Herter's ammo

S

stevieboy

New member
Ok, on another thread about Wolf I sort of asked about Herter, and got no comments. I really shouldn't have attempted to steal the thread so I deserved what I got.

But, what about Herter's? It's being heavily promoted by Cabelas as a budget priced ammo. Like Wolf, it's steel cased and, apparently, the shells are laquered. Being a sucker for cheap stuff I ordered a 1/2 case of .45 ACP. It hasn't been shipped yet -- it's on backorder -- and I'm beginning to wonder if I did the right thing. Still time to cancel.

So, anyone else bit on the Cabela's promo and bought any of the stuff? Any commentary? I need to decide pretty quickly before they ship it to me.
 
I can't say how the Herters 45 ACP is, but the Herters .380 brass cased 95 gr. FMJ from Cabela's is junk. It would not function in my P-238. Nearly every round would not fully chamber. My P-238 works great with every other brand and type of ammo I have tried. Hope their 45 ACP works better for you.
 
I certainly would not commit to a large quantity. They need to sell it in 50s for trial basis then maybe. Life's to short to shoot cheap ammo. ;)
 
If you look closely at the Cabela's add, you'll notice te WOLF head stamp on one of the rounds. I've never had a problem with Wolf other than it's dirty. I just think it is deseptive to rebrand the box and advertise it as something it's not.
 
Herters is Russian ammo and most ranges where I shoot will not allow this stuff so if you can't shoot it, regardless of the low prices, what good is it?
 
Herters was a major gun and accessory company in the 1950's and 1960's. IIRC, they operated from Waseca, Wis. doing mostly mail order business, but they had some retail distributors/dealers. Their guns were almost all imports, but of decent quality (Sauer, Sako, FN); they also sold loading tools, including a huge and indestructable single stage press that a lot of folks are using to this day.

A lot of things they sold were called "Model Perfect" and "Herter's Model Perfect" came to be a joke among gun hobbyists.

A combination of events, including the mail order gun ban, combined to put them out of business. I guess someone has revived the name, but I doubt it carries any good will at this late date.

Jim
 
Thanks for the input. The posts on this thread caused me to think: why should I buy something that is such an unknown just to save a few bucks? It may be perfectly good ammunition but, why risk it? So, I've cancelled my order and ordered something else from Cabellas for a few bucks a box more that I'm much more confident about.
 
I've never had a problem with Wolf ammo other than it being very dirty. Granted, it isn't my first choice of ammo, but when I do use it, its at the range and it works well enough.

The Herters ammo would have likely worked for you, but buying it in bulk sight unseen would have scared me a little bit as well.
 
I have a good supply of the ORIGINAL Herters Ammo in .38spl, .45acp and ..308 that I bought from Gander Mountain a long long time ago (1970's & 1980's) when it was actually Gander Mountain and not the New Gander that is owned by Holiday Gas Station Stores in the Twin Cities MN.

Back then it was both Remmy and Win made for Herters. It all still shoots fine, I keep it dry and cool and use about 100 rounds a year each of it and save the brass for reloading.

I am not sure about the new stuff, but word has it in a Gun Digest magazine article it is actually just Wolf Ammo and was displatyed at the Shot Show next to the Wolf display.
 
I ordered some for my .380 and cancelled an hour later after reading some reviews. I guess it explained why they actually had some in stock....
 
The Herters .380 I had the problems with is the brass cased Indonesian manufactured stuff, And was not re-boxed russian Wolf. Although Cabela's had Herters Russian steel cased .380 advertised also, I don't know anything about them.
 
The posts on this thread caused me to think: why should I buy something that is such an unknown just to save a few bucks?
Click to expand...

Very good :D

I have been a victim of my own cheapness in the past. I do believe that price is not a good indicator of quality, but it does say something about the item you are buying, reguardless of whether it is firearms related or not.
 
Herter's was also big into mail-order waterfowl hunting accessories. A few years back Cabelas bought out the name and started selling Herter's branded decoys, etc. I don't know about the Herter's ammo other than I have seen comments on it being junk.
 
I have some old vintage 1950/60's .22's LR's from Herter's, the OLD Herters, and it is good stuff, right up there with Big Green IMHO. Still works good on woodchucks! Thanks Gramp!!!!:D
 
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