WORTHLESS SNAKE SHOT.

Hell, I just whack them with the ho. A lot quieter than a gun. Problem with the .22 shotshells is that they are loaded with #12 dust which ain't effective for squat. #9 is minimum and that would be reserved for .38's and .44's and that is much louder than a ho and you have to get within ho distance. Usually my go to snake medicine is 3" #3 steel shot out of an SBE II while duck hunting.
 
I've got a full box of vintage Remington .45 shot shells. I wonder how they would do...but I don't want to shoot them.

Might not be able to find another box.

413905204.jpg
 
i do't see why people love snake shot.
it isn't worth it.
you worry you can't hit a snake in the head?
practice.
the fact is, if he's coiled up n ready to strike, you have a stationary target.
if he's moving, the shot is harder, but you get more than one shot.
when a snake is stretched out n moving, he can't strike, so you can empty your gun at him.
you have all the time in the world to hit him.
in either case, a cheap little bullet is all you need.
 
I don't have any problem with .45 Colt CCI shotshells. Killed a water moccasin earlier this spring with it.
 
Mike said:
The load I shoot carpenter bees with will kill a snake. 38 spl case. 1 1/2 grs of Bullseye, tamped cardboard wad. Fill to the top with #9's. Tamp a cardboard wad on top and seal with glue. At 6 ft or so a snake can't take much of that.
Click to expand...

Instead try putting a touch less shot and topping with a round ball. Seal it with Liquid Alox [Lee brand] and shoot a few of those.
 
JayFramer said:
Shotshells are effective on snakes... you just have to use the right ones!!

Sure_Fire-_DSF-870-4.jpg
Click to expand...

Even a 12-gauge shotgun is unreliable on large rattlers. I was dove hunting near Albuquerque many years ago, and we encountered a diamondback, later measured out to 6 feet plus. I backed away a few yards and let him have it in the head several times with a 12-gauge 870, using dove loads (7 1/2 shot). The darn thing just writhed a lot. We decided to go on hunting and come back in a while to see if he died. About half an hour later, we came back and he hadn't. One of the guys had a 1911 pistol and shot him in the head. I know he was brain dead, but his body still kept writhing. We finally cut off his head, and that seemed to do it, eliminating the possibility of a nasty bite.

These are tough critters.

I took the carcass home, skinned it, pinned the skin inside out on a large sheet of cardboard, and salted it down. I sold it for a good price to a guy who wanted to make hatbands out of it.

Now, if I hear a rattler, I just give it wide berth. They are nasty to encounter.

John
 
Good shooting there susieqz. Iggy and caj's posts reminded me of growing up on the farm, we would kill rattlers with a .22 but there was an old bull snake that would go near 6 ft long that dad wouldn't let us kill, it kept mice and rats down. Poor guy made the mistake of slithering up behind my mom when she was hoeing weeds. It appears you can get a lot of chunks out of a 6 ft. snake.
 
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I'm kind of glad that the only snakes we got on my neck of the woods are small constrictors. And the only ones who should worry in my backyard are the rodents who pop up for a free meal.:D

Edit. Me and whatever snakes might, be just ignore each other(or better yet, they make themselves scarce in my presence).
 
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I can see myself.....

susieqz said:
i do't see why people love snake shot.
it isn't worth it.
you worry you can't hit a snake in the head?
practice.
the fact is, if he's coiled up n ready to strike, you have a stationary target.
if he's moving, the shot is harder, but you get more than one shot.
when a snake is stretched out n moving, he can't strike, so you can empty your gun at him.
you have all the time in the world to hit him.
in either case, a cheap little bullet is all you need.
Click to expand...

I can see myself making a good hit with shot, but the snakes still alive and writhing around so I empty my gun trying to shoot it again but it gets away to go off to suffer and die. The hoe is my preferred weapon. I have used the edge of a piece of plywood to dispatch some rattlesnakes and one that kids said was a water moccasin but turned out to be a red belly water snake. (They said they saw a big white mouth) but back then I was stronger, faster, more coordinated, could see, etc. etc.

Now I would get ready to hit the snake and fall down right by it and not be able to get up without something to steady me.:eek::confused::(
 
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I was in Cabela's the other day and saw some new CCI brand snake shot in .38/.357 and .44 caliber with the shot cartridges loaded with #4 shot. .38/.357 claimed 81 grains of lead with greater penetration. I don't doubt that at all. Be interesting to pattern one on a piece of cardboard to see what kind of spread those fewer pellets of #4 shot will produce and at what ranges. My considered opinion is that the #4 shot would be more effective than the #9 shot, but only if they produce a decent tight pattern at up to about 6 feet.

I personally don't have a problem with getting within three feet close to a rattler that I see first and is not overly stirred up and I'm guessing the #4 shot might be a better option than the #9. Either way, one shot of the snake shot isn't much, if any. cheaper than a plain old bullet, but the shot might be a better option if you can't hold still to make a certain shot with a single bullet!

I used to work with a guy regularly who always wanted to kill the rattlesnakes we found along buried telephone cable routes in the country. He would get my wooden handled shovel out of the truck to do the killing, but the closer he got to the snake, the shorter that shovel handle got! He broke three or four handles out of my shovels because when he finally swung it at the snake, he was holding it way out on the end of the handle. That's a good way to break 'em! Trouble was, if the snake happened to move toward him or even strike, he wouldn't hit the snake and the shovel handle was broken anyway! I'd usually just pick up a good sized caliche rock (which were everywere around) and chunk it at the snake's head with pretty good results. Talked the boss into buying shovels with those fancy new fangled fiberglass handles in them and those were a great deal harder to break!

I'll be interested to hear a report on those new snake shot loads with #4 shot in them, if anybody happens to try them.
 
mtgianni said:
Instead try putting a touch less shot and topping with a round ball. Seal it with Liquid Alox [Lee brand] and shoot a few of those.
Click to expand...


That would not work shooting against my shed roof or walls. As is I can shoot up against the tin roof with no damage.
 

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I have never carried snake shot, and never will. I have been struck by a copperhead, he didn't get through the shoe. A snake strikes in a blink of an eye, but they have to be close. After the strike I put more effort into paying attention where I am stepping. If the snake is a safe distance I have all the time in the world to take an aimed shot.
 
Post #43: Twenty-two Plinkster cowboyed the cylinder on his 617 after reloading. While he’s a good shot and i enjoyed the video he’ll ruin that nice revolver if he keeps it up.
 
I used a shovel to kill a copperhead last summer but do keep some .38 snakeshot handy. We live in a HOA community so I’ll try to find another way before using my Model 10 snub. I have tested this stuff at the range and believed it would work before reading this.
 
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My homemade "snake shot" has be field tested successfully. :-) I carry it when I go to the lake bass fishing. I have shot copperheads, cottonmouths, rattlesnakes, and several water snakes. The only time it has taken more than one shot was when I got excited and shot from too far away.

Whatever works for you is what you should use.

As Frisco Darling would say "more powr to ye."

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
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