Just out of curiosity, who made Herters bows? Thanks for the replies.

Herter's did. Bob Barrie was the designer/bowyer, the same Bob Barrie who made Rocky Mountain Razor broadheads. Great bows.

The old Herters cat was like stepping into a candy store. That is , if you liked bows lol.

They had the very best of everything. Their catalogs were fun to read. All of my reloading equipment is Herters and I have a Herters bow. They are both still going strong. The gun laws and the shipping of them seems to have put them out of business. I miss them.>>>>-----> Ken

Google your question and you will get a short history on Herters bows and some history of the company and the reason for its downfall.

i have a herters takedown and a little 46" herters recurve . i get them out every once in while and shoot them. they are good shooters. the takedown has a heavy riser..you could almost say "massive" riser. it will certainly put an arrow thru a deer! the last deer i shot with it i used a 2219 easton and a bear razorhead.

Jon, thanks for the suggestion to google the O.P.'s question. You could even see copies of the old Herter's Archery section of their catalogs. Talk about bring back old times!. Growing up in the south, I had never heard of Herter's. While still in Jr. High School, a guy who turned out to be a great friend, moved to my hometown from New Jersey. They introduced me to Herter's.

Sure appreciate all the info. I sure do remember Herters and their catalogs. Wouldn't mind having one their bows.

Living not far from Herters I spent a lot of time...and money there in the 60's-70's. My sister has a Herters bow and I have several. Great shooters!

There was a takedown on here a while back with metal side plates. I wished I had bought that bow but I feared it was too short for my draw. I wonder what model that was. I still have some of their brass.

There's a photo of it just a few posts above this one. It was their takedown model...they made it in wood and aluminum riser models.

Here’s a photo of my 58#-46” Perfection. A fun little bow to shoot! Lance

Everything was their Herter's "model perfect". Great stuff of the good old days. If Herter's didn't have it, you probably didn't need it. I never had one of their bows but still have a set of reloading dies for .303 British and a Herter's luber-sizer for cast lead bullets.

I've been tempted to by several of their bows but it is hard for me to look past the god awful ugly mustard glass. They did have some massive pieces of rosewood in some of those risers and I have taken several interested looks at a CV17 ? Beautiful bow. Maybe someday.

Here’s my 1966 Herter’s Perfection that I bought from a friend back in 1970. It’s 52”/55#. Still shoots great.

I practically learned how to read with a Herter's catalog.

Murray

I bought many wood shafts from Herters. Their catalog was better then any Christmas catalog the big stores put out when I was young.

Here's mine;

I notice that many sellers describe their big-riser Herter's as being rosewood, but when I look closely, they look more like tigerwood...or at least something other than rosewood. I've seen many of the CV-17's that looked like rosewood, but by the time they got really massive, like the Perfection Sitka lineup, I don't think there was much rosewood still around.

Does anyone have a Herter's with a big Brazilian rosewood riser? I'd love to see a photo...

Hip,beautiful bow!

Kerry, Not a “big massive” rosewood riser since this is on an EDB, but you’ll get the idea. Lance

Thanks Butch, wish it were a lighter draw weight. It's 62# at 28" pretty big too at 70".

Bob Barrie said that most of the wood they used was East Indian Rosewood. That said, I've seen shedua (wenge) risers, very dark rosewood....maybe cocobolo, and even some bubinga. I suspect they were as varied as many mainstream bow companies. My first Herter's bow was a metal riser takedown in 1973...$69.99. I've owned a bunch since then and would rate them with any other bow of like design and better than many.

As for not buying a bow due to the glass color, I don't even know how to address that. Those yellow glass bows sure as heck shoot well indeed, and I never had one person remark on how ugly the glass was. But it's different day I guess.

Thanks, Lance--a tragic misuse of good rosewood to make a 46" Evil Dwarf Bow,IMO, but what can you say. I hope you keep that one quarantined away from your other bows!

Yeager that is the exact bow I have only mine is 1 pound heaver. They are very nice looking bows. 52" never worked too well with my draw length and 56 pounds is getting too heavy these days. I sure would like to try a Little Suckling,Shrew,or Texas Comanche. They are supposed to be more long draw friendly. >>>----> Ken

Hope this pic turns out. Sitka on left 58" and 44 lbs. Hit like a sledge hammer but steady in the hand. And one of the best shooting bow I have ever had the pleasure to shoot, at right, a Sambar Perfection 62" and 48#. I'll take her back if it ever shows up.

I started both my kids out shooting Herters bows. They were making kids versions when few others did. Awesome catalogs, well before Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc. Old George was a marketing genius.

My 7 year old grand daughter shoots that Herters kid bow these days.

I have a 58 inch Sitka very similar to SM's. Mine shoots really well also, and I'm fairly sure the riser is made of Goncolo Alves, aka Tigerwood, although the catalog of the same time period says it's Rosewood.

Bubinga was once called African Rosewood, just another moniker for that species. As custome bowyers took over the part of US bow makers in the 90's onward, they became more particular of the labeling of woods. Goncalo Alves sounds more exotic than Tigerwood. ;)

Yeah Murph, the shelf ha a radiused peak.

Ken, here’s a close-up of the serial number on my Herter’s.......would be interesting if they were close.

Yeager, Wow started off the same I was thinking like winning the lottery but then it changed. The first 5 numbers must mean something.??? 520865004 >>>>-----> Ken

I don't know the model Murph but it's a Herters made Feb, 1959

Ken.... First 2 numbers are the length of the bow. Second 2 numbers is the month it was made. The next 2 numbers is the year it was made. The last numbers mean it was the ?? bow made that month.

Both bows are 52”, were made in August, yours in 1965 and mine in 1966, and yours was the 4th one made that month, and mine was the 42th. >>————>

Thanks Yeager That is neat to know. >>>>-----> Ken

And Herter's did not follow AMO standards, that's why they posted string length on their bows with a decal. A 52" bow would be closer to a 50" bow.

Never even heard of Herter’s ‘til I came back to archery in ‘98. When I first saw one at Kalamazoo, I was immediately seduced by a curvy Rosewood riser. I knew I had to get one in the near future. I ended up with several. I really liked the beautiful combination of the butterscotch colored “farbenglas” and Rosewood. Then I saw one with the Rosewood/Rock Maple laminated riser, and that hooked me with the Wow factor. Had a couple of those as well. I sold my last one because the grip was even too thick for my mitt and not comfortable to shoot. At some point, I’ll get another one, they’re super nice shooters. They really stand alone as vintage recurves, with their neat pointy tips and thick epoxy finish. Not my pic, just to show that cool looking, laminated riser.

had a herters Sitka perfection. large redish brown riser. 62" took a 56" string. strange sloped shelf with hole on side plate area for a plug in brush rest. had a Turkish hunter with a pyramid shaped rest, they are hard to sell or trade...ron

1959. Murph, that looks a lot like my '61 Turkish Hunter.

Two of the 3 Herters bows I own. Shot my first elk with the 55# Perfection in 1969. I loved their catalogs and still have a couple left.

One more Perfection after I refinished it.

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