.44 snake shot. Can it be done?

[kingudaroad]

Just curious what it takes to hand load snake shot or if it is even feasible.

[somerled]

Look at page 593 in Speer Reloading Manual No. 13. It describes how to use its component shot capsules for . 38 Special, .357 Mag., .44 Special and .44 Mag.

They are quite handy for snakes in the grass.

[kingudaroad]

Just happened to have that manual.Let's see,materials,charge info,oal,shot size,and handloading technique. I guess they covered it!.....thanks somerled

[jclaude]

I've played with the Speer shot capsules for the .38 and they can be lots of fun. 1/4 oz of No 9 shot is typical for a .38 load. Don't know about the .44 caqpacity.
Just be aware that the range is very limited when fired from a rifled barrel. The spin imparted by the rifling blows the pattern apart very quickly. Effective only at very close range.

[zeisloft]

Another idea...I have always used bullseye, and #8 shot, .410 shot cups, trimmed to about 3/16th inch short of the mouth, and a butter lid. Take a deprimed .44 case and drill it out enough to run a punch through the former primer pocket. Lay a butter lid on a piece of wood and pound out a few cookie cutters with the .44 shell and push them out with a punch. Prime and powder up the brass (I do not have data on hand for powder charge) slide the shot cup in, fill with shot, place the cut out lid on top and put a HEAVY crimp on the shell. A little bit of wax or glue will hold the lid in place. Works good for short range stuff and we have taken birds on the wing at upto 15 yds (not consistantly). Good luck.
~z

[sundog]

Gas checks, top and bottom of the shot column, cup sides in, sitting on the powder charge, and a heavy crimp to hold it all in. sundog

[JJB2]

i have used the speer capsules to load shot loads for .357 mag to shoot from my model 27... i load #2 shot for bigger threats and #9 shot in case of snakes an such.. i have a coupla pounds of 6-7 shot that i salvaged from old shot shells.... the #2 shot loads i've used on possums and a coon here in town... i won't shoot a bullet in town from my .357 as they don't seem to slow down very fast an i don't want the neighbors pi$$ed because i've shot a hole in their property.......you are right the pattern opens up really quick from a 6" rifled barrel! the pests i shoot are usually in very close range. the coon i shot in the neighbor girls dog house was the toughest to take out.. he soaked up 4 rounds of #2 shot before he gave it up... i was surprised as the possums go down with 2 rounds...... i use the same cookie cutter method descibed above to make wads for some SPECIAL loads i've learned to make.... old plastic lids work good for them.......

[oldguy52]

I just tried the 38 shot capsules last week and they worked great. While Speer calls for 9 shot in the loading manual I ended up using 7 1/2 shot that I had on hand. The full capsule weighed the close to the 9 shot at 109 grs but only has about half the pellets of the nine I believe. I did use the w/ 5 grs of 231 that they recomended. I was using a 36 S&W and it did the job on a opposum that came calling late on the back step. About a 5-6' shot so the 2" is kind of like a pocket porch sweeper. Fun load for close range. truthfully it suprised the Hell out of me that it worked so well. After seeing what it did I have total faith in it for a snake load. So anyway if a short barreled 38 works that well a 44 shouldn't have any problems.

[biglmbass]

Handloader magazine had a good article on loading snakeshot last year. It was by Mike Venturio, though I can't remember what issue number or month it was.

[scgunsmith]

cci box of 12 5.99

[T. O'Heir]

Shot fired out of a rifled barrel flies in a spiral, going who knows where, and leaves big holes in the pattern.

[GLOCK21]

I don't like the shot cups. I use 6 grains of red dot punch out polyethlene plates with a 45 acp case. One over the powder 1 over the shot. #7 1/2 shot a full 45 acp case full. I press the complete round with a pencil then seal it with Elmers school gel. Works great! Penetrates a soda can completely and groups well. It will kill snake, mice, bats, rats, small lizzards with no problem. The whole thing costs less than 5 cents. Try it out it is better than any shot round I have used.

[cdoc42]

About 35 years ago I reloaded Speer Shot capsules for my .44 Mag Super Blackhawk and a friend and I went to a Pheasant preserve. The owner saw our holstered handguns and suggested we needed shotguns. I showed him what we had and he asked if he could go along with us, and offered to bring his dogs. We came back with 9 birds out of 9 shots. The owner had the birds lined up on the ground, announcing to other incoming hunters that we had done this with handguns!

The loads: CCI 300 Large Pistol Primer
8.0 grains Unique

#6 shot = 63 pellets
#7-1/2 shot = 103 pellets

No need to count the shot - just scoop 'em up. I happen to be nuts enough to count them to get the average you see above.

[BILLY D.]

t. o'heir

horse hockey.

you been smelling too many moose fumes. see the results in handloader magazine.

[Tacoma]

Search Snake Stopper at gunblast.com for a good article on the subject.

[Quantrill]

I have done it as Sundog reccomends with both .44 and .38. Works for me. Quantrill

[GLOCK21]

The gascheck idea is good. This would give better pressure than my way.

[BILLY D.]

the info in handloader was presented by mike venturino, he used gas checks top and bottom of the shot column. he also suggested #12 shot.

unfortunately one bag of #12 shot would produce enough shot shells to eradicate the snakes from three states and put st. patrick to shame. he said the #12 shot was a much better killer and when hit snakes simply went limp, no sign of life.