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

World’s best without a doubt.

DF

When I started tying flies in 1974/75 Herters was one of my favourite places to order from. The catalogues, as everyone has mentioned, were basically coveted reading material. I remember reading them cover to cover even though I wasn't hunting/shooting as yet. I did get some snare wire a couple times as I ran a small snare line for rabbits at the time. If I wanted anything for Christmas from them, I had to have my order sent by early October so it would arrive in time. I really don't know how I got hooked up with them as I was living in Argentia Newfoundland at the time. We also ordered from LL Bean and Orvis but the Herters catalogues really stick out.
Jeff

Like everyone here, I delighted in reading Herter's catalogues as a kid and still have a couple of them. Several years ago, I bought a used copy of George Herter's "Bull Cook Book" for my girlfriend. The recipes it contains were a revelation...until perusing it, I had to confess my utter ignorance regarding Genghis Kahn's personal recipe for sauerkraut, Alexander the Great's favorite cocktail, and Buddha's secret fried rice recipe. Who knew?

I got mine from Graff + Sons. The father of a close friend gave me the cast iron press around 25 yrs ago and I still use. I don’t think you could brake one of them with a bull dozer. Loved the catalog when I was a kid.

Their bushcraft advice was entertaining, seem to recall something about spitting in a bears eye!

About the only thing I have from Herter' is a set of 7x57 dies for the nice custom I bought based on a M93 Mauser. The dies were nickel plated and started peeling from day one. Sold the rifle and regret it to this day.

A few years back, maybe five years I bought five boxes of Herter's 7x57 brass for an extremely good price. I figured that if they were crap I'd use them for plinking ammo. They did come in a nice shiny but gaudy box and said made in Sweden. I suspected they might be made by Norma and found out later that back in the day Herter's brass was made by Norma. I still haven't loaded them with anything but would like to find a box or two of Herter's 175 gr. round nose and load that brass with those. I could also use the 170 gr. Sierras I have on hand as they've been history for quite a while as well. Probably will work the load up to work in a Ruger #1A I have.
PJ

I still have but no longer can shoot three Herter's bows from the 60's and 70's. Two 63 1/2" 17 degree recurves and a 72" target recurve with beautiful rosewood. One has taken many animals and fish in over 30 years of use.

I still use one of their knives, can't remember if it was one pictured when skinning an elephant pictured in their book. The blade comes to a point almost like a football, thick blade about 4" and the handle shaped like a sliver of the moon. A funny looking thing.

I have some reloading gear : "O" press, shell holders, 2 arbors, a few boxes of bullets

and an old 2" thick color catalog somewhere.

Those knives were fashioned after the Canadian Russel Grohman knives but seemed thicker and harder, They only sold for $3-$4 if I remember correctly. I have a few of the Canadian model and they are quite nice to use even though they look odd as hell.

I bought a very early 338 WM after they first came out but availability of ammo with quality bullets really sucked. Winchester had a 200 gr Power Point that was really a disaster that required several shots to kill. Herters had a 260 gr RN that I loaded and it really put moose down even though they sometimes came apart.

buddy had one a those U/J 9 - the mauser one. in 300wm.

Ole George could have taught postgraduate level courses in marketing.

Their marketing was even better than their stuff. And their stuff was pretty good. Well, maybe not the world’s best, but their marketing for sure was cutting edge.

DF

During the ammo shortage I found 3 boxes of Herter's 30-06 150 gr on the shelves at SW. The only 06 ammo at all. I bought all 3 at less than $30 ea. 5 shot group was accurate, so I've still got 55 rounds of WTF? ammo - probably made by Winchester, but who knows?

Until then, I thought the Herter's brand was extinct. I think BassPro owns the name now.

I will use it in one of the rifles I don't reload for, probably. Once and done. That's at least a 10 year hunting supply for me.....

Maybe, at my age and hunting levels anymore, a lifetime supply!

So, has anyone tried out George's method of keeping snakes out of your tent camp area?

As I recall it went something like this: killi a skunk, let it rot in a 5 gallon bucket for a couple weeks, then use it to run
a juice line around the camping area.

It's a "world famous" method, I'm sure.

Bought a bunch of full length die sets when they went out,I think $4 a set.And my first case length gage. y

found pic:

Scale



Shell holder and adapter



6mm ammo



catalog

This thread makes me smile for days long gone...

John:

The name Norman Strung rekindles memories of older hunting mags,

Is he still alive?

Bob

I looked forward every year to the new Herters catalog. The previous one would be dog eared and tattered from my daily perusals. I had the catalog nearly memorized and could, in an instant, turn to the page of anything they carried.

I always loved his marketing of the 401 Powermag. Enough that I ended up with one and 700 rounds of original brass and ammo. And then felt compelled to add the 357 and 44 to the 401. Here’s a shot of all three.

Unfortunately, Norm passed away from cancer in 1991, a few days before his 50th birthday. (He was a heavy smoker, and tried to quit several times but never could.)

As an aside, I lived in southeastern South Dakota for a couple years in the early 1970s, about a 1-1/2 hour drive from the then-new Herter's store in Mitchell. I drove up there 2-3 times a year, and still have some of the stuff, including a backpacking tent I still use occasionally.

I have that case length guage. Somewhere.

Haven't been able to locate a .401 powermag but I do have the .357 and 44 calibre. Both are built like tanks.