I won an ebay auction this week. It was all gun books from the '60s and early '70s. Included were P.O. Ackley's book Home Gun Care & Repair, and Hornady and Speer reloading manuals from that era. The best part of the whole package, however, was the Herter's books and brochures. I remember these because the very first rifle I ever built was a Sako .222 (L461) that I put a Herter's stock on. The books included Fitting and Finishing Machine Inletted Gunstocks by George Leonard Herter, and the same author's Professional Loading of Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun Cartridges. This work is 830 pages of some of the most outrageous claims ever made! I wish I had one of the old Herter's catalogs to go with the books. There was also an instruction booklet that came with Herter's Glass Bedding compound. It is probably still the best step-by-step set of instructions for glass bedding ever put together for a beginner.

Overall, this was the best $11 I have spent lately!

Clemson

From pancake mix to "wasp waist bullets", they had it all.

"Herters Takes the Hokum Out of _______ (fill in the blank)"- one of their sales come-ons.

Who made their pistols?

My brother gave me a Herters 4x scope way back then that I mounted to my Savage 10B.

Yep, I still have most of a box of wasp-waist bullets in .224 diameter that I shot through that .222. I loaded them on a Herter's Model 3 press. I think I can still find a Herter's knife in my tackle box, too.

Clemson

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Who made their pistols?

The first handgun I ever bought was a 44 Mag SSA clone made in West Germany by Sauer (I believe) and imported by "Hi-Hunter" of Hollywood California. I bought it in their bargain store in Waseca MN and was never asked for identification......as long as I had the $49.95 I was a customer!!!

ive got a case deburring tool, a powder measure, a 4x scope, a powder trickler, several setst of reloading dies, a case lenght gage, several catalogs, and a couple of GLH's books... how to live on $10 a day, how to live with a bitch.... the $5 spent on a catalog was refunded on your next order... it was as close to porn as a 15 yr old could get in the us mail in 1973!!!!!!!

I have half a box of 308 Wasp waisted bullets, my Grandson has a Herters tackle box, and I just sold a Herters chronograph.
Butch

I remember back in my teens it was a great day when the new Herter's catelog showed up. Reading and dreaming material for the next several months.

Ah yes- the day the herter's came. I do not know what my dad would have done for enertainment if it had not been for Herters. I count his decline from when herters sropped sending him stuff. Somewhere I have herters knives, coffee pancake mix not to ignore the reloading equipment I still use. So what if his books were full of something beyound the truth. It was fun in a more innocent age. CAbella bad bass pro hsops just are not as much fun.
All in all it was pretty good low priced stuff delivered to your door. I even have a $2.13 refund check for an overpayment that was never cashed.
Judge Sharpe

Boy oh boy, you guys are showing your age.

I too, grew up with George Leonard Herter. I still have several of the 1950s and 1960s catalogs that I like to browse and reminisce. I also have "Bull Cook Recipes" and "How to Live With a Bitch". George was the original Dear Abby.

Ray

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Who made their pistols?

As Vapodog indicates, they were made by Sauer. Rifles actions were from various vendors including BSA, Zastava, and some factories in Spain and Germany. They had an O/U shotgun that must have been from B.C. Miroku (Chas Daly, Browning), but I've never seen one in the flesh so am not sure. Brass came from Norma and either Sako or Lapua. Primers were from Japan (ever seen any other primers from Japan?) Powders were from ICI in Scotland.

Herter copied MEC reloaders, C&H dies, Wilson case trimmers, Weaver's scope mounts, and just about any other successful manufacturer. He would do this until the law suits closed in on him, then just switch to copying someone else's product. Maybe he was the harbinger of today's booming counterfit product marketing. But hey, most of his stuff was actually pretty good, and it was CHEAP! (I still have and use Herter's dies, case trimmer, powder trickler, loading trays, and a bunch of other stuff.)

As a youngster, the wait on the Post Office to deliver the next Herter's package was filled with yearning and anticipation which made a week seem like a month.

Apparently, the combination of the 1968 GCA, which put a damper on the mail order sporting goods business, along with a run-in with authorities over importing some prohibited bird feathers for fly tying was more than the business could stand. Read the artical in the most recent Sports Afield for some things you probably didn't know about G.L. Herter (and his mythical son, Jacques P. Herter).

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I even have a $2.13 refund check for an overpayment that was never cashed.

My brother received one for less- he figured at the time they must have lost far more in processing and sending it.

different days...

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Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Herter copied MEC reloaders, C&H dies, Wilson FORESTER case trimmers, Weaver's scope mounts, and just about any other successful manufacturer. He would do this until the law suits closed in on him, then just switch to copying someone else's product. Maybe he was the harbinger of today's booming counterfit product marketing. But hey, most of his stuff was actually pretty good, and it was CHEAP! (I still have and use Herter's dies, case trimmer, powder trickler, loading trays, and a bunch of other stuff.)
Apparently, the combination of the 1968 GCA, which put a damper on the mail order sporting goods business, along with a run-in with authorities over importing some prohibited bird feathers the jungle cock bird for fly tying was more than the business could stand. Read the artical in the most recent Sports Afield for some things you probably didn't know about G.L. Herter (and his mythical son, Jacques P. Herter).

Stonecreek.....I don't get any magazines....but would very much appreciate it if you could fill us in on the Sports Afield article. I grew up 50 miles from Waseca and later flew to Herters often as the airport was right across the road from their main store. A neighbor had a Cessna and loved to reload!

My Dad was in same unit in WW2 with George and they were pretty good buddies. We visited his home on the lake in Waseca in about 1960. He and Jacques left a big impression on me. We would spend litterly hours reading his catalog. All of his Bull Cook recipies were good for a laugh. Much more exciting than the Ward's Christmas catalog.
BJB

I have an 18' Herters canoe in the backyard. Rough shape now but we bought it in the 60's. I had a 22 revolver that I bought from Herters that said Arminius on it. Made in Germany. It disappeared while I was in the Army. I grew up not far from Herters so we bought from them often.

Just a couple of years back, I bought a Sako L461 in .222 Rem featuring a Herter's stock. The stock is a Monte Carlo design with a roll-over comb. Nice stick of wood! The Sako action is probably the slickest I own, it operates with about as much resistance as a sewing macine.

- mike

I almost forgot. I still have 4-5 boxes of 401 Herters Mag. brass and loaded cartridges in the original boxes.
Butch

My goodness, The Herter .401 PowerMag! Man,those were the days!

World's Finest
Tenacious for Quality


Glenn

I grew up late in the Herter's era too. When I was a kid we ordered tons of stuff from Herter's and as you all said we couldn't wait to get the new catolog. My dad still has the Beaver traps we ordered and I ran across 3 boxes of .243 brass the other day in the stuff I have, nice brass I always wondered who made it.
I miss Herter's, far more character than Cabela's.

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I miss Herter's, far more character than Cabela's.

Well....if you say so....their catalog was better compared to a Little Lulu comic book than Cabela's
and of the things I personally know of, the truthfulness of their advertizing and product claims.....they all should have been shot......

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He and Jacques left a big impression on me.

Herter did have a son, but according to the Sports Afield article, his name was not Jacques. Jacques P. Herter was apparently entirely fictitious.

Vapo: The Sports Afield article ran in the most recent SA I received, which was probably the December issue. I don't know if it is still on the newstands. I made a photo copy of the article that I took to a friend of mine. We used to order stuff from Herter's all the time when we were in high school. We now live 300 miles apart, but hunt the same deer lease. He read the article sitting in a deer stand on a slow afternoon. Can you think of anything more fitting?

And yes, you're correct, it was the Forster case trimmer and the Wilson chamfering tool. I recently ordered a repalacement Forster shell holder collet from Midway that fit perfectly in my Herter's case trimmer.

Curiously enough, a Google search finds a psycologist by the name of Jacques P. Herter recently practicing in Wyoming.

Just looking around the room a little, and I spotted:

A set of Herters 308 Winchester reloading dies!
These look almost new.
A box of Herters 220 grain, 30 caliber bullets!
The box is missing 10 bullets.

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Curiously enough, a Google search finds a psycologist by the name of Jacques P. Herter recently practicing in Wyoming.

did the same search, saw that one.

Jaques Herter seems to have authored several books...

sill a mystery.

I sporterized my first 03-A3 with a Herters stock.
A lot of his stuff was just plain junk. We brought some traps and the springs broke the first time we set them

But his catologs were fun to read.

The Herter's centerfire revolvers were made in Germany by an outfit called "Hawes". I don't think they were connected with Sauer. They were massive and a bit clunky but the ones I shot did well.

It was a sad day when Herter's gave up. But, guess that's part of the price gun owners had to pay to help control gun crimes in the late 60s. Don't think it's much more than three times worse now than it was back then. And kindly Dems are back in the saddle now so we can expect new "Brady" or "Assault Rifle" type laws, or worse, soon.

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guess that's part of the price gun owners had to pay to help control gun crimes in the late 60s.

Bullshit....if there were crimes committed it was by Herters....believe me.....They were single handedly the cause of their own problems.

BTW here's the last of the LP primers I have....about 50 left!!

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The Herter's centerfire revolvers were made in Germany by an outfit called "Hawes". I don't think they were connected with Sauer.

Hawes was an American importer which sold guns made by J. P. Sauer, as did Herter's. The Hawes and the Herter's models, both being made by Sauer, were very similar. However, only Herter's chambered the proprietary .401 Herter's Powermag. The .401, which had a true .401 caliber bullet, was soon overshadowed by the subsequent introduction of the .41 Magnum, using a .410 bullet. The .401 having become an "odd duck", Herter's did a close out on them and sold out their quality Sauer-produced revolvers in that caliber at outrageously low prices.

By the way, the Republicans having totally abandoned any semblance of respect for consitutional rights, it is clear that they will only support gun ownership "for the masses" as long as it is politically expedient for them. Let's hope the Democrats have learned their lessons and will now be serious about supporting ALL of our constitutional rights.

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Jaques Herter seems to have authored several books...

But if you'll notice, all are "co-written" with George Leonard Herter. ("It is a well-known fact that") the Herter books were all self-published ("and are World Famous Model Perfect Without Peer. Don't settle for the inferior hokum produced by others.")

Yes, Herters was interesting and unique back in the early 60's. But I didn't always have such good luck with them. That they went out of business is a pretty good indicator that not all things were peachy. I was lucky in that I never got stuck with their goofy threaded presses or their 401 Powermag revolvers. But I did learn my lesson on some of their other stuff.

-ordered a guide model, perfect, old world famous....(blah,blah, blah) sling one time and it was a belt....a cheap belt modified to be a sling.

-their $3.79 dies left a lot to be desired

-ordered one of their (blah, blah, blah) aluminum coolers and it was built like an overgrown, hell-for-stout ammo can minus a hinge. Not a good design.

-Their stocks often needed an awful lot of fitting. Neighbor kid bought one and while it was radical and "different", it was no where close to fitting.

-Got some Herters rifle brass that was so soft you could squeeze the necks shut with thumb pressure.

-Evertime I ordered anything name brand it always ended up on backorder. They never seemed to have Coleman lanterns or other name brand stuff in stock.

In the early 70's I stopped at their store in Mitchell a couple times. First time it was large and well stocked. Second time it was obviously on the morphine drip.

I actually feel better off with Cabelas, the various reloading supply places like Midway and Natchez Shooters supply, and nearby Gander Mountain.

The first reloading press that I used was a Herters press in my friend and shooting mentors basement.The powder scale and dies came from the same place.The case trimmer used was a collet in the lathe. The reloading supplies and tools were in wooden cigar boxes stacked on the shelves over the benches . The bluing tanks and polishing wheels were in the other side of the basement. A rather interesting place for me at the time - you never knew what you might find.
I still had a Herters catalogue until ten years ago when another friend bought a complete Herters reloading set and I gave this book to him to document his tools.
The same line of powder from Nobel Scotland was also imported into Canada by Ammomart for some time . The H-4198 shot very well in the 6PPC and I still have about three pounds left. A lot of shooters were not happy when that plant closed for good. The Herters data can be used to start working up loads for the old Ammomart Nobel powders.
I believe some the brass was made by Metalverken in Sweeden for Herters-good stuff.
There was a Bob Mcoy article in Precesion Shooting years ago on the those weird bullets -just how did they make them I wonder now ????
Look at the Weatherby catalogues in the same time period .
Great deal on the books!
Glenn

I still have a "O" press and shell holders from Herters. I had a big fat catalog from them that I tossed a few years ago. Nice color gunstock pics. The press is a heavy monster.

Rich