Herter's Rifle ???

[atr]

I stopped by my favorite gunshop in Riverside WA and there on the used rifle rack was a unusual (to me) rifle:
Herter's was stamped on the bolt action and 7 mm magnum was stamped on the barrel. The stock and fitting were well executed.
I was not aware that Herters sold rifles....and I could not identify the action. I am assuming that 7mm magnum is a 7mm Remington Magnum. (is this a good assumption?)
Does anyone know anything about this rifle or Herters rifles in general? I know that Herters sold revolvers but I was not aware that they also sold rifles.
I am very curious about the action used. It was very smooth and solid and the thumb safety was on the right side just behind the bolt.

thanks
atr

[M-Tecs]

A buddy had one. If I remember correctly it used an English made BSA English Action.

[Texas by God]

I remember browsing the big Herters catalog as a youngster. They offered the J9-a Yugoslav Mauser 98 new made sporter and the U9 that was a BSA rifle. Various calibers and grades. It sounds like you saw a U9 and yes it was 7mm Rem mag. Best, Thomas.

[376Steyr]

Herter's did indeed sell rifles. I believe the action was some commercial version of the Mauser 98. Herter's flourished when the dollar was strong overseas, so a lot of their products were made in Europe. They were known for providing good quality sporting goods at very reasonable prices. If you think the rifle is a bargain, jump on it.

[atr]

the gunshop wanted $350.00 for it.
It was drilled and tapped and had scope rings but no scope.
seemed like a reasonable price.
atr

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The BSA actions are all machined from solid billets, and of good quality. The early ones, from the 1950s, closely resembled the Mausers, with the long extractor and controlled feed. I don't know if they were as deeply pack-hardened as Mausers. But then they may not have beeded to be, since the Mauser was designed to be made of mild steel, and it is quite possible BSA used something better.

By the late fifties they changed to push feed, and some of these models had integral scope bases, although unfortunately (nowadays) they fitted Parker-Hale dovetail rings. These come up fairly frequently on eBay, and there are no legal controls on exporting them from the UK. The late ones at least came in various action lengths.

I believe Herters imported some of the push-feed rifles, and also actions. They may have sold these separately, but certainly made some of them up as Herter rifles. These were said not to be of the same production quality as those made entirely by BSA, but I would think they were OK. My guess is that they could easily be improved by glass bedding.

[Texas by God]

I would buy it because according to George Herter (who wrote the product desriptions) it was THE WORLD'S FINEST.

[atr]

On reflection the action did remind me of the BSA style ....
and on this rifle it was a push feed as opposed to the Mauser type controlled feed

and yes LOL,,,it is probably the WORLD'S FINEST

[Bent Ramrod]

According to Herter's Guide To New And Used Gun Values (First Edition, 1969) a Herter's U9 Supreme Grade (with sights) in several of the standard calibers, has the following values as Retail, Excellent, Good and Fair, respectively:

$122.50, $100.00, $89.50 and $69.50.

There was also a Presentation Grade, which was more expensive, and apparently some of them could be ordered with Douglas barrels.

A Winchester Model 70 Target model, Marksman Stock, 28 inch barrel bull gun .300 H&H Magnum (Very Limited Sale)

$205.00, $60.00, $50.00, $30.00.

So I would say "Dive on it!" Who was that guy on Seinfeld? "It's gold, Jerry, gold!!"

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I would buy it because according to George Herter (who wrote the product desriptions) it was THE WORLD'S FINEST.

There is a current or nearly current thread on George Herter's writing on history. It seems like he strongly believed anything he believed.

I don't believe I would buy his beliefs on General Patton and others, but the rifles are probably rather good.

[nekshot]

I would jump on that one! Referring to commercial type mausers, has any one made a piece of junk? All that I have seen and handled and shot as Interarms Mark x, BSA, SAKO, I had an Ithaca6mmRem(wee bit diff in lugs as I recall) and a Parker Hale. They all were as good as good could get for my standards. I haven't seen em all yet!

[lotech]

I bought two of the Herter's / BSA rifles new in the mid-'70s; a .22-250 and a .25-06. They were around $135.00 each. Nice wood, good workmanship and comparable to other makers' products at that time. I'm not positive on this, but I believe they were advertised as having Douglas barrels. Each rifle shot about as well as any out-of-the box gun. I kept them for a good while but eventually traded them.

[salpal48]

As with all Herter's item . They were made to last. presses , tools Fishing and rifles. he liked mauser actions. BSA was a prime suppliers. he also made many models in Germany. from major Companies and used his name. . Most stock work was done here in the US.. generally Classic American style. PO Ackley also made Barrels for Him and Ackley's mark Is On the Barrels
Great Rifles

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I would jump on that one! Referring to commercial type mausers, has any one made a piece of junk? All that I have seen and handled and shot as Interarms Mark x, BSA, SAKO, I had an Ithaca6mmRem(wee bit diff in lugs as I recall) and a Parker Hale. They all were as good as good could get for my standards. I haven't seen em all yet!

I don't believe anybody has, but they do vary in some particulars. The best of them, including only the earliest BSAs of the 50s, had an integral stop-ring inside the receiver ring, so that the rear face of the barrel tightens up against this, rather than a barrel shoulder against the front of the action. (Gunsmiths rebarrelling them often try for both kinds of tension at once.) This adds considerable strength to the receiver ring if drastic rupture of a case-head occurs, though it takes some pretty determinedly bad handloading to do that, now that cases aren't being made under war emergency conditions. So many manufacturers, including BSA in most of their centrefires, have gone over to a barrel rebated to enclose the rear of the bolt, like the modern Remingtons.

There are also two different ways of making the integral stop-ring. The right-hand one must be interrupted where the extractor passes through it, but there is no reason why the other one should be. So the best is the C-ring Mauser, with the stop-ring interrupted only once. Some, however, have the stop-ring interrupted on both sides, purely to facilitate manufacture. I am not sure if I remember these being called H-ring Mausers, and a pretty peculiar H it would be. A pair of brackets Mauser, ( ), turned though 90 degrees, would be a better example.

A point of superiority over most commercial Mausers which the BSA did keep, however, was helical bolt lugs, in which the turning of the bolt actually screws the bolt face slightly tighter against the cartridge head, and the reverse on opening. This improves the ability of the rifle to force a round home despite dirt or denting.

Since posting before, I have consulted Frank de Haas's "Bolt Action Rifles", a most excellent book on the subject. He confirms that the Herter U-9 was a BSA action, and although they used actions of other makes too, the side safety mentioned sounds like the one the BSA rifles always had. It is clearly derived from the one on the P14 a nd M1917 Enfields, and a very good trigger it is, although I don't know whether it locked the cocking-piece as the Enfield safety did, or just the trigger. de Haas confirms that the U-9 was less well finished than completely BSA products, but I don't think it was functionally inferior.

[Travelor]

I lived in Minneapolis for two years and went to Herter's frequently. I bought a U-9 in 458 Magnum and a number of J-9's. They made there stocks there at Waseca and had a rack of guns that customers never paid for. My U-9 has a Douglass barrel and has a second recoil lug silver soldered to the barrel to handle the recoil (had the gun break two stocks before they put the extra recoil lug). Herter's also put two stock reinforcing "screws" through the stock like done on military 1903 Springfields. I had a local gunsmith bed the action and recoil lugs as I was a bit gun shy after breaking the previous stocks..

It is a well made gun and shoots very accurately and pleasantly with 45-70 cast and jacketed loads in the 458 cases. Full house 458 Magnum loads are brutal.

My kids were terrified of the huge jackalope in the store and would not sit in the saddle to get their pictures taken.

[atr]

Well I took a chance and bought it for $325. Now I'll see if it shoots accurately.
Wish me Luck ! and thanks for the advice and comments
atr

[too many things]

it could be the one geo herter shot the charging bear at 2miles and he had to shoot him 5 times with the 401 and cut his throat with the best knife he ever made
he had to drag him 5 miles to get help.

[376Steyr]

My next nugget of advice is to buy a bottle of Sweets 7.62 solvent and get fifty year's worth of copper out of the barrel. My experience with rifles of that vintage is they never saw anything stronger than Hoppes No.9, and generally have well-plated bores. I've restored a few "shot-out" rifles with just a serious cleaning.

[Char-Gar]

My next nugget of advice is to buy a bottle of Sweets 7.62 solvent and get fifty year's worth of copper out of the barrel. My experience with rifles of that vintage is they never saw anything stronger than Hoppes No.9, and generally have well-plated bores. I've restored a few "shot-out" rifles with just a serious cleaning.

The new foam cleaners such as Wipe-Out will clean and decopper a barrel much faster than Sweets.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Herters offered a miniature BSA action rifle for the 222 class of cartridge and they are little jewels. They had a safety that retracted the firing pin like the SAKO Vixen action. Very neat little rifle. Buy the way in case you don't remember, all their products were built by, OLD WORLD CRAFSTMEN.