Nice Find Today!

Herters .401 Powermag. Tight action, original grips, decent bluing. Trigger pull measures less than 2# on my el-cheapo gauge.

And this one is REALLY a Herters .401!

I never heard of the 401, but I found this article.
http://www.singleactions.com/files/401HerterPowerMagsUpdated.pdf

Yeah, Lee Martin likes (and owns) .401 Herters. An interesting caliber, and an interesting revolver. I'm on my second .44 mag Herters, but this is my first .401. Found a guy about 30 miles away from me who collects them. He had 4 of the .401's, only has three now.

Mike

Very nice! Where on the coast did you find it?

I put a WTB ad in several places, had a guy from Sante Fe - about 30 miles from me - call and offer to sell me one of his. I was amazed to find one so close to home, had to drive to Dallas to get my .44 Herters a couple of months ago.

Mike

You sound like a man on a mission. Do you have an objective to your collecting Herters revolvers?

HSG

I had a Herters .44 mag in the early 1970's, so I jumped on the .44 mag I found recently mostly for nostalgia. The .401's had always sort of intrigued me. I had forgotten about their West German manufacture and the "extra" features like cylinder case head recesses. I did some "refinish work" on the .44, enjoyed doing it, wanted another to do things to I would probably not try on my Rugers. I was really looking for another .44 - and probably still am - but the .401's are generally harder to find. The cartridge itself is interesting. I have resisted getting a .41 mag, but will be anxious to see how the .401 performs.

I am an accumulator, not a collector, and I want to shoot them, as well as "work" on them.

Interesting guns, and well made.

Mike

Found out Numrich has Herter's cylinders in stock, in .357, .44 mag, and .401 Powermag. After what I learned from Lee Martin, I have ordered a .357 cylinder to have converted to 10mm. May well get a .401 cylinder, also, to have a spare - or to convert to .38/40?

Neat old guns!

Mike

Am I correct in remembering that these were made by J. P. Sauer and Sons? "Sleepers" for sure!

Yes, made by Sauer and Sohns in Western Germany.



Most common "complaint" I've heard is that they were not as sleek in appearance as a Ruger. In fact, I've frequently heard them called "ugly". They have the "half cock" action, case head recesses in the cylinders, and my .401 has a trigger pull of less than 2# - apparently from the factory.

Mike

UPDATE! Got 100 rounds of .401 ammo from GAD Custom Cartridges, 50 rounds in original Herters Brass, 50 in "turned down" .41 mag brass. Loaded with 170 gr SWC's, chrono's at 1030 - 1050 fps. Gun shoots really well, and accurately. Also got a set of 4D .401 dies yesterday, looking for 200 - 250 gr hard cast bullets for hunting now.

Even back when I had zero interest in revolvers, I thought the name .401 Powermag had a real ring to it. Kind of set them apart from other revolvers.