Herters moulds

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  • Last Post 26 May 2012
CB posted this 08 May 2012

I just won an auction for a 44 cal Herters mould. I was under the impression that Herters moulds were made by Lyman, but there's no way this mould came from Lymans factory. There are numerous small casting flaws in the blocks, and the pivot screw for the sprue plate doesn't have a setscrew. There are also tool marks everywhere, except perhaps in the cavity, which appears to be well done. It came with aluminum handles, which appear to be copies of the early Lyman designs. My biggest question is: who made this for them?

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6pt-sika posted this 08 May 2012

IF you are so inclined I would love to see some detailed pics of your mold .

I haven't seen a old Herter's catalog in a number of years . I've owned several sets of their reloading dies over the years and generally they were of decent quality .

For some reason I had never thought of Herter's as a place to get molds in years past .Which was kinda dumb on my part since the catalogs contained just about ANYTHING a hunter/sportsman etc could ever need or want .

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6pt-sika posted this 08 May 2012

I have a sneaking suspicion I have a set of the mold handles you mention . I have a set of what I thought were small Lyman's and the part that bolts up to the blocks appear to be aluminum or some sort of pot metal .

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CB posted this 09 May 2012

Let's see if this works. I snagged the pics from the auction.

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CB posted this 09 May 2012

and also...

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CB posted this 09 May 2012

and finally...

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CB posted this 09 May 2012

Gee... I figured out how to post pics here! I do like the bullet design, but I threw the calipers on the cavity, and this one might be a bit on the big side as far as diameter goes. If this one has been used, it was used very little. The sprue plate screw is a little buggered, it looks like somebody got a bit frustrated trying to keep it tight.

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6pt-sika posted this 10 May 2012

The handles look like some I bought of the Rapine Mold guys at the NSS-A  match in Winchester VA a couple years back !

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Fg1 posted this 10 May 2012

I have a Herters 284125 and the 44210 like yours . Mine came with handles similar but with a tube holding halves together by being flared on ends.

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CB posted this 10 May 2012

While the mould is well preserved, the photos don't show the myriad of tool marks, and the flaws in the mould blocks themselves. I don't expect the mould has a great deal of value, so I may drill & tap for a locking screw ala Lyman.

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Reg posted this 10 May 2012

Have had several of the Herters molds through the years. Still have a 350 grain .457. While at first glance they did look a lot like Lyman molds, they were far from it. Am not sure who made them but quality was lacking to say the least. Still do have several sets of the aluminum handles and I actually like them over Lyman. They work well but are much lighter and on a long casting session that can really make a difference but because of the aluminum and how it transfers heat , you have to wear gloves. Have a suspicion that they were made in a small machine shop in the Waseca area. I remember when they first advertised the molds there was a lot of delivery problems. I ordered several ( this was about 1968 or 69 )and it took forever for the first mold to show up and I never did receive the second. The did refund the purchase price. If you have one that the cavity is correctly cut, it will make good bullets but you really need to replace the sprue plate. The factory plates are thin, soft and easily deformed and do not hold the heat long enough.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 10 May 2012

somewhere in my pile of lost moulds i have a herter's 44 mold ...from the 50's ....shot them in a genuine 44-40 colt sa  (g).

the memories are better than the mold ever was   (sorry george leonard ...  )

ken

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Reg posted this 16 May 2012

As kind of an afterthought would anyone have any idea where the Herter's reloading products were made ? Press's, dies and perhaps even these molds ? Please don't say china. They are much better than that.

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docbob posted this 16 May 2012

I have a 87 grain, flat nosed 25 caliber mould put out by Herter's and it works quite well with no problems. No idea as to maker....fwiw

 DocBob

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galenaholic posted this 16 May 2012

Reg wrote: As kind of an afterthought would anyone have any idea where the Herter's reloading products were made ? Press's, dies and perhaps even these molds ? Please don't say china. They are much better than that.

Naw, they were not made in China. :coffee I think herter's closed down by around 1969 and we weren't on friendly relations with them at that time. I do have one set of herters reloading dies for the 7x57 mauser and frankly, they're chrome plated junk. They're so small they make small base dies seem loose. :shock: I also in a moment of weakness about a year ago picked up 5 boxes of Herter's brass for the 7x57. Boxes state, “Made in Sweden". Norma? I asked around on another site and was told they were rather soft so I haven't loaded them up yet. A man I once knew (was a co-worked that got transfered out and we lost contact) who bought a mauser actioned rifle from Herter's chambered to the 22-250 before remington legitimized the round. I'll have to admit that rifle wass exxtremelt accuate so I guess not everything from Herter's was junk. I did buy some of hit bullets to and they not only shot well they worked quite good on the big Nevada Mule Deer I used them on. I never did use any of Herter's molds though. I wish I still had his catalog though. A real funny read. i'm thinking old georges herter was one of the best BS artists to come around since P.T. Barnum. .> Paul B.

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Rich/WIS posted this 26 May 2012

Have a set of Herters 32 Win SPCL dies, seem to work okay. Also had a set for the 300 Win Mag that used inserts for the cartridge in a die body, apparently you could get different inserts and use the same die body???? Not so hot, replaced them with RCBS. Have had other Herters stuff over the years, most as I recal was well made and durable, still using a set of 7X50 binos from the early 60's.

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Pigslayer posted this 26 May 2012

galenaholic wrote: Reg wrote: As kind of an afterthought would anyone have any idea where the Herter's reloading products were made ? Press's, dies and perhaps even these molds ? Please don't say china. They are much better than that.

Naw, they were not made in China. :coffee I think herter's closed down by around 1969

Actually I was buying from Herter's in the early 70's. I had several sets of reloading dies from them & although they didn't look to have the quality of RCBS, they worked just fine. never had an issue. They did in fact have a lot of good products but the newer ATF regs. is what killed them. One could build a fine custom rifle with their barreled actions. They offerred some nice gunstocks too.

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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