Ot - Herters

[Barcelona Rick]

When I was a kid I had a friends dad give me an old Herters catalog. Being from a very rural area it was like looking at the new Sears catalog. I'm talking before GCA of 1968. That catalog was a dream come true for anyone interested in hunting, guns or gunsmithing. I spent hours and hours dreaming about building my own custom rifle. I would pour over every detail. I don't know how many hours were spent designing and researching the littlest item. Well my dad decided one year that we would take a trip from our Texas home to the upper mid-west. I prayed that Minnesota would be on the trip and escpecially the little town where Herters was located. We loaded the '58 Belair and headed north.....since we were underfunded mom packed a good bit of our food. What fun to see the corn in Iowa and the Missouri River. The massive farms and gently rolling hills. Finally one morning we got up and headed to a small town....there it was Herters !!! I nearly cried with excitement. Mom sprung for a knife, a couple of books by Jacque Herter and of course they threw in a new catalog. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Well I never did build that Herters rifle...GCA of '68 kinda put that away. Read the books a million times and now they are gone. Mom and Dad are gone too......but I found that Herters knife in my dad's metal tool box and a million things came to mind.....but nothing more vivid than walking into that store with my family. I pray that I can show my grandchildren a liitle bit of the excitement that I felt surrounded by family and the love of our shooting sport..

jumbeaux

[crs]

jumbeaux;
Lots of us had similar experiences with the Herter's catalogs and books for hunting and fishing gear.
One of my now-departed hunting partners shot a Herters bolt action .284 Winchester (BSA action?); it was a heavy rifle but he had it all his life and rarely missed a deer with it.
I still have a couple of original Herters catalogs and hardback books. They are still a hoot to read.
Thanks for the reminder.

[Hobie]

You're not the only one who remembers those Herter's catalogs and books. I remember being kerflumoxed in ordering a Marlin 336T because I didn't know how to get a money order to send. In asking my parents for help I was "discovered" and foiled!

[crs]

Hobie;
I also have the Professional Guides Manual and the Bull Cook cookbook. Good stuff.

[Gun Smith]

I bought one of their square two position presses. It still works great 55 years later.

[Hobie]

Hobie;
I also have the Professional Guides Manual and the Bull Cook cookbook. Good stuff.

Yes indeed. We have more of the books, just haven't found them yet.

FWIW, my first roommate at language school was from Waseca and his dad worked at Herter's... I was so jealous even in young adulthood!

[Rusty]

One of my first handguns was a Herter's .44 Powermag. My first loading setup also came from Herters. I have a friend who still had one of their "Canadian" knives.

[Rodfac]

Geez what catalogues...and the descriptions of products, makes Seinfeld's, J Peterman catalogue items pikers by comparison.

I ordered dies for both .222 and .38 special and a new carbide die for the .38 which I still use. Their #3 press, a UPS shade of brown, is still with me after over 50 years...I get runout figures of .004" or less from it. After finding an adapter that allowed use of Lee or RCBS shell holders, it will load for all of my needs. I load on a pair of Dillions now for pistol, and use a Harrell's Turret for rifle, but the Herters is still attached to the bench and does most of my military crimped primer depriming.

Some of the cooking recipes are priceless! I keep a watch out for any of his written mat'l or the catalogues themselves at each gun show I attend.

Where ever they are, I hope the Herter family is doing well. They brought a whole generation of us to the shooting/reloading sports in the late 50's and 60's.

Regards, Rodfac

[JerryB]

I am still using my powder scales from Herters that I bought in 1960.

[Hairy Clipper]

Well, the snow has melted from the ground at Woodville Cemetary here in Waseca and ol' George Leonard Herter is probably ready to get out of his grave, a mere 800 yards from where I type this, and join in on this conversation. I am quite certain he would say, " I told you so...it is in my catalog, Hell! It's World Famous!" George was a one of a kind, walking that fine line between insanity and genius. His Mrs. is also gone now, as for the boys...I haven't seen them since George and Berthe's Estate Sale many years ago. It seems as though the fellers down at the BassPro Shop In Missouri bought most of the big game trophies that were in the store. The .401 PowerMags seem to be going up in value lately.

Hobie-I am curious who your friend from Waseca was...I may have known him or cut his hair. Since selling the barber shop and retiring I don't see the old clientele all that much anymore, but, could pass along some greetings if you wish.

Hairy

[Sixgun]

You and I must be near the same age. (54) I too remember Herter's real well. In fact, so well I bought 5000 .22 rimfire shells when I saw them at a give-away price. The name got me all excited.

They shoot great but several out of every box will split about an 1/8" and give me some blow-by.----------------Sixgun

[creosote]

At one time years ago I some how got ahold of some Herters fishing hooks of an odd design,I caught little brook trout up to 15 lb corvina with those hooks.
I too have a lasting fondness for all things Herters.
creosote

[Hobie]

Well, the snow has melted from the ground at Woodville Cemetary here in Waseca and ol' George Leonard Herter is probably ready to get out of his grave, a mere 800 yards from where I type this, and join in on this conversation. I am quite certain he would say, " I told you so...it is in my catalog, Hell! It's World Famous!" George was a one of a kind, walking that fine line between insanity and genius. His Mrs. is also gone now, as for the boys...I haven't seen them since George and Berthe's Estate Sale many years ago. It seems as though the fellers down at the BassPro Shop In Missouri bought most of the big game trophies that were in the store. The .401 PowerMags seem to be going up in value lately.

Hobie-I am curious who your friend from Waseca was...I may have known him or cut his hair. Since selling the barber shop and retiring I don't see the old clientele all that much anymore, but, could pass along some greetings if you wish.

Hairy

Oh, golly, I can't remember his name. It will likely come to me now that I'm thinking about it. He was drafted in late 1972 or early 1973 and served a tour in Korea before getting out. I remember he married when he got out. I believe he was a college grad (BA). Darn... old age and CRS.

[pshort]

Howdy,
Hobie, I went to your website about the Herters books. I followed the "How to live with a bitch" to Amazon. The related books listed after the main book were all about marriage counseling, etc. I thought it was pretty funny. I'm assuming the "Bitch" book is about a dog!

Paul

[Hobie]

Howdy,
Hobie, I went to your website about the Herters books. I followed the "How to live with a bitch" to Amazon. The related books listed after the main book were all about marriage counseling, etc. I thought it was pretty funny. I'm assuming the "Bitch" book is about a dog!

Paul

Paul, I'm not sure it was. As noted, Mr. Herter was a character and did divorce his wife...

[pokey]

another herters fan , wish i had kept some of their catalogs from
back then. have a few things like a canadian knife, loading press
and a couple of die sets , and a professional guide book. maybe
more i can't think of now. there were more catalogs back then
[ l.l.beans,rei,eddie bauer,orvis] that were outdoors stuff, but
now mostly yuppie clothes. those were the days.

[Two401Pm]

As you can see from my handle I also am a fond member of the Herters gang. I really like the old Herters .401 Powermags. I also retain some of the catalogs as well as a couple reloading manuals.. If you use the Herter data the loads were very stout.. Both pistols looked like a smooth bore till many hours of laborious scrubbing with solvents Both guns look like a mirror in their bores now Great shooters but they are rather ugly..

[Coldfingers]

Ohhhh the memories...skipping school to drive the fourty miles to Herters and generally having a GREAT time browsing, dreaming, and deciding what to spend my barn cleaning money on.

I read the Guide Manual while spending the winter deep in the Wrangle Mountains with my new wife. One of the few books out there. What a hoot.

Those Herters boys where ahead of thier time. When I read the Cabella's catalog and see "Alaska Guides Model" I always thing of the Herters boys and good ol Waseka Minnesota.

Before my dad passed when I was 11 we would spend wonderfull fall days over by Waseka chasing ringnecks at the Hargeth farm.

I still have, and use, the arrow fletching jig I got there one day when I should have been in school
Great memories, thanks

Scotty

[jnyork]

Always quite a bit of Herters stuff on ebay. I got a 1958 catalog a while back and am now bidding on a set of .22 Hornet dies which will be nice companions to my Savage 23D.

[El Guapo]

I still have several Herter items bought in the early 60's. Some of these include a Model 21 fiberglas recurve, a back quiver, about 8 of the original dozen arrows, an open faced spinning reel and rod, fishing lures, and a hoard of 6.5X55 brass.
Folks might be interested to know that Dennis Highby, formerly of Herters, and CEO of Cabela's for several years has recently retired and is now on their board of directors.
Whoever wrote copy for their catalogs certainly knew how to capture the hearts of the teenage sportsman. World Famous and Model Perfect. I love it! Where did Jacque wind up?

[Chuck 100 yd]

I built a few of their fishing rod kits and a recurve bow kit when I was in the Army (Germany) in the late 60`s.
Anyone remember the super duper rifle cartridges with two shoulders and wasp wasted bullets?

[BAGTIC]

I was there too. As a teenager I bought lots of stuff from Herter's because it was all I could afford. I really did like their fishhooks, wish I still had some. They were sharp and strong. Never had one straighten out.

A while back I came across some old .222 Remington reloads in my basement. They were from 1960-1962 and had Herter's brass cases. They were a bit tarnished by age but a few test shots showed they were as good as ever. They were the first reloads I ever made that would put 4 shots into a nickel sized circle at 100 yards with a peep sighted SAKO L-46 Vixen. Nowadays I can't even see a nickel at that range, would have problems seeing a quarter.

Herter was quite a snakeoil salesmen. The only thing nowadays that can hold a candle to him is our modern politicians and financiers.

[crs]

I still use my Herters powder trickler to top off loads on the scale pan. Also, a deburring tool , primer pocket cleaner, etc.
Great memories.