I've been shooting one for years. Anyone else doing that anymore? Whatddya think? Any experiences or comments you'd care to share about it?

geez i didn't think any of them thar worlds finest were even in existence anymore

You're not saying I'm Methuselah's dad again are you?

Yeh, Butch, I've still got one of those old Sauer revolvers bought from George & Leonard, Inc., of Waseca and even have a few boxes of the World's Finest brass for them left lying about......

I just wondered if I was the only guy on the planet still occasionally shooting them? They actually work pretty well on small Columbian black-tail deer up close...better than a .357 Mag, anyway.

I wish I still had some old Herters catalogues.

I ordered a fair amount of stuff from them when I was a Boy Scout.

I still have some of the fishing rod blanks my dad and I bought from them and wrapped ourselves.

They were quite the Barnam and Baily of Catalog sales.

I still have 2 different refund checks from them where, after they caculated the ACTUAL shipping charges vs my estimate, they sent as a refund. Both checks are for under one dollar...

Now how Honest is that...

However what got them in trouble with the Fed Gov't. was the feathers they sold for fly tying.

Seems a bunch of them were placed on the No Import list...

There was no internet back then, I would call them on the phone, place the order for what ever dad or I wanted, then send a check.
They knew I was a "kid" and the phone clerks treated me like I was the King of Siam.

I used to read their catalogues for hours...

years back those herter catalogs came to the house about like cabelas ones today. Always threw them away, then a year or 2 back i bought one for a couple bucks at a gunshow. we lived about 25 miles from waseca and trips to herters were frequent. that old catalog brought back a hellovalot of memories

Their catalog kept me entertained as a kid. I even bought stuff from them!

Don't know if they still have them, but Taffin and Fryxell both wrote of World Famous 401 Power Mag.

Like the rest of the old Farts, I Loved getting the Herter's catalog. Bought one on the net a few years ago . . .

That was a different time.

Some of the old Herter's stuff was very good, especially at the prices charged.

They sold some really excellent gunstock wood.

And though their reloading dies weren't top of the line they were very serviceable. I am still using a set of .30-06 dies, a 6.5m/m "universal" die, and a .30 universal die...all of which I bought new from them before 1960.

My first Bench Press was a Herters' Model 3...a super strong, heavy, "C" type for which I paid about $12 delivered, new, IIRC. My first powder measure and powder scales were also Herters', ordered through the mail straight out of their catalogue.

My second loading press was a huge Herters' 6-die rotating turret press, which had enough room in the turret plate that I drilled and threaded it in 6 more places and then used it for many years as a 12-die turret press. I would really like to have that press back today.

The list goes on and on. The only really poor quality thing I ever got from them was some .357 Magnum brass (made by Hirtenberger according to the NRA Technical Service) which was WAY too hard. Every round of that brass split lengthwise on the first firing.

I have 2 boxes of Herter's 401 Powermag ammo. One is full of original cartridges; the other has most of a box (can check to be sure) of reloads. Both boxes are original. I don't need them. If 50.00 is acceptable.....please advise.
I can send pics.
Alex
aax1@bellsouth.net

quote:

Originally posted by conifer:
I have 2 boxes of Herter's 401 Powermag ammo. One is full of original cartridges; the other has most of a box (can check to be sure) of reloads. Both boxes are original. I don't need them. If 50.00 is acceptable.....please advise.
I can send pics.
Alex
aax1@bellsouth.net

Alex - - That is a VERY good deal, but I am sorry, I don't really need them. I think you could get close to double that rather easily if you put them on one of the firearms auction sites, and the new owner would be your friend forever. That brass is TOUGH to come by, by purchase, theft, or however else one might obtain it! Factory loaded ammo is almost impossible to find.

Me, I'd probably auction it in a per-round auction, take one, take them all, or any number in between. For factory loaded cartridges which have been totally unavailable for over 50 years, I'd think there'd be be pretty fair cartridge collector interest at probably $5 to $10 per round plus shipping.

Interestingly enough, this month's Handloader magazine has a bit of information in it about the Powermag. Seems someone took one in on trade in Oklahoma thinking it was a 44 magnum, and once he figured out what it was, had no idea how to build ammunition for it. Pearce does a very creditable job answering the question, as I see it.

Wish I had one of those revolvers...

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
I've been shooting one for years. Anyone else doing that anymore? Whatddya think? Any experiences or comments you'd care to share about it?

Did Herters Take The Hokum Out Of Pistol Cartridges, too?

(Their sales line- "Herters takes the Hokum Out of - -fill in the name of the product- -)

Who made the guns, BTW? Looked good in the ads to m'young eyes.

-oops, just scrolled up and find that and Sauer did- how was/is the quality?

Arrow fletching jigs to pancake mix, Herters had it all.

quote:

still have 2 different refund checks from them where, after they caculated the ACTUAL shipping charges vs my estimate, they sent as a refund. Both checks are for under one dollar...

Now how Honest is that...

-my brother had the same experience with shipping on a 4x scope(had a red Herters coat of arms on the turret caps, I later put it on a Savage-Anschutz 10-B kids target rifle- still have it, still my squirrel gun). Herters refunded the difference, less than a dollar.

The quality of construction seems plenty good enough for a working field pistol. The design wasn't perhaps as sophisticated as an S&W of the same era, but they were well machined, nicely blued, and mine is easily accurate enough for hunting whatever a person would want to kill.

Talking about Herters stuff I brought a couple of guns stocks from them. Good frist projects.

I brother brought a couple dozen No.1 long spring traps from them with in 2 weeks 80% of them had broken springs.

Some good stuff some bad stuff most of it in the middle.

I shot mine today just for the heck of it. I harvested a pronghorn this fall with it and I'm still waiting to hear from anyone else who has ever shot an antelope with one. It has a really nice action and is fun to shoot. I'm not a huge fan of the grips and would still like to find some wood that fits it; any ideas?