Need Information on Herters

[sawhitt]

I inherited a Herters .357 single action, serial number H-40XX. It was made in Germany around the mid-60's. That's about all I know.

It shoots O.K. I wouldn't toss it out, but it's no great prize, either.

Since Cabelas bought Herters, I contacted them for information. No help at all.

Any information about where I can get a little history and such about the actual manufacturer would be sweet. It's a curiosity thing.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Interesting you should ask - -

Only a couple of days ago, I fell heir to a couple of old Herter's catalogs - - I think they were 1964 and 1968 vintage. In flipping through them, I noticed a couple of pages on the single action revolvers they marketed back then - - .22, .357, .401 PowerMag, and .44 mag.

I'll pull both of the books and see if there's anything of interest. I seem to recall reading, some years back, that these revolvers were made up for the company in Germany, perhaps by Sauer & Suhl.

Best,
Johnny

 

[444]

I have one of those Herter's revolvers in .44.
I saw it in the display case and couldn't resist it. I needed another .44 like I needed a hole in the head, but they only wanted $175 for it.
I have shot it a few times and it seemed to be an accurate, well made gun. I am really happy with it. I don't know what I would do with it considering the fact that I have two Model 29s and a Super Blackhawk, but what the heck ?

When I bought it, I tried to research it a little myself and didn't get much. I believe that Johnny has the manufacturer right.
Johnny, it would be helpful to me if you could look in those catalogs you have and confirm for me that they made this revolver in .44 MAGNUM. The reason I ask is, mine is marked .44 caliber (I think, I am not going to dig it out right now to confirm). Nowhere on it does it say, .44 Magnum. I was able to put .44 mag rounds into the cylinder, but didn't try to fire them. I did all my shooting with .44 Special cases.
I was really interested in finding out the strength of this revolver. Not that I am going to be shooting any blockbuster loads out of it, but it would be nice to know how they held up to heavy loads. In .357 I wouldn't worry about it at all.
One kind of interesting thing about mine is that it says on it "Single Six" but it was stamped over with Xs. In response to my question, someone told me that they were sued for using the name Single Six. I guess that was trademarked by Ruger. So they stamped over the name with Xs.

If I was you, I would be happy with it. I really find no fault with mine. Unless you already own several revolvers in that caliber, it was a pretty decent addition to your collection.

 

[sawhitt]

Thanks to both of you for the info. Anything further will be greatly appreciated. I've got a guy that wants to buy it sight unseen, but I'm thinking about keeping it. It is a decent shooter.

 

[Gargoyle]

You have a very dangerous gun It belongs next to my .401 PowerMag. Once you send it to me, you will never have to worry about your Herters running out and shooting people.

They are nice guns. If you have a regular caliber gun, sell it if the price is good. If it's a PowerMag, keep it. Herters are nice guns.

 

[BEARMAN]

Some info on HERTER REVOLVERS at ( http://oldguns.net/cgi-bin/f2f/f2f.pl?http://oldguns.net/q&a1_02.htm ) go down the questions til you get to Question #4480 " Herter revolvers ", ( www.singleactions.com )and ( www.singleactions.com/HERTERPOWERMAGS.pdf )

 

[Jim K]

I believe all Herters revolvers were made by Sauer & Son, in Germany.

They are of pretty fair quality, though not in a league with S&W or Colt.

Jim

 

[BluesBear]

444,
Your Herters is indeed a .44 Magnum. (read below)

And you are correct as to why the Single-Six name was struck through.
Ruger had previously trademarked the name Single-Six.

All of the Herter's guns I have seen were identical to one of the Hawes models. I believe both lines were made by J.P. Sauer.


Gargoyle,
Back in the early 1970's I bought a used Herters .401 Powermag. I loved it. I thought it was a great gun/cartridge combo. But only Herters sold ammo for it. Shortly after I bought mine Herter's announced they had discontinued production of the ammunition so I ordered 250 rounds. A few months later they sent me a letter saying, since there would be no more ammunition available, that if I sent them my .401 they would send me a .44 Magnum.

A couple of months later, after I had used up all of my .401 ammo, I sent it back to them. What I recieved back was the very same revolver I had sent them only fitted with a new cylinder and barrel. Serial number, as well as all of the scratches and dings, was exactly the same.

This is why there are so few .401 Powermag revolvers left.

But, just like the one 444 has, no where was the word magnum used on the gun itself. On the box there was a new label stating that it was a .44 Magnum pasted over the original label.
Mine was the only Herters .44 that I ever saw thay didn't say magnum.

So I wonder if the one 444 has, is one of the converted .401 models?



With all of the bullets available now for the .40S&W and 10mm the .401 Powermag should now be a handloaders dream. (If you could only find the brass.)

 

[Dienekes]

Ah, yes, "world famous" Herter's.

A friend of mine in those far-off days was down in Waseca one day looking at those guns. The one the clerk showed him had a .44 cylinder and either a .401 or .357 barrel. He pointed the anomaly out to the clerk who thanked him profusely for bringing that little detail to his attention.

But that was part of the charm of the whole thing.

 

[mainmech48]

Aside from the penchant for hyperbole, I enjoyed the old Herter's catalogs. I couldn't begin to guess how many hours of my wasted youth were spent wishing my way through them.

IIRC, all of the Herter's SA revolvers were made by Sauer & Sohn in West Germany. They also offered some DAs, but I've now idea now of who made them or whether they came anywhere even close to the catalog hype. I've never owned one, but I've handled several different examples over the years and shot a couple. They struck me as being well-made, servicable field revolvers. They were reasonably priced for the time and sold in fairly large numbers under several different labels.

While it mightn't have the glamor of a Colt or the sheer ruggedness of a Ruger you've still got a good, dependable shooter. Enjoy!

 

[444]

Yes, I had the same childhood experience.
My dad had one of their catalogs: it looks just like the 1968 cover I saw when I was researching this topic.
I used to sit around, most every night and page though it. I would plan all kinds of hunting and fishing trips and pick out all the gear I would need to take.
Hundreds of hours were spent looking at that catalog.

 

[sawhitt]

Thanks, guys.

 

[charles gage]

401 herters powermag loading

good article on ths and other herters cal. at www.gunblast.com and search for herters powermag. it spells out everything you need to know about loading and fireing you handgun. gunny

 

[Clipper]

Herter's was actually bought by Northern Equipment, and they still put out a Herter's catalog for mostly waterfowl hunting equipment. I had a Herter's fiberglass speedboat I was restoring and called them about sales records and optional equipment on the original order, and they told me the old sales records were on 3X5 index cards in shoe boxes in the basement and that the old company records were recorded that way from the 1800's till the family closed the business prior to Northern aquiring it...!