Snake shot carried in cylinder

[kraynky]

I've always tested my hand rolled shotshells like sandog shows, on a cardboard snake, and they've performed real well. I load them in 44 special, 45 colt and 38 special, all with Speer capsules. A box of 25 capsules lasts a long time around here.

My PMR30 (22 mag) is loaded with a CCI factory shotshell, and it does okay,.......but it's nothing like a 44 or a 45 loaded with #12 shot. I bought a 50lb bag of it years ago, and eventually sold most of it off on another forum, in 1 lb lots (at cost plus the shipping), and I may have a pound of it left. #9 shot works well too, and I made a lot of 45 colt loads using it and a gas check over the powder and one over the shot, like cmj8591 mentioned. They have the bonus of a couple of 1/2" copper discs flying out with the shot.

Talking about shooting a snake in the head with a solid, I watched a buddy do it, and act like he meant to. LOL! We had been out hanging tree stands, and on the trail back I stopped my ATV for a snake in the road. Gary gets off his behind me when I said "Snake", walks up drawing his 45 colt Vaquero, and proceeds to shoot the darn snakes head off, at every bit of 10'-12'. I mean no head at all! He just looked at me and smirked, "What? Are you afraid of a snake with no head?" And turns around to go back to his 4-wheeler!

I stopped him and said "Wait just a darn minute. You haven't owned that gun long enough to be that good on purpose." I laid out 4 rocks for him to duplicate the shot. He knew better, but I goaded him into trying it again to prove a point. He missed every rock, and we were only 8' away.

I looked at him and said, "Hey, I'm still impressed with that first shot."

 

[Oracle]

Okay, go ahead and laugh; when I was around 12 years old I heard of people ruining guns due to the lead shot melting into the rifling. As of today many, many years later I haven't ever bought or fired snake shot rounds.

 

[Drm50]

I've shot a lot of possum, coon and such. They are pretty stout creatures for their size. So are copper heads and rattle snakes. Biggest part of these shot with 22 rifle and pistol. If you don't hit them in the head they can soak up some lead. It would be a fearsome shot load or luck to kill one of these critters at 20' with a shot load out of any handgun.

 

[sandog]

The shot shells are meant to be used at a lot shorter distances than 20 feet, and the shot size used is way too small for coons, possums, etc.
I don't think anybody here was advocating shots at tough, 10-15 lb. animals at .22 ranges.

I have shot quite a few grouse at 20 feet with .44 magnum and .45 Colt shot shells while on big game hunts in Montana, Idaho and Alaska.
The shot has spread enough at that range that you are going to get a few shot in the head of the bird, all you need to kill it.

 

[IAhunter]

I would only use snake shot on my property to prevent ricochets. In the wilds, a venomous snake will receive a bullet to the head.

 

[JohnK]

My respect for shotshells, rose a lot, after my last attempt, at killing a copperhead.

This was decades ago, the 125 gr. HP, hit a bit under the snake, and blasted it into the air (alive). It missed hitting me in the head, by a few inches

After that, I always carried Speer handloaded shot cartridges in the first two cylinders.

#11, or #12 shot improved the effect a lot.

 

[jcs266]

We have lots of rattlers around home here. We live on a few acres in a rural mountainous area of the southwest. We have lots of dogs, two pigs, 30 +/- chickens, etc so rattlers are a menace to the animals in addition to the wife and I. They all get shot on sight.

During snake season if i'm out working around the property here my 686 has regular HP rounds in it and the first shot is a CCI 38/357 shot cartridge. In this mode I'm ready if I see a rattler. If not out actively working in the weeds/brush or where I think there's a higher chance of running into a rattler then I keep all chambers loaded with regular ammo. I keep a speed strip of shotshells on my left hip in a velcro pouch.

I've never had to hurry up and shoot a rattler who was trying to strike me (I can't imagine who could be that quick to actually be able to do that and stop a strike - the OODA loop makes this impossible), they always buzz at me and curl up into striking mode. I step back, load the shot cartridge if necessary and take my shot from about 48". It pulverizes the head very efficiently. Sometimes they start to take off so then I'm dealing with a moving target.

The crimp jumping issue is a major one to me, so I don't keep it as a "last round in the cylinder" due to it possibly tying up the gun if the capsule creeps out too far from the previous 5 or 6 rounds being fired.

 

[NB4EST]

Thanks, jcs266. You pretty well expressed the message I hoped to convey in my OP.

 

[Gamecock]

BITD, I made my own shot loads for .44 Mag.

Put powder into primed case. Don't remember how much. Probably around 8gr Unique.

Pressed a copper gas check down over the powder.

Poured shot in. Don't remember how much.

Pressed another gas check (inverted) over the shot.

Crimped it.

Patterned fine to 10'. Gas checks made holes in targets.

Never, ever had a problem with gas check jumping crimp. 100% reliable.

 

[153]

A friend of mine who was 50 years my senior, used to load his own version of snake loads for the .45 ACP.

Using rifle brass, he would trim the cartridge case so it was near flush with the end of the cylinder. He would add the powder, shot and wad. The front of the case was then covered with a wad and beeswax mixture, then lightly crimped. He claimed these loads were poison on crawling critters.

He even machined a choke, cut from an old Cutts Compensator that fit over the muzzle of his pristine 1917 S&W to further enhance these loads.

Original loads shown here with a beater 1917 Colt.

 

[Gamecock]

He claimed these loads were poison on crawling critters.

I did some penetration testing on various calibers/cartridges in prep for hunting squirrels in my attic. I didn't want to shoot a hole in my roof!

I used a board about a half inch thick, as I recall. I was absolutely stunned when I shot it with a Winchester .22 snake shot load. The holes were tiny (#12 shot), but they completely penetrated the board!

 

[challer61]

For several years I carried snake shot when working on construction sites where we drained reservoirs to rebuild the dam or spillway. The trick isn't to wait til they strike. You see them you shoot them was the approach. You could get a dozen a day. If we didn't reduce their numbers, we were going to have a problem. If you want to mix them with regular ammo, and I would not, then those come after one or two snake shot.