Herter's brass case junk?

[Gunsnwater]

At cabellas today while buying some 38 special herter's brass case, the sales man said the ammo was real dirty and the brass is ****. He said he reloaded 9mm and had blow out. I figure revolvers are not as prone to blowouts. Is this guy full of it with his clams that they aren't up to snuff on case tolerance? Any experience reloading this stuff? Thanks for any help.

 

[gvsteve]

I've reloaded Herter's brass (38 spl) several times and haven't had any problems. The original loaded ammo burnt clean. Herters line of pistol ammo is loaded by Sellier & Bellot.

 

[Arik]

Herters brass is either S&B or Fiochi (sp?). And steel is Wolf.

Generally its good ammo. Dirty is subjective. I shoot everything and the only dirty stuff i run into us occasional surplus ammo for 8mm or 7.62x54. If its commercial i consider it clean

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[TAROMAN]

And there's the always present possibility that he wanted to switch you to a more expensive product.

Addendum: Just checked, I have 100 .44 Magnum cases that have been reloaded uncounted times with zero failures.
I'd read/heard somewhere that, at one time, Herters brass was made by Norma.
But, the products of any of the principal European suppliers are just fine.

 

[Alk8944]

Since I rarely buy commercial ammunition except for empty brass I would hope that Arik is correct that Herter's brass cased ammunition is either Fiocchi or Sellier & Bellot. Another possibility would be Prvi Partisan. Regardless, if it is any of these they are all excellent brass cases to reload.

As Arik said, dirty is subjective. ALL ammunition will require that your gun be cleaned, if not after shooting then at least periodically. If you are going to clean your gun it makes little difference if it is a little dirty or a lot? As a matter of fact, soft, black, somewhat greasy fouling like from Bullseye, Unique or 2400 is far easier to clean than the hard, gray, dry fouling of so-called "Clean" powders. It also can help keep leading down.

 

[tseehorn]

I can't say anything about the cases as I don't reload yet, but it doesn't seem any dirtier than any other .38 I have used and shoots about the same as well.


And to Alk8944 - nice avatar; Bayonet!

 

[Gunsnwater]

Thank for all the feedback. I use red dot so I don't mind a little dirt, but I do buy new shells with an eye for reloading. I opened the box and they look real good. I read on line after the original post that primer pockets might not have a chamfer, thats easy enough to fix. Glade to hear it not thin like the guy was saying. Once I shoot some I'm going to compare some cases on how much water they hold, I'd rather not cut them in half.

 

[Arik]

Herters is just a name. They were once a mail order company for gun related stuff but have been out of business for a long time. I guess Cabela's owns the rights to the name since i only see it for sale there and nowhere else. even if someone else owns the name the actual company doesnt make ammo, they outsource to other ammo manufacturers so at one time every ammo company has made ammo for Herters thus youre going to run into a lot of different opinions on it. Somebody might have bought a box in 2009 with ammo that was made in Indonesia. Later on Lapua.....today? PPU, Fiochi, S&B, PMC???

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[mikld]

There are what I call "tool snobs" (someone who has firm ideas on which tool [component] is "best", usually what he uses, and everything else is less than junk) which also applies to ammo/powders/components too. FWIW I don't pay a lot of attention to gun counter "experts", range rats, forum experts, or gun shop gurus when it comes to reloading. I research/test mostly for myself; that's half the fun...

 

[Rule3]

Herter's Rifle Ammo : Cabela's

"Old" Herters was I believe Norma, newer was Fiocchi and SB. It is all good.

Some steel stuff may have been Wolf. It's a Global economy.

 

[Sven]

Interesting that the "old" Herter's is made by Norma. Not surprised when I think about it. I have 50 old Herter's .44 mag brass I need to reload one of these days. I have some 429421 cast that would work out about perfect. Might have to round up some 2400 to go with.

I have a couple of old Herter's catalogs from 1967 and 1971. They're fun to look through every once in a while.

 

[Rule3]

Don't quote me on that I read it on the "internet" I think the Norma brass was some rifle calibers, hard to keep up on all the varieties.

 

[gwpercle]

Take what salesmen say with a lot of salt.
One told me I could only mount the Weatherby scope I was looking at, on a Weatherby rifle. I told him I had a Redfield scope and asked if he had any Redfield rifles for it. He went in the back and looked! I didn't by a scope or rifle from that fool.

Gary

 

[arizona98tj]

Since I rarely buy commercial ammunition except for empty brass I would hope that Arik is correct that Herter's brass cased ammunition is either Fiocchi or Sellier & Bellot. Another possibility would be Prvi Partisan. Regardless, if it is any of these they are all excellent brass cases to reload.

Was in the local Cabela's today and pulled a box of Herter's brass 9mm off the shelf. It was clearly labeled on the back of the box that it was loaded by S&B.

 

[Fishslayer]

Herter's Rifle Ammo : Cabela's

"Old" Herters was I believe Norma, newer was Fiocchi and SB. It is all good.

Some steel stuff may have been Wolf. It's a Global economy.

I have some Herters brass I got back in 2010 when I bought a bunch of reloads to pull down when .357 brass was unobtanium. It definitely has a bit of an oranger, darker hue than other yellow brass. Shot some of it & it worked fine.

I remember Herters was a big name when I was a kid.

 

[fatman73]

I load it with no problems tight primer pockets and that's not a bad thing for me. I picked up a ton of amerc brass at the range a few days ago now thats junk way out of spec right in the junk bucket

 

[Old 44 Guy]

Us poor folk did a lot of business with Herter's way back when. I still have their #3 press & several dies. Most were made in Germany after WW2. I bought mine in the '50's & still use them. Never had any Herter's brass.

 

[gregintenn]

S&B brass is as good as any in my opinion. Far as I know, that's what you get with current production "Herter's" ammo.

 

[FlaCatman]

Herter's ammo in 380 Bodyguard

My wife took her BG 380 to the range yesterday along with a box of Herters brass 380, fairly new, from Cabelas. Out of 50, she had 6 FTF due to light strikes/primer failure. No problems with range supplied Federal white box.

I looked at a single cartridge FTF and the striker/pin mark seems a little shallow. Is this a problem for S&W or just quit using Herter's?

My Baby Glock eats anything that makes it up the ramp, Herters included.

Anybody else have this problem with Herter's?

 

[SMSgt]

I don't use the ammo, but a lot of my reloading equipment is Herter's. "The best in the world!"