B
Big Al
Guest
Herters die was the lest scratch resistant dies I've ever seen. I wonder if the dies were even ardened after machining/ ha wasp wasist bullets were great if you wanted a rifle to shot lke a shot gun, I've still got a couple of unopened boxes in .30 caliber. The old catilogs never changed it was the same lies over and over again.
J
jcwit
Guest
Story I always heard was they were importing goods and then claiming they were U.S. Army Surplus. Didn't go over good with the powers that be. Whether thats fact or not someone else will have to substanuate.
Herters brand name
One thing is for sure . They had really good wood"
All kinds of grade of exotic woods. Most were semi inletted Blanks .
They always warned people about the Export of American Walnut and
stated that forests were being depleated of some of the finest wood for funiture making in Europe.
Herters always had a section with genuine Alaskian native products also.
I also remember all of the model perfect die , presses and other gear.
The storys were really entertaing .
One thing is for sure . They had really good wood"
All kinds of grade of exotic woods. Most were semi inletted Blanks .
They always warned people about the Export of American Walnut and
stated that forests were being depleated of some of the finest wood for funiture making in Europe.
Herters always had a section with genuine Alaskian native products also.
I also remember all of the model perfect die , presses and other gear.
The storys were really entertaing .
L
Locoweed
Guest
Many years ago I had one of their "C" reloading presses. Every time I hear someone say the words "boat anchor" I think of that press!
J
JonE
Guest
Are you sure they actually went bankrupt or they were in trouble and sold out. After all this went down one of the salesman from Gopher Shooters Supply that serviced our area said that they were in trouble, put out some feelers for a buyer, they did not know that the property they were sitting on was worth more then the company so they underpriced themselves, some investment company realizing this bought it lock stock and barrel, sold off the invantory and then made a killing off of the land. The claim was then made that when invantoring for the sale they found out that they did not have anywhere near as much on hand as the books showed indicating the help was robing the company blind, this all from a guy who claimed to be very close to the whole thing - true or not, I dont know
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Max Shaffer
Guest
I also heard
that they imported or sold some fly tying material on the endangered species list and the goverment fines put them out of business.. A lot of rumers out there. Probably just poor sales and some help from managers not doing thier jobs right like a lot of other firms put out of business by poor management. Max
that they imported or sold some fly tying material on the endangered species list and the goverment fines put them out of business.. A lot of rumers out there. Probably just poor sales and some help from managers not doing thier jobs right like a lot of other firms put out of business by poor management. Max
O
Old Gunner
Guest
Well remember everyone was scared to death of fallout from nuclear testing back then, and these days they are salvaging warships sunk before 1945 in order to use the alloys to manufacture radiation sensitive medical and industry testing devices because every bit of metal on the earths surface or smelted since 1945 has a slight but disruptive radiation signature that can alter readings of the machines.
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phil evans
Guest
herter dies are good dies
i have used herter 30-06 dies since 1965 in 03, 03a3 and garand.
probably 2k reloads, so far.
found groups in 2-4moa; ok for military rifles.
still have 1968&1969 catalogues, lots of entertaining hoopla.
herter's bullcook cook book is a scream to read, very very opininated.
i have used herter 30-06 dies since 1965 in 03, 03a3 and garand.
probably 2k reloads, so far.
found groups in 2-4moa; ok for military rifles.
still have 1968&1969 catalogues, lots of entertaining hoopla.
herter's bullcook cook book is a scream to read, very very opininated.
B
Browndaug
Guest
I used to use alot of Herters equipment and my X/F-I-L use to run the Rochester Gun Club and George would shoot out there. If I remember the Herters family sold out to a company called "Ruhr American" in the 70's and that's when things started to go down hill. I still have a number of sets of Herters dies and they were as good or better than most in their day.
My J-9 Presentation Grade shot very well and my Herters down coat got me through many Northern MN winters carperntering and trapping, and the Herters #4 coil spring was the best beaver trap, still have 14 of them.
Browndaug
My J-9 Presentation Grade shot very well and my Herters down coat got me through many Northern MN winters carperntering and trapping, and the Herters #4 coil spring was the best beaver trap, still have 14 of them.
Browndaug
D
durango
Guest
Herter's presses?
Count me as another fan of Herters. I have and still shoot a U9 in .243--usually under an inch with decent bullets. I have 3 Herters presses and use one as my main press along with a bunch of other Herter's stuff. Lately, I've been upgrading to Redding dies and have gotten to wondering about the precision of those presses as compared to other 'modern' brands. Does anyone have any input relative to better reloads from the newer presses? FWIW, I don't shoot benchrest, per se, but all varmint class rifles (Savages) from a bench and I do enjoy 1-hole and cloverleaf targets. Steve
Count me as another fan of Herters. I have and still shoot a U9 in .243--usually under an inch with decent bullets. I have 3 Herters presses and use one as my main press along with a bunch of other Herter's stuff. Lately, I've been upgrading to Redding dies and have gotten to wondering about the precision of those presses as compared to other 'modern' brands. Does anyone have any input relative to better reloads from the newer presses? FWIW, I don't shoot benchrest, per se, but all varmint class rifles (Savages) from a bench and I do enjoy 1-hole and cloverleaf targets. Steve
M
Montana Pete
Guest
A few more tidbits that the old-time Herters customers will smile and nod about.
Near the end, a year or two before they folded, they put through a new policy that no orders would be accepted at less than about -- I don't remember for sure -- $20 ?? My friend and I used to order from them all the time, but always small orders. If there was a shipping fee, we just paid it. I was a shooter and my friend was a fisherman. I bet we sent them six orders a year. Well, back in 1968, when they shocked everybody by limiting all orders to just a high dollar order, $20 was like $50 or more today. I mean, it just killed us. I am not sure we ever ordered again. I wonder if their profits were being eaten up by shipping fees? This was a terrible decision, and so many customers felt betrayed.
Remember Jacques Herter? He was George Leonard's grandson. Every catalog for several years had picture stories of Jacques hunting big game. He was only about 16 years old when he was set up as a "star" hunter -- and the catalog ran photo stories heralding his great "prowess" as a hunter. I remember one "exciting story" (ho-ho) where he killed a mountain lion. The guides ran the dogs to tree it. Then they brought Jacques up to shoot it out of the tree with one of the Herter's brand revolvers-- probably their 41 Magnum, which was their own prorietary cartridge. The photo story showed a photo of the cougar sitting up in the tree terrified, Jacques firing into the tree, and Jacques with his foot on the cougar's head. "Rah, rah rah!" Totally staged and contrived.
For years, Herters Company dragged Jacques around North America and the world, taking set-up shots arranged by expensive guides, shooting big game, and the catalogs featured with many photos of him standing over some big dead critter. Herter's spent plenty on multi thou $$ hunts. The guides, of course, did the real hunting. When the guides had the shot all set up, then they dragged Jacques up from camp to "pop" the poor ani-mule. What a joke.
I wonder if Jacques is still alive. He seemed a nice enough kid.
Some of Herter's was fun, and some was funny, but some was borderline crooked. Still, I sure felt bad when they went under.
Near the end, a year or two before they folded, they put through a new policy that no orders would be accepted at less than about -- I don't remember for sure -- $20 ?? My friend and I used to order from them all the time, but always small orders. If there was a shipping fee, we just paid it. I was a shooter and my friend was a fisherman. I bet we sent them six orders a year. Well, back in 1968, when they shocked everybody by limiting all orders to just a high dollar order, $20 was like $50 or more today. I mean, it just killed us. I am not sure we ever ordered again. I wonder if their profits were being eaten up by shipping fees? This was a terrible decision, and so many customers felt betrayed.
Remember Jacques Herter? He was George Leonard's grandson. Every catalog for several years had picture stories of Jacques hunting big game. He was only about 16 years old when he was set up as a "star" hunter -- and the catalog ran photo stories heralding his great "prowess" as a hunter. I remember one "exciting story" (ho-ho) where he killed a mountain lion. The guides ran the dogs to tree it. Then they brought Jacques up to shoot it out of the tree with one of the Herter's brand revolvers-- probably their 41 Magnum, which was their own prorietary cartridge. The photo story showed a photo of the cougar sitting up in the tree terrified, Jacques firing into the tree, and Jacques with his foot on the cougar's head. "Rah, rah rah!" Totally staged and contrived.
For years, Herters Company dragged Jacques around North America and the world, taking set-up shots arranged by expensive guides, shooting big game, and the catalogs featured with many photos of him standing over some big dead critter. Herter's spent plenty on multi thou $$ hunts. The guides, of course, did the real hunting. When the guides had the shot all set up, then they dragged Jacques up from camp to "pop" the poor ani-mule. What a joke.
I wonder if Jacques is still alive. He seemed a nice enough kid.
Some of Herter's was fun, and some was funny, but some was borderline crooked. Still, I sure felt bad when they went under.
V
vicvanb
Guest
One picture in the catalog I remember was Jacques Leonard Herter in Africa standing next to a pile of dead baboons about 5 feet tall. The caption said it was one morning's hunt and Jacques killed the baboons with a bow using Herter's Ram-X Broadheads (World's Finest Broadheads).
I don't think any catalogs nowadays would publish a similar picture.
I don't think any catalogs nowadays would publish a similar picture.