Hereter's Wasp-Waist Bullets

[8mmman]

Last year at a garage sale I bought a lot of 30 cal. bullets among them were some 180 grain Hereter's Wasp-Waist Bullets. Well yesterday I when to the range to try them out. I loaded them with IMR4350 (my pet load) for this weight bullets. I can shoot off the bench 1 1/4" five shot groups all day with Speer bullets.

Well in 50 rounds of these Hereter's Wasp-Waist Bullets I never had more than three bullets stay with in 2" and in every five shot sting I would get one or two flyer's that would open the group up to 3" or 4"......

Now I know why you don't see these for sale any more. Looks like an interesting idea and cool looking bullet that didn't work out. I did have fun ringing the gongs with them... So all go in the end.

Read More

 

[Cougfan2]

George Herter was a master of promotion and marketing. I remember waiting each year when I was a kid for my Dad's Herter's catalog to show up in the mail. I thought it was so cool when he would allow me to use a little of my allowance to combine my order with his, mainly for fishing stuff. Herter's was the master of selling cheap knock-offs of brand name fishing lures, knives, etc. I remember having a Heddon Jitterbug knock-off that would get waterlogged and start sinking after about 1/2 dozen casts.

I have one of his old catalogs from back in the 60's that I picked up at a gun show a few years back. I get a chuckle out of reading some of the lavish descriptions of some cheap Chinese fishing spoon or knife.

 

[deadshot2]

Now I know why you don't see these for sale any more. Looks like an interesting idea and cool looking bullet that didn't work out. I did have fun ringing the gongs with them... So all go in the end.

Not a bad idea but it just wasn't fully developed. There's more to a bullet than just shape. It has to have total uniformity and concentricity considering the speeds at which it's spinning. This design has some similarities to the Barrett .416 bullet which has a deep cannelure and a "tail cone". It's one of the best bullet designs as far as aerodynamics are concerned and when fired, remains supersonic for almost two miles. Not just a good shape but a well balanced bullet so it doesn't wobble as it spins.

I seriously doubt that Herter was considering much beyond shape and spent little or no money on quality jackets for the bullets.

 

[Velzey]

Oh great! I bought some of those last year at an estate sale, and have not tried them yet.. sounds like plinking ammo after loaded!

 

[Spitpatch]

Anyone that can remember "wasp-waist" bullets, and/or spent hours curled up with a Herter's catalog is dating themselves. Guilty as charged.

Brings to mind some experiments learning about the .264 Winchester Magnum: Factory Winchester ammo, I found out, was loaded with a "dual-diameter" bullet, where the diameter just behind the ogive was slightly less than .264. This allowed (as I came to find out in research), the bullet to enter into the rifling a bit upon chambering, without actually contacting the rifling (owing to the general longish length of .264 bullets in hunting weights), granting a bit more case capacity (and velocity) than conventional bullets. This was the secret of the astronomical velocity claims by Winchester when the cartridge was introduced, rarely achievable by handloaders.

The gun I experimented with was a Ruger 77 Stainless, and the handloaded velocities just weren't where I thought they should have been. Upon discovering Winchester's "stacking of the deck", I had the throat reamed just a bit. This was successful in making the .264 what it was touted to be: something more than what Jack O'Connor called a "270 that some wizard waved a magic wand over".

 

[Cougfan2]

Anyone that can remember "wasp-waist" bullets, and/or spent hours curled up with a Herter's catalog is dating themselves. Guilty as charged.

Hehe! Yep, that was me and my older brother.

Some of the descriptions of items in the catalog would be pretty politically incorrect for these times. There was one of this cheap skinning knife they were selling where they had a picture of an African native using the knife captioned "Cutting the leg off of a large Elephant". It went on to say "Elephant legs can be used to make coffee table legs or waste baskets".

I'm sure the PETA crowd would go into convulsions if they were to read that today.

 

[unklekippy]

My questin to PETA is this: Why does some Elephant get to walk around Africa with MY wastebasket and MY coffee table legs? XOXO, Kip.

 

[Spitpatch]

For those not as fortunate as some of us, and missed an essential portion of their formative childhood years (with disastrous results), I offer this small portion of what makes the rest of us what we are:

 

[unklekippy]

Thank you SO MUCH for posting that. I am only 33 years old, but have been shooting since I was 5 and it is a lifelong hobby, bordering on obsession. I paid attention to my Father, Uncles and Grandfathers. I learned alot about guns and bullets and since bullet design and construction has changed so much even since I was a kid, the most important thing that I learned from them was history. Everyone I know(especially in this town) reads "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", or some other crap. I read Elmer Keith and Jeff Cooper. I need you old codger's to pass this stuff on or it will be erased from memory. Thank you. I love these old catalogs. Kip.

 

[Spitpatch]

I'm a "codger". Such is the fate of the generation that lived by the mantra, "We're gonna put everybody over 40 out of business."

 

[Cougfan2]

I'm a "codger". Such is the fate of the generation that lived by the mantra, "We're gonna put everybody over 40 out of business."

Being a "codger" myself, it's been a Looong time since I saw 40!

Herter's was the Cabela's of the 50's, 60's, and even into the 70's. George Herter was a pioneer of mail order shopping for strictly hunting, fishing, and camping items at the time. I still have a spincast fishing rod that my father made for me using a Herter's fiberglass rod blank back in the early 60's along with a Johnson Century spincast reel he ordered from Herter's as well.

 

[unklekippy]

I meant no disrespect in "codger", Sir. My only intention was to say that anyone that had that catalog originally would have to be at least 60. I should have phrased it differently, because I appreciate the generations before me passing down this info. I sincerely apologize for using the term and I certainly hope that you not only accept my apology, but also post more interesting catalog stuff like that in the future. Sincerely, Kip.

 

[Cougfan2]

I meant no disrespect in "codger", Sir. My only intention was to say that anyone that had that catalog originally would have to be at least 60. I should have phrased it differently, because I appreciate the generations before me passing down this info. I sincerely apologize for using the term and I certainly hope that you not only accept my apology, but also post more interesting catalog stuff like that in the future. Sincerely, Kip.

I didn't think you disrespected me or spitpatch at all! Heck, I earned codger status! No apology necessary. I love sharing info about this old stuff as I'm sure spitpatch does too.

 

[EMP9596]

I got my first .22 rifle at 10 years old if I am remembering right?
My mom saved S&H Green Stamps and she gave me how many books I do not know. S&H had a redemption store on old Union Avenue (now Martin Luther King) in NE Portland.

The good old days fer codgers!

 

[Spitpatch]

Cougfan is right. No offense taken at all, Kip. Quite the contrary. You have granted me a milestone being the first in my life to refer to me as an "ol' codger"! Coming from a "young whippersnapper" that likes Keith and Cooper, it carries good weight. Your apology is hereby respectfully rejected as unnecessary.

"NOW GIT OFFA MY LAWN!" (Hey, that felt good! Think I'm gonna like this codger stuff!) Don't have a Gran Torino, but I do have a '67 Fairlane that I might leave to some zipperhead kid as long as he doesn't screw it up with dingleballs and a fuzzy steering wheel.

P.S.: haven't made the 60 mark yet, but I can see it from here. That Herter's catalog is 1961. Same year I got my first .22 and first horse, at the age of six. It is my greatest sorrow that horses don't last as long as Herter's Catalogs and Winchester Model 67's (both of which I seem to have been able to hang on to). As for the horse, at least I can still look at the best friend a kid ever had:



Me 'n' Salty: Winnemucca, Nevada Rodeo Parade, July of 1963. In my "Cav'ry" garb. Hats off to all you whippersnappers.