Rock Salt

[xtargeeter]

I'm not a shot gunner, so I came to the experts for some info.

I did a search but didn't find what I was looking for.

There is the urban legend that farmers used to load rock salt into their shotguns to discourage teens from raiding their watermelon patches. Several friends said that their fathers and grandfathers would talk about getting shot with rock salt way back when.

This doesn't make sense to me. It seems the salt would turn to dust as it was fired and go nowhere.

OK, you could use halite, which might have some pebbles in it, but that would have the same effect as buckshot.

And another point, it seems to me that if salt would work as a "discouraging" round, some ammo makers would sell it.

So, is rock salt effective? Or is this just a urban myth?

Thanks in advance.

[perazzimx14]

I agree that the salt would probly turn to dust. I also believe that it would still be somewhat effective at super close range, maybe to about 10 - 20 feet. Also there is the mental effect of hearing a slide on a shotgun being racked and also the report of the gun going off.

I believe that "rock salt" is more a mental tactic than a physical tactic.

[ronto]

Tell the myth to one of my friends when I was a kid...His mom picked it out of the back of his legs with tweezers when he was caught on nocturnal raid of a local farmers grape vinyard.

[Creature]

Box O' Truth did a rock-salt-in-shotgun experiment:

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot33.htm

[SDC]

The nearest thing to what these rock salt loads are SUPPOSED to do would be some of the "anti-riot" plastic shot (about #4) loads. Either way, I imagine that any one of these would sting like hell, and if you were to blind someone with one of these things, you'd be looking at a huge law suit. If someone is doing something worth shooting them over, then shoot them with the real thing, otherwise, it's not worth the trouble you'd be getting yourself into.

[xtargeeter]

Humm, according to Box of Truth, it does more damage than I thougt it would. I'm still not going to load any salt shells, however.

Thanks for the replies.

[Dfariswheel]

Plus, take a guess what the press, the victim, the victims family and the victims lawyer would do to you for "maiming" someone OR a poor animal.

Today, you can shoot someone or some thing dead and be OK. Wound, especially with something like rock salt, beans, or rocks, and they'll take everything you own or ever hope to own.

Forget the rock salt and the weird shotgun loads like "Dragon's Breath" "Flechetts, and other odd-ball non-standard ammo sold by fly-by-night companies.
NOTHING developed to date is more effective than standard buckshot.
If you wouldn't shoot with deadly buckshot, you shouldn't shoot with rock salt or any other non-standard load.

If you fire a gun at someone, as far as the law is concerned it could be a load of feathers, but it's STILL firing a deadly weapon at someone.
SOMEONE'S life had better be in danger before you shoot.

[xtargeeter]

If someone didn't understand my post, I'm sorry. I have no intention of loading rock salt. I was just wondering about the effects.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

On the show Supernatural - the Winchester boys use sawed off pistol grip shotguns loaded with salt to blow away ghosts and some monsters. On that show, salt is effective against those. Not werewolves - still still bullets.

[Buzzcook]

I did it once and shot through a sheet of 1/4" plywood at 6 feet.
That deterred be form trying it on the neighbors dog or nosy kids.