Vintage Herter Bullets

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  • Last Post 08 June 2019
reggleston posted this 04 June 2019

Following the Cast/JB accuracy issue with some interest. Got a great bang out of John A's shooting those vintage Herter bullets. Bet most of members have never heard of Herter's bullets and reloading equipment. In the early sixties they were quite prevalent in the reloading scene, reasonably priced, decent quality and available via mail order shipped to your door. Not sure what led to their demise but there are days when I wish they were still available. Living in the past comment---probably.

We are quite fortunate to have the quality and quantity of exceptional reloading equipment available in today's world.

R D Eggleston

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David Reiss posted this 04 June 2019

I have to disagree with Robert's comment about most people having never heard of Herters. With Cabelas picking up the rights to the Herters name and having been making ammunition under that label for several years now, has sent many off on a Google search looking for info on Herters. 

Their demise was the 68 Gun Control Act. It killed their firearms sales which led to them closing. My friend, Ed Sager has written a book on Herters reloading equipment, mainly focusing on presses and dies. He plans to cover more equipment in a second book. 

It has been said many times that they offer many good products and fair prices. They also had very colorful advertising, with exaggerations  about many products. 

But as I mentioned they sold many quality products. Everyone who has been on the forum or belongs to the CBA knows my affection for Herters Powermag revolvers which were built by Sauer & Sohn in Germany. The craftsmanship on these revolvers are superb. 

A fact many may not know of is that most of the Herters brand brass was made by Norma and we know about the quality of that brass. 

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
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BigMan54 posted this 04 June 2019

I spent many hours drooling over their catalogs as a teenager. Almost as important as my Big Brothers Playboy.

The new Herter's ammo was pretty crappy. Had a friend buy some from Cabelas. Fithy stuff 

Long time Caster/Reloader, Getting back into it after almost 10yrs. Life Member NRA 40+yrs, Life S.A.S.S. #375. Does this mean a description of me as a fumble-fingered knuckle-draggin' baboon. I also drool in my sleep. I firmly believe that true happiness is a warm gun. Did I mention how much I HATE auto-correct on this blasted tablet.

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JeffinNZ posted this 04 June 2019

I spent many hours drooling over their catalogs as a teenager. Almost as important as my Big Brothers Playboy.

A boy has got to have a hobby. LOL.

Cheers from New Zealand

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mashburn posted this 04 June 2019

Hello David,

I have been looking for a clean Herters  .401 power mag for several years. Glad to hear that someone else appreciates the quality of those revolvers. I still have one of the big Herters  catalogues left;. I can't find it, wish I could, I would enjoy devouring it like I did years ago. The area in which I live is still very isolated and sportsmen purchased a lot of Herters  products when they were in existance. Lots of this stuff still turns up. A friend of mine opened a gunshop a few months ago and I gave him orders if a old powermag came through the door to call me and not to let it out the door before I get there .Glad to hear of the book on Herters, I'll have to find that one.

David, if nothing drastic happens, I'll be calling you about the rifle project that you emailed me about within a few days.

David Cogburn-Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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Dale53 posted this 04 June 2019

My shooting buddy and I, back in the Sixties, used many Herter's products. We used to laugh at the wild claims in the catalog ("Better than Need Be" from George L. Herters! Just a few years ago, my wife spotted a like new old Herter's catalog at a yard sale. She picked it up for me. George L., I am sure "spouted" a lot of his rhetoric "tongue in cheek" but it sure made for lots of fun reading. My buddy used to underline specific claims so we could share them, laughing all the way.

I still have Herter's "Bullcook Cookbook" and made many a recipe out of that book. We not only used a lot of their reloading equipment, but a lot of their food products. My younger brother still has his Herter's reloading press (after all, it was "Better than Need Be" tongue-out

Dale53

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32-20 posted this 04 June 2019

I remember reading the Herters catalog back in the early 60's. Seems Mr. Herter  didn't have a clue on how to use a receiver sight.

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Eutectic posted this 04 June 2019

In the 60's I used Herter's powder, primers and bullets. The prices were great and no sales tax! Delivered to your front door, it was easy even for someone in rural areas to buy George's products. George was a great marketer, he had other companies make the products he sold. Most was good quality at great prices.

The government ruined Herter's with import restrictions hazmat fees and regulations.

“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” – Milton Friedman



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cfp4570 posted this 04 June 2019

Several years back, I was given a box of miscellaneous reloading "stuff" by a co-worker who's relative had passed and nobody wanted this "old junk". In it was a nearly full box of 1000 Herter's model perfect small rifle primers. I still have most of those primers in the original packaging and they still work just fine. Also in that box was an old card box of Ideal 8mm gas checks and an Ideal 266469 single cavity mould. I still need a 6.5mm rifle to utilize that mould!

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45 2.1 posted this 04 June 2019

 Also in that box was an old card box of Ideal 8mm gas checks and an Ideal 266469 single cavity mould. I still need a 6.5mm rifle to utilize that mould!
6.5mm rifles can be extremely addicting or frustrating (depending on how they are approached). Please offer to sell me that 6.5mm Mold and I'll save you a lot of hours of hair pulling. excited

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admiral posted this 04 June 2019

The final nail in Herter's coffin was they had imported some feathers for fly tying that came from some bird on the endangered species list. Then the gov't was all up in their business. My Pop bought all his reloading equipment from them back in the '60's- '70's. I have a dozen or so of their FL dies and a Super Model 3 press that I use with the RCBS shellholder adapter. I'm really into the 219 Zipper and the Herter's FL die set I have for that cartridge are better dimension wise than my Redding and RCBS sets. I have a few of my Pop's old catalogs and they are fun to read.

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4570sharps posted this 07 June 2019

The LGS I work at just took in a 401 Powermag. It is coming home with me!

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gnoahhh posted this 07 June 2019

I was gifted a stash of Herter's .30 jacketed bullets, the so called "wasp waist" design. Try as I might in a bunch of different .30 rifles I couldn't get them to shoot worth a hoot. I'm talking 2-4MOA groups out of guns that are solid sub-MOA performers. There was sufficient quantity to do some rather extensive load testing, and nothing worked. I truly wanted to succeed with these things and re-affirm my faith in George L. Herter's advertising claims that fed my adolescent fantasies. It wasn't meant to be, and all I managed was to add to the jacketed round count of several rifles. Next up are some Sisk .22 bullets from the same stash- now those I know will perform pretty decently.

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Tom G posted this 07 June 2019

I too used to lust over the stuff in the Catalog.  Some of it was rather unique.  At the time I was duck hunting and needed some decoys.  They had Coot decoys that no one else offered.  They were advertised as decoys to " improve the confidence of the ducks when they flew over your duck decoy spread when they saw coot mixed in with the ducks".  I'm not sure if they really worked as I never got many ducks to land in my spread.  

 

As to the wasp waist bullets.  They were imitating a design of high speed aircraft at the time where they reduced the diameter of the fuselage of the airplane at the point of the wing attachments to reduce drag when supersonic.  It worked great on jet fighters but the design didn't do anything for bullets. Years ago I read a piece written by someone other than gnoahhh that also tested those bullets when they found a box still around and the accuracy was dismal.  I always wanted a 401 power mag just in case any elephants showed up in the back yard but never got around to buying one.   

 

Tom Gray    77 yrs. old.    

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 08 June 2019

sisk bullets ... i used their 54 gr. 224 in my 222 remmy ... they were as good as anything else at the time.  this was about 1957, never found them later.  

edit:  they had absolutely the best fish hooks for carp doughballs !! ... same as used for salmon egg bait ... used to buy them bulk, carp hang out in the brush.   oh, i still have their bull cook knife ::  ugly but a very good blade.

ken

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