lot through them.

Scout Master 54

The Herters brass may have a greater value as "collector" items. Don't know for sure. Maybe you could check a cartridge collectors forum??????

I have used much Herter's brass in .264. It was made in Sweden and is presumed to have been produced under contract by Norma. (Herter's .223 and .222 Magnum brass was made in Finland, presumably by Sako, but I have no corroboration of that.)

The Herter's .264 brass is excellent. It is slightly thicker than Winchester and commensurately has a powder capacity just a bit less. As far as hardness, case life, concentricity, etc., it is at least equal to anything else available in .264.

The small caliber Herter's brass is also good, but in .222 Magnum I have had a few with rims that are slightly too thick to easily enter SOME shell holder heads. They shoot just fine, however.

Brass that just sits there and isn't exposed to damaging chemicals doesn't get "old". You can use your 30+ year old Herter's brass with confidence. (I would offer to buy it, but I have .264 brass falling out my ears.)

One day many years ago, since I was a regular customer of theirs, I got a flyer from Herters', and in it they advertised new-unfired 6.5x55 brass for FIFTEEN CENTS per box of 20.

I couldn't believe the price, but I got a money order for $25.00 and sent it off, saying I thought their price was a misprint but "Send me 25 bucks' worth, anyway."

Couple weeks later, comes a BIG crate containing about 170 twenty-round boxes of Swedish-made 6.5x55 brass! In those days, we were getting AG42b semi-auto rifles for forty dollars as-new (in Canada), so I put the brass to very good use.

Your old unfired cases will be fine to use today.

I miss Herters', too. Great to deal with, and the catalogs were a hoot.

Regards from BruceB (aka Bren Mk1)

Bren: I bought some of that 6.5x55 brass, too, thinking I could reform it into .243 or some such. I didn't realize that the 6.5 x 55 is actually a tad larger in the case head than '06 based cartridges, and I couldn't squeeze it down small enough to work.

A number of years later, a good friend who ran a sporting goods store had an uncle with a Swede that couldn't find any ammunition for it. I dug out the 5 boxes of brass I had squirreled away and loaded him a hundred rounds, to the amazement of my friend. The uncle died a few years later with 92 rounds unfired.

My old Herters .222 Mag brass is in a foil box (20/box) with black printing it says made in Sweeden. I have a number of old powder cans i wonder if any of that stuff has value?

Scout Master 54