I have 50 rounds of new, unfired Herters 6.5x55 that I am going to give to a friend who is getting started in reloading. I am curious as to who made brass for Herters? Was it Norma? Thanks.

Mart

I've heard that some of Herter's brass was sourced from Svenska Metallverken. SM merged with Norma around 1965.

I think it was Norma, but don't remember for sure. I know it was made in Sweden, but that doesn't mean Norma for sure...I just seem to think that it is.

I'm thinking Norma, also. Good stuff

Thanks guys. I thought it was probably Norma.

Mart

I have 100 Herters 7x57 cases. Boxes state Made in Sweden. I was thinking Norma but who knows? Boxes sure are pretty though.
Paul B.

I've had Herters brass in 30-06, 243,264 Mag it was soft would not even take the same loads as RP,WW, or Fed. Cycled it all out at gunshows. Goodluck Magnum Man

I enjoyed the Herter's catalog back in the 60's when I was an impressionable lad. Their stuff was all the World's Best, and of course, that impressed me.

I had one of their massive cast iron loading press, a scale and other "best" stuff...

DF

As a kid, I bought a lot of stuff from Herter's, figuring that since it was the World's Best, I couldn't go wrong. After all, you can't print something that's untrue, right?

I never failed to be disappointed, but kept buying stuff since the catalog was so attractive.

Anybody remember the old wasp-waist bullets by Herters?

I have a box of .30 cal 180 gr. Never loaded any though.....

I had some Herters .30/06 dies that stood head and shoulders above RCBS. Some of the easiest working dies I've ever owned. I'd like to know who made them, they are excellent. (still got them stashed).

I had several sets of Herter dies and they were good, although I eventually traded them. I wouldn't say they were better than RCBS, but they did the job.

I had forgotten about Herter's "wasp shaped" bullets. Never did shoot any. I could see how they may cut down on bearing surface and drag, but don't see how they could be manufactured as precisely as conventional bullets.

DF

Devoured the Herter's catalogues when I was a kid. Always pictured their headquarters as being located in a conifer forest on the shore of a lake, with loons calling. Finally had a chance to drop by in 1977. It was a very large metal building on the edge of an expansive corn field. No lake or loons to be seen. Not many trees around, either.

I did pick up up a very nice stock blank (cheap from the discard bin) that later decorated my first "custom" rifle.

I always wondered how the "wasp shaped" bullets were manufactured as well. I considered several processes, but they would have all been prohibitively expensive.

My first DIY custom stock job was a French Walnut semi-inletted blank from Herters for a surplus Springfield that I later rebarreled with a McGowen SS. This barrel is med heavy and chambered in .270, my only rifle for that round. I fit and glass bedded the stock, trimmed it down from its original configuration, finished it and checkered it, skip a line, with tools I bought. The gun is a bit crude compared to my later work and is way too heavy. I guess we learn as we go. The old gun has a Timney trigger and is pretty accurate.

DF

I grew up close to the Herters store and loved taggin alog with Dad and my brothers every trip! It was a rainy day trip off the farm. I still use the number 3# press that my older brothers used and love it. I just moved it to our house on the other side of the farm, I dont think I will ever get another press. Anytime I look at a newer one they just seem small flimsy and cheap, I know there are other great presses but that just me. After the store moved to Mitchell SD we would stop when going out west hunting, but it just wasnt the same anymore.

Didn't they also have a Banana Peel bullet? It was sort of pre- peeled and of course was the worlds finest, but probably because it was the worlds only Banana Peel bullet.

Those Wasp wasted bullets were pretty sexy looking to a pubescent and impressionable youth.

Sounds like there was a number of us young pups, sipping the Herter Kool-Aid...

DF

Well,
I still have a few of the Wasp Waisted bullets and several hundred rounds of 22-3000 brass. I also have some that are fireformed into 2R Lovell.

My first press was a second-hand Herters. As noted, it was anything but flimsy and cheap. There was a rumor that in its previous life it was a WWII destroyer that was decommissioned, melted down, and recast (in its entirety) as my press.

In his younger days (before we met), my hunting partner had a .401 PowerMag.

I have 5 boxes for 401 Power Mag brass and loaded ammo.

My parents wouldn't let me buy a .401 Powermag just because I was only 9 years old - Today I have six S&W .41 magnums to make up for my childhood trauma!

Terry

Sounds like therapy to me...

DF

Grocery store bagger money and tips didn't make much more than my motorcycle payments but most of what was left over after gas for the bike went to Herters. Still got most of that stuff and kinda wish I'd been able to buy more. It may not have been the greatest or state of the art but it was solid. Then again, there was that wasp waist thing. Oh, almost forgot. I've got Herter's .300 Savage brass that was made in Sweden and also in Finland. Maybe Norma and a sub-contractor?

No 44 Magnums?

Now, how would .44's be therapeutic for bluesman's childhood trauma, being denied a Herter's .401 "World's Best", Powermag. He just had to accummulate a stable of S&W .41 mags to offset that early life crisis...

Seems to me, he's been able to cope pretty well...

DF