I purchased an old surplus VZ-24 mauser from Sears in the late 70's. I had Harry McGowan rebarrel it and do the metal work. Spoke with Harry last week. He has now retired and sold all the barrel equipment and the name "McGowan Barrels" to a guy in MT. I purchased the best piece of curly maple that Fajens had at the moment. I sent the rifle and wood to Herters. They did a great job putting it all together, 15 panels of checkering, etc. I think all together I spent $400 on that gun.
I used to wait for the Herters catalog every year. In the back they had full color plates of their latest fly patterns. It usually wasn't hard to figure out how to tie them myself based on the photos. I still have some fly tying gear from them, spools, scissors, etc. Some where in the closet is the "World Famous" Herters Goose call, next to the "Perfect" Herters Duck call.
I used to get a kick out of reading the hunting stories in the catalog. As I remember it, Junior never failed to drop 'em with 1 shot.
Yes, like many other great companies, they are a scaled down version of what used to be, Herters, Fajen, Marbles, etc.
Pete
