The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > Hogan's Alley > Handguns: General Handgun Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old June 14, 2011, 04:20 PM   #1
Nordeste
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 8, 2011
Location: Asturias, Spain
Posts: 328
Snake cartridges

Some time ago, I remember I had a conversation with a Texan fella, and this type of ammunition came across. I found it curious. Did a little google research and I found out they actually exist. The ones I saw were for revolvers, but I wonder if there are any of those for pistols too. Not that I'd need them were I live, for two reasons. I live in a city and our snakes are neither big nor venomous enough to be a threat for an adult, but I guess they make a lot of sense in the US if you have a good sized rattler in your property.

Do you guys use'em?. From what distance do you have to shoot the snake for it to be effective, yet keep you out of the snake's strike range?.

Just curiousity, but inputs are welcome.
Nordeste is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 04:44 PM   #2
Zildjian
Member
 
Join Date: October 2, 2009
Location: Ballinger, Tx.
Posts: 47
Rat shot

I believe they make or use to make .357 / 44 capsules that a body could buy
for snakes and such. Been so long I don't remember if you bought the capsules and reloaded them. Someone here will tell you better. What I do have is what many here call Rat Shot, or Bird shot in .22 caliber. Should I ever
encounter a snake here, that is what I would use to the head inside of 10 '
or less. A hoe and or shovel works wonders too.
CCI still makes what they call .22 LR shot shells and they are xpensive for me.
Over $4.00 for 20 rds.
__________________
I Dont know you....but I have met you 1,000 times before.
Zildjian is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 04:50 PM   #3
aarondhgraham
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 1, 2009
Location: Stillwater, OKlahoma
Posts: 8,638
Speer shot loads or CCI shot shells,,,

Empty Shot Capsules or CCI Shot Shells.

Roll your own or buy a pack.

Aarond
__________________
Never ever give an enemy the advantage of a verbal threat.
Caje: The coward dies a thousand times, the brave only once.
Kirby: That's about all it takes, ain't it?
Aarond is good,,, Aarond is wise,,, Always trust Aarond! (most of the time)
aarondhgraham is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 04:58 PM   #4
mete
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 14, 2004
Location: NY State
Posts: 6,575
The 44 spec/44mag shot [CCI] has 1/4oz of #9 shot. The 22RF is a pinch of #12 ,hardly enough to do anything.
If the snake isn't poisonous leave it alone. Here in NY state all snakes are protected.
__________________
And Watson , bring your revolver !
mete is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 05:13 PM   #5
C0untZer0
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 21, 2011
Location: Illinois
Posts: 4,555
I thought about this...

If you load specifically for snake, what do you do when you run across a non-snake threat? Like feral dogs, bear, cougar or feral sub-humans.

It just seems that unless you're in an area where poisonous snakes are the only thing you'll have to deal with, it would make more sense just to wear high boots and to load copper-plated lead than load snake loads.

But having said that - The S&W Governor probably is the utimate anti-snake gun.
C0untZer0 is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 05:15 PM   #6
PawPaw
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 24, 2010
Location: Central Louisiana
Posts: 3,137
I played with some last winter, rolling my own for woods cruising before the weather got cold enough that the snakes began hibernation. At a range of about 5 feet, they'd be devastating to Mr. No Shoulders.



That's 7.5 shot on the left, #11 shot on the right. Each loaded in .44 magnum, using homemade wads and Unique powder. They're easy to home-roll, or you can buy the capsules from a vendor.

There's a how-to primer here. LINKY!
__________________
Dennis Dezendorf

http://pawpawshouse.blogspot.com
PawPaw is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 05:16 PM   #7
Nordeste
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 8, 2011
Location: Asturias, Spain
Posts: 328
Thank you!
Nordeste is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 05:22 PM   #8
Buzzcook
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 29, 2007
Location: Everett, WA
Posts: 6,126
They don't cycle well in an auto loader.
Buzzcook is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 06:05 PM   #9
DG45
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 5, 2009
Posts: 904
There are lot's of posionous snakes around here, particularly cottonmouths. Working outside, I always keep a 38 Special nearby, with its last two chambers loaded with CCI 38 shotshells, just for snakes. I keep the first four chambers loaded with 158 Grain LSWC +P's, because we also have lots of foxes, racoons, etc., and at about this time of the year you start hearing about cases of rabid ones attacking other animals (and occasionally, a human!).

I have a Brazillian contract 45 ACP revolver, and I'd love to retire my 38 Special and use the 45 for such outdoor snake/rabid animal duty, but til now had not realized Speer made snake shot capsules for 45 LC. There's LOTS of excess cylinder space in my old Brazilian contract 45. Don't know why they made those cylinders so long, but a 45 ACP or 45 Auto rim in my gun sort of looks like a 38 Special round does when its seated in a 357 cylinder. I'm wondering if those 45 LC Speer shotshell capsules will fit in a handloaded 45 45 Auto Rim brass shell, and if the whole thing would then then fit in the cylinder of my Model 1917 cylinder ?
DG45 is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 08:14 PM   #10
Doyle
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 20, 2007
Location: Rainbow City, Alabama
Posts: 7,167
My sidearm for the woods (we have LOTS of poisonous snakes in FL) is a .357 Ruger Securty Six snubnose. First cylinder is loaded with CCI snakeload and the other 5 with JSP's. The CCI load is good to maybe 10 ft tops. After that, the pattern spreads so much as to be ineffective.
Doyle is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 08:21 PM   #11
Lawyer Daggit
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 5, 2004
Posts: 1,181
In Australia we are lucky enough to have most of the most poisonous snakes in the world- they are protected, and usually if bitten there are long distances to travel for medical attention.

I find a little bit of common sense, wearing long pants, chaps and boots goes a long way.

I also try and avoid doing stupid things like poking around old bits of corrugated iron roofing material etc that have been on the ground for ages.

I also carry a thick crepe bandage to bind a limb if bitten.

Interestingly the Aborigines used to lie still for a couple of days if bitten. This reduces the capacity of venom to move from the capilleries into the blood. The poison has a half life that once exceeded can be easily passed by the body.

Of course if a major blood vessel was bitten it would be all over bar the funeral.
Lawyer Daggit is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 08:39 PM   #12
TheGoldenState
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 8, 2010
Posts: 1,191
Yes they have them for just about everything.

Shot a few at the range a couple weeks ago. Mini-Shotgun style


They don't cycle thru my MP .40, though.
__________________
The Day You Get Comfortable Is The Day You Get Careless...
TheGoldenState is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 09:44 PM   #13
motorhead0922
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 30, 2010
Location: Missouri
Posts: 635
Quote:
The CCI load is good to maybe 10 ft tops. After that, the pattern spreads so much as to be ineffective.
I wonder if I can get a modified choke for my PT92...
motorhead0922 is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 09:52 PM   #14
jmortimer
Junior member
 
Join Date: January 24, 2010
Location: South West Riverside County California
Posts: 2,763
My favorite is .22 mag from my single shot rifle. Pretty much vaporizes the snake's head. Just ran over a 5 foot rattlesnake a few minutes ago right below my house so my second favorite is a tire. It looked like a Mojave Green something to be avoided at all costs.
jmortimer is offline  
Old June 14, 2011, 11:43 PM   #15
aryfrosty
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 14, 2010
Location: Concord, NH
Posts: 209
Snake shot

CCI makes and sells them for many calibers. They also used to make them in .45acp...unsure if they still do.
We raised our kids on a thousand acres and when I left the house in the morning I had a Ruger Blackhawk with two snake loads and four 125 gr Reminton .357s on my hip. I know we weren't supposed to kill snakes, but it was easier to kill them than to have kids and dogs snake-bit frequently. The ones that insisted on getting close to the house and barns were either eastern diamondbacks or timber rattlers or copperheads.
__________________
'At the end of the fight is a tombstone white with the name of the late deceased...And the epitaph drear, "a fool lies here who tried to hustle the east."'
aryfrosty is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 08:15 AM   #16
Yung.gunr
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 11, 2010
Location: Phoenix area
Posts: 1,442
The CCI shot shells for the 9mm are shaped just like a regular round so I would assume they cycle the same. When I am in snake country out here in AZ I switch back and forth in a mag. The shot shell with a JHP in the event of needing to protect against something other then a snake.

I heard a while ago they are not good for the rifling of the barrel. I doubt if they would do anything to the barrel of my XD. That was probably some guy talking out his ........

What do you guys think?
Yung.gunr is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 08:25 AM   #17
Rifleman1776
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 25, 2010
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 3,309
I load Speer shot capsules for my .44 mag. Ruger Redhawk. I carried it for many years while I had cattle. First two rounds up were the shot capsules for snakes and I killed a goodly number with it, mostly copperheads. I used #7 1/2 shot and it carried well. It did throw a dougnut shaped pattern though. So, I aimed for the center of the body and usually it would strike near the head and lower on the body. Very effective.
We once owned a house that was infested with chipmunks. All efforts to exterminate them failed except killing. For that I used my Ruger .22 Single Six with mag. cylinder and CCI shot rounds.
That load didn't have much range but those chipmunks were so used to having people around I was able to get close to shoot. Most were in the 5 to 10 foot range. I did eliminate the 'munk population so the high cost of the rounds proved economical for that use.
Rifleman1776 is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 08:48 AM   #18
gak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 28, 2005
Location: Aridzona
Posts: 2,767
Yung.gunr wrote:
"The CCI shot shells for the 9mm are shaped just like a regular round so I would assume they cycle the same. When I am in snake country out here in AZ I switch back and forth in a mag. The shot shell with a JHP in the event of needing to protect against something other then a snake. I heard a while ago they are not good for the rifling of the barrel. I doubt if they would do anything to the barrel of my XD. That was probably some guy talking out his ........ What do you guys think?"

+1 - in Az, I load one or two CCI shotshell (snakeshot) followed by "regular" .38/.357 or .44 depending on flavor of the day. The shotshell in both these calibers has been very effective on some pretty good sized rattlers here, as someone said, optimally @ 10 and less.
Don't think there's any impact on the rifling (in these calibers anyway) the way the plastic capsule is designed and deployed through the barrel.

To the poster with the "tire" remark who just ran over a Mohave green - good on ya! With their neurotoxin combined with other rattler "qualities," THE deadliest no leggeds in North America. We've got 'em too. +1 to be taken very seriously.

Last edited by gak; June 15, 2011 at 10:23 AM.
gak is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 09:02 AM   #19
TailGator
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 8, 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,786
I have always heard that a rattler or moccasin can strike so quickly that it will essentially kill itself by striking the bullet of a .22 fired in the direction of its head. I have always found a shovel to be most expedient and have therefore never tried it, but I wonder if anyone on here has tried it, or perhaps heard the same thing from some old-timers.

Seems like rat shot would make for a very confused snake trying to strike all those pellets at once.
TailGator is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 10:24 AM   #20
gak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 28, 2005
Location: Aridzona
Posts: 2,767
Last I checked, CCI still has shotshell for
- .22 LR
- .22 Mag (WMR)
- 9mm
- .38/.357 (same shell)
- .40S&W
- .44 Sp/44 Mag (same shell)
- .45 ACP
- .45 Colt (aka Long Colt/LC)
gak is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 10:39 AM   #21
micromontenegro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 28, 2010
Posts: 645
I have found the .22 ones useless except for rats and wasps (don't ask).

The .38 variation, as said above, works well at 10', max. I find it extremely uncomfortable to be within 10 feet of a big poisonous snake and wont shoot at that distance except in a dire emergency. So .38 ones are also kind of useless for me.

.44 shells work very well. Sadly, I don't have a .44 revolver right now.

So I am all for a .22 solid to the head at 15, or better yet, 18 feet. There are several "brands" of nasty snakes that will "align" themselves with a long barrel, greatly aiding aiming!

And yes, we're not supposed to kill snakes, no matter how poisonous, yadda yadda. Sorry, I have three children and I don't want them (the poisonous snakes) close to my house.

Last edited by micromontenegro; June 15, 2011 at 10:46 AM.
micromontenegro is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 10:40 AM   #22
Doyle
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 20, 2007
Location: Rainbow City, Alabama
Posts: 7,167
Quote:
The CCI shot shells for the 9mm are shaped just like a regular round so I would assume they cycle the same.
The problem with a shotshell through an automatic is not with the shape of the shell. It's with the weak recoil. The recoil on them is not enough to cycle many autoloaders.

Last edited by Doyle; June 15, 2011 at 01:54 PM.
Doyle is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 10:41 AM   #23
DPris
Member Emeritus
 
Join Date: August 19, 2004
Posts: 7,133
They vary in autos, some will cycle them all day long, others won't.
Denis
DPris is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 11:04 AM   #24
M4BGRINGO
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 22, 2011
Posts: 256
micromontenegro, you are the man! Wasps are useless, so are carpenter bees! I'd love to shoot them with some sort of ammo like that. No snake problem here, except for the "snakes" walking on two-legs!
M4BGRINGO is offline  
Old June 15, 2011, 11:11 AM   #25
BlueTrain
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 26, 2005
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 6,141
I've had a box of shot shells for a .38/.357 for years but have never used them, mainly because I live in the suburbs and though I have seen more wildlife than anywhere I've ever lived, shooting is frowned upon. I believe the little box only has about a dozen rounds.

An excellent article appeared in a gun magazine probably 15 or 20 years ago, written by a guy who lived in Florida and who though the S&W Model 66 with a 2 1/2-inch barrel was the best possible carry gun. He was a guide and habitually carried two rounds of shot loads for snakes, which he often saw out in the woods. But he also said that the shot loads didn't seem to work on a swimming snake, so his revolver was also loaded with .38 wadcutters, which did work. He also used 125-grain magnum loads and claimed everything shot to the same point of aim.

My father seemed to be killing snakes a lot where he lived in West Virginia but he used an ordinary .22 revolver.
__________________
Shoot low, sheriff. They're riding Shetlands!
Underneath the starry flag, civilize 'em with a Krag,
and return us to our own beloved homes!
Buy War Bonds.
BlueTrain is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:02 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.10873 seconds with 8 queries