Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Lets talk about Herter's Inc of Waseca, MN

The thing that sticks in my mind after all these years is the "Worlds Best" fruitcake--the one that French trappers would paddle 100 miles to get. Never did get up the gumption to order one.

Growing up in Northern Minnesota, we were able to make a couple trips to Waseca in the 60s. Customers didn't get to roam a store as the building was a warehouse only and you would write your order at the counter and the clerk would fetch your merchandise.

Herter's duck decoys were some of the best at the time. Their fiberglass boats were opaque and you could see the shadow of those onboard through the side of the boat.

I bought a very early Sako in 338WM and ammo selections were poor until Herters came out with a 265 gr RN that worked better than the 200 gr Winchester Power Point.

They copied the Canadian pattern belt knife that was quite good and only $3.95 with sheath.

Their attempt at a snowmobile had twin bulging headlights and looked like a bull frog.

In their Guides Manual they suggest to catch stream fish easily, block the stream with an old screen door or some such and go up stream to dump in a good quantity of soapy water. The fish can then be scooped out as they hit the screen while escaping the soapy water.

For all you guys going on so eloquently about your love for all things Herter's, You will love them even more when you find out that the good Herter's name is owned by Cabelas.

But that was then and this is now.

Went there often as a kid with my older brothers on rainy days off the farm, Herters was a 40 mile drive. I watched my brothers reload with one of the No.3 presses, it has loaded unknown thousands of rounds as I still use it today. It's the only press I've ever used, I also still use the .270 die set I think it works good. Last time I went there, I went to college across the street from the store, bought a goose down sleeping bag with a hole in for ten bucks in the bargain corner. Quit college, got the one month degree! Went in the office they give a couple hundred bucks back if I quit! Went home to farm still at it today but never a day goes by I dont think about Herters and those times as I walk past the old No. 3

Cabela's certainly market some items under the Herter's name. Ammunition for one and I've tried it and found the stuff goes bang nicely.

They also sell some footwear and that stuff isn't worth the box they come in.

Herter's tried their hand at making snowmobiles and mini bikes as we made some parts for them but there was evidence of errors everywhere. At one point they actually sent us a drawing of a bracket they wanted to hold items to the handle bars of their mini bike. It called for a 1" radius to match the bars they mounted to. We made them several thousand and shipped them but the drawing was in error.....what they wanted was a 1" diameter.....not radius....they were all scrapped, retooled and reshipped. This was typical for them and I had come to expect it.
We also made their icehouse stoves, fly tying tools, and shotgun chokes......and I suspect they were fairly good items.....assuming you wanted one.

My aunt worked for a book publishing company that printed their guid books and she got a few of them for us. Some questionable tactics, but a nice read.

The one I liked best was titled something like.. "How to leave the rat race and live on $.25 a day"

George had some pretty paranoid tin foil hat things in their...
Kind of like reading upstairs. LOL.

Yep, Cabela’s sells some stuff under the Herters brand acting like it is some premium bargain stuff! I do have a bit of Herter’s branded 9mm that I bought for $9 a box at Cabela’s a while back. I think it was loaded by S&B. Winchester loads some of the ammo these days. It’ll poke a hole in paper with the best of them. Happy Trails

A I remember, some one made and sold adapters so a regular shell holder could be used in a Herter's press

Herter's was just the best. I have a few items from there, and I keep a couple of catalogs around for laughs.

My nephew came up with 200 brand new Herter's 6.5x55 cases. Came in a box of stuff with a Win 70 he bought someplace. Gaudy box, claim to be made in Sweden. Have a bunch of Norma 6.5 cases with a bunch of those still unfired. One day I'll get around to seeing how good those Herter's cases are. Seems like there is a box or two of Herter's 156 grain bullets there too.

I enjoyed the Herter's catalogs and still have a bunch of their plastic 20 round ammo boxes.

I still have a pair of Herters Goose down Mittens and a down Sleeping bag.
That sleeping bag has been everywhere I go in the winter. Faded but is still warm and stuffs to a small size. I really enjoyed the catalog.

Best post of the year!

Threads like this remind me of how ancient old I have become.

Back in the early sixties, pal of mine bought a ..44 magnum revolver from Herters. Bunch of us went with him to shoot it for the first time. Pal took first shot and then passed it to next guy who fired one round and passed it to next in line, etc. I was the last, took my one shot (which, incidentally was the single most accurate, read blind luck, pistol shot I’ve ever made). Handed back to proud owner, who now took what was about the fourth or fifth round fired. Kaboom!!! Cylinder came apart in several pieces, top strap let go, gun was mangled mess. I recall he had one small cut on his hand, but luckily nothing worse, nor did any bystanders take any shrapnel.

Up until this time I had probably spent hundreds of hours poring over Herters catalogs and had bought lots of spinning gear, rods, lures, etc. Definitely did a rethink about Herters quality control at that point.

Still have a modest assortment of Herters wobblers and spinners in an old tackle box in the garage. Mostly fly fish nowadays, but can’t bring myself to let go of some old treasures.

Like everyone here, as a kid I used to love to pour over those big thick Herter's catalogs. I know I made a few actual orders, but the only thing I still have that a know for sure I got from Herter's is a bag of "rottenstone" (super-fine pumice powder for rubbing out oil finishes on stocks). I still have some left - a little goes a long way.
Over the years I have acquired one of their XK-3 .308's (built on the intermediate length commercial Mauser action - just a perfect length magazine, and a throat to match in the chamber). It shoots very well! And a custom .338-06 that looks to have been made on their full-length commercial Mauser - don't recall the name of that model now but it's the one that has a bolt release like the Browning FN rifles, so it's either that action or an actual Browning - the finish implies the former...LOL.
I think the '67 Herter's catalog is still in the book rack at my Mom's home in North Carolina - I'll have to liberate it next time I visit.

Cheers,
Rex

A blast from the past. I saved one of my Dad's catalogs. He and his brothers most likely had stock in the company for all the stuff they purchased.

We had a Herters in Beaver Dam Wi.They had about the best Cork Decoys you could buy.Also bins of rifle barrels,stocks and Sako ,Mauser,Remington actions.Bought a few bows from them and the famous Ricards Deer scent.Everything a trapper would desire was there.An outdoors mans wet dream for sure!!!

I was a big Herters fan boy as a teenager in the early 60’s . I was into bow hunting and making my own arrows, and I got all my archery stuff from them: materials, fletching jig, feather burner.... I got their version of “Bowie Knife”. Their decoys were great. I still have a lot of those...a lot of those old foamers I’ve burlapped and repainted.

Some years back, now, my brother gave me an old, 1964 Herters catalog for Christmas.

I think they were the original, SHTF, prepper/survivalists. I recall the warning they had about any day, the Chinese could send bombers over here and, before we knew whose they were, we’d start flinging missles at Russia and they’d start flinging missles at us and you’d better have your fallout shelter stocked with all kinds of stuff they sold.....

All my buddies and I just hated Jacque Herter Junior. Here we were, stuck hunting rabbits and trapping mushrats and he was getting taken all over the world to kill world record game and catch world record fish....

Beyond the decoys, I’ve got a set of Herters reloading dies for .32 Winchester Special that were given to me.

I had a Herters reloading manual which was entertaining but I would not have counted on it for reloading info. I have some 150 grain 303 bullets which appear to be Normas. Also some 303 brass which is good stuff. A Herters copy of a Lee Loader is a curiosity. Herters is just one of the old outdoors suppliers we miss. Time marches on, I guess. GD

“How to get out of the rat race and live on $10 a month” is one of the single best pieces of literature ever put in print to inspire a 10-12 year old with wilderness ambitions.

Herter