I've never owned or even seen a Herters rifle, and I'm going totaly on memory here. But I did get and read -- "devour" would be a more accurate verb -- the Herters catalogs in my youth, and I seem to remember that they had both a J and a U rifle. I think one of those had a Mauser or Mauser-like action, and the other had what looked like an English -- possibly a BSA or other Birmingham-made -- action. I seem to remember someone writing about this somewhere on the Internet. As I remember, the English-type action cost a few dollars more and Herters recommended it to anyone who could afford the difference in cost.

Does this jog anyone's memory?

They also used FN 98 actions, it should say what kind of action it is on it somwhere. If it's an FN, it will say so on the left side of the receiver.

I'd prefer the FN 98 myself.

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I, too, used to devour the magazine - some of the most outlandish ad copy you'll ever read! If I remember correctly, the J9 was an FN Mauser action, and the U9 was the British BSA action. Both were good guns. Way back in the mid 60's I bought a J9 action in 7X57 and my dad bought a 7 RemMag, but I don't remember if his was a J9 or a U9. Both of them were smooth, reliable actions and were plenty accurate with the right loads.

CATALOG NO. 87 1977

HERTER'S MARK J9 CUSTOM MADE BARRELED ACTIONS
Completely hand polished and blued. Barrels are made of the most expensive, finest procurable quality ordnance barrel steel. They are 23 1/2" long. The taper is the newly discovered anti-barrel whip taper. The most accurate barrels possible to make. Radiused between lands and grooves for maximum velocity. Hammer forged. Precision gauged, chambered and head spaced. Proof fired and proof tested. No sights. Receiver drilled for Herter J9 mounts. Calibers available: 22-250, 25-06, 338 cal., 243, 6mm, 270, 308, 30-06, .264, 7mm mag., and .300 win. mag. Medium heavyy barrels also available in these calibers only: 22-250, 25-06, 243, and 6mm, 26" barrel length. Specify caliber on order.

SSM4 shpg. wt. 6 lbs. $123.98
SSM4A Sights installed 12.00

I have one and it looks like a mil. mauser with the browning bolt stop

Lloyd, Herter's used the Heym " Mauser type" action to start with. It had a bolt stop affair similar to the Browning FN. They were not exactly smooth to operate, They also did use the BSA, but the only one's to cross my bench
did not use the P14,M 17 style long extractor. The bolt stop was a vertical pin in the trigger mechanism, not unlike the Weatherby Mk V system. Heym went on to develop what became the model 2000 sold by Mauser. At that point Herters went to Zastava. The first ones seem to be not unlike those sold as the VZ 500 and were the shorter bolt Yugo M48 type with an FN style bridge and bolt handle. As noted in the comments preceeding, the ad copy seemed to suggest that these were approved by no less than St Michael hisself from the Celestial Campus of God & Co.. The Herters BSA was actually a pretty fair rifle in that time frame.

The 1971 Herter's catalog lists the U9 action as made in England. The J9 action has a FN look but it does not say where it is made. The J9 has a simple military type Mauser trigger while the U9 has micro adjustable trigger.
Some Herters delux rifles where fitted with Douglas premium barrels put together with their stock with many custom features. They were great buys all the actions were well made. Fred M.

Herters production must have been spotty. DeHass said the
J9 was the worst commercial action he had ever seen.
Good Luck!

Thos.,
". . . approved by . . . St Michael hisself from the Celestial Campus of God & Co."

Love that line!

ALL their ad copy was like that. After the gun purchase I bought a pair of the "World's Best" downhill skiis that "were used by all of the U.S. Ski Team." Well, the skiis behaved like two pieces of iron grating, and the "U.S. Ski Team" must have been from Upper Siberia, because the guys from the United States Team had never heard of them.

Would any one know of a replacement synthetic stock for the BSA version? My PH in SA has a 7x57 BSA with a broken stock. I would like to find one for him and take it when I go back in May.
Thanks for any help.
Bill

George G has it right. The J9 was a Mauser type made in Checosolvika,(Sp) the U9 was a BSA action my in England. Hass is his book "Bolt Action Action Rifles" thought the J9 was poorly finished although he only inspected two of them. I have an original unfired J9 in 257 Roberts which appears reasonable. Some day I will get around to finishing it. If the price is right, I would buy another.