WORTHLESS SNAKE SHOT.

susieqz

susieqz

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so, a few minutes ago, i decided to walk in my garden.
as soon as i opened the door, i heard something. at first, i thot it was a busted pipe spraying.
but, maybe a rattle.
so i went in n picked up my 15-4. i loaded it with 4 cci shot shells, all i had.
as soon as the door swung wide open, i saw the coiled snake, rattling away.
it had been constantly rattling for more than 5 minutes.
i fired all 4 shotshells, at long range.
2 yards.
the snake ignored them.
then, i went n picked up my 22/45, which i keep loaded.
stepped back out, fired one shot, hit between the eyes.
the snake didn't even writhe. it just died.
so, i fired off more than $2 of shot shells n that snake could have got me, if i wasn't on the steps.
then, i fired 5 cents of 22lr n fixed things.
CONCLUSION
shot shells are not cost effective.
worthless in fact.
when i gotta shoot a snake, i'm real scared.
i want that feeling to go away fast.
from now on, i stick to 22lr.
 
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I've only shot one rattlesnake with snakeshot and it was at about 1 yard. Ended up holding the snake's head down with a stick and cutting it off with a knife to kill it, The shot had little to no effect on the snake so I quit using it and went back to real ammo.

Oh, and this was with a .38 snub nose. Maybe if I had a 20 inch barrel it would have worked better, in other words a rifle.
 
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by the way, my kits maybe saved me a bite.
i thot my garden was snake proof so i'm not as alert as in the pasture.
but it was rattling because of the kits.
if they hadn't disturbed it, it might have been silent til it bit.
they don't always rattle first.
 
Yeah, wee have a lot of them out here in the desert and if they don't feel threatened they won't rattle. I've walked right up to them, pinned their head and picked them up and they never rattled till I pinned their head. These were snakes I wanted to skin so didn't want to shoot them and cause damage to the skin.

Now these were western diamondbacks the Mojave is another story, they rattle and get ready to strike way before you get to them. The Mojave was born with an attitude and they like to let you know it. They are also more deadly than the Westerns are.
 
I load my own with #11 shot. I carry around the farm because this is a particularly bad snake season. I get a cottonmouth or copperhead almost every day form a range of 6’ to 12’.

I use a Pre-Model 10 with a 5” barrel. I tried a Chief’s Special with a 2” barrel but it’s not very effective. The short barrel allow for too much spread.

Shot_Shells.jpg
 
Roadtrash said:
I've only shot one rattlesnake with snakeshot and it was at about 1 yard. Ended up holding the snake's head down with a stick and cutting it off with a knife to kill it, The shot had little to no effect on the snake so I quit using it and went back to real ammo.

Oh, and this was with a .38 snub nose. Maybe if I had a 20 inch barrel it would have worked better, in other words a rifle.
Click to expand...

Do you skin em and dry them like leather or thin like paper?
I’ve used the paper thin dried diamondback skins to put on Recurve and longbows.
 
I have found that a double 00 spade works pretty good. I decorated hat bands and the cantle on my saddle and all kinds of stuff with Ray Rattler's hide.


You old timers brace yourselves.. Here comes that picture again.


Rattlesnake_Den-1.jpg


Rattlesnake_Den-1.jpg
 
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i mostly shoot 38spc wad cutter because that's all my 15-4 likes.
but, that's 40 cents/round.
when a snake comes visiting, i want it dead, but i don't wanna spend lots of money on it.
with 22lr, i practice shooting lumps of charcoal. the size of a snake head.
 
I use my own hand loaded "snake loads" with #8 shot in a .38 spec. They have worked for 40 years or so. You do have to be within about 6 feet though, if the shot don't do it the gas check will.

The recipe was in the American Rifleman way back in the day.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
My only snake kill was a red mojave in Arizona. A .40 S&W shot cartridge did the trick from about 6 feet. I still have the skin preserved in alcohol somewhere around here. (The original plan was to treat it and make a hat band of something. Never got around to it.)

One thing I did learn was that the CCI .40 S&W shot rounds would cycle the slide on a Sig 224, so when out and about in the desert I carried 2 or 3 rounds of shot, backed up by hollow points.
 
44 stuff out of a 5.5" barrel works very well at about 10 feet or less.
As to the photo provided by Iggy in #12, I'd approach at with something other than my pistol.
 

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RSBH44 said:
Do you skin em and dry them like leather or thin like paper?
I’ve used the paper thin dried diamondback skins to put on Recurve and longbows.
Click to expand...

I do mine thicker like leather, I say like leather it's thinner than leather but thicker than paper. I give a lot of them to friends and they use them as some sort of display around the house. Some end up on hats and others just as decorations. Don't do much of it any more, cause as I've gotten older and not as quick or nimble as I once was. I no longer catch them at all, just pin them and cut them.
 
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