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DPris · June 21, 2013, 11:52 AM

When I did a project several years ago on Speer shotshells, I used over 20 different guns in every handgun caliber available at the time. Seems like it was 23 guns, from snub & full-sized revolvers & small & full-sized autos on up to the Marlin leverguns and in .22, 9mm, .38/357 Mag, 44 Mag, .45 calibers. Two-inch barrels to 20-inch barrels. The .40 S&W wasn't yet available.

I set up a backstop with a life-sized snake drawing as the center aiming point and tried the loads through both rifles and handguns at varying distances to determine patterning.

I found, as stated above, that for PATTERNING density (percentage of pellet hits on the "snake") the longer the barrel the quicker the pattern spread and the closer the gun had to be to keep enough pellets in the "snake" to be effective.

Rifling spins each shot charge, and the faster the velocity is, the faster the spin rate out the muzzle is. Consequently, a faster spin rate creates a faster spread rate, leaving more of the pellets in the outer "ring" area of a mostly empty center of the "doughnut" pattern as distances increase.

Short-barreled snubs held patterns together farther than a 20-inch carbine, because of the increased velocity out of the longer barrel.

Twist rate is also a factor, and obviously so is the caliber (regarding the size of the shot charge) in effectiveness.

But- that testing showed clearly that, in terms of patterning and distance, the shorter the barrel the farther the pattern remained effective in dumping more pellets into the "snake".

The side issue is that greater velocity generally means greater penetration, but with that greater velocity you're back to lesser pattern density.

I've killed with a .22 Speer shotshell, I know it can take out a sizeable snake, IF close enough.
A bigger caliber with a larger shot charge through a shorter barrel would be my choice for a snake gun today if I were to carry shotshells for such purposes.

If you do your own pattern testing, you get a better picture of the practical ranges of those shells. And I don't mean setting up a water jug.

Denis

June 21, 2013, 11:52 AM	#19
DPris Member Emeritus Join Date: August 19, 2004 Posts: 7,133	When I did a project several years ago on Speer shotshells, I used over 20 different guns in every handgun caliber available at the time. Seems like it was 23 guns, from snub & full-sized revolvers & small & full-sized autos on up to the Marlin leverguns and in .22, 9mm, .38/357 Mag, 44 Mag, .45 calibers. Two-inch barrels to 20-inch barrels. The .40 S&W wasn't yet available. I set up a backstop with a life-sized snake drawing as the center aiming point and tried the loads through both rifles and handguns at varying distances to determine patterning. I found, as stated above, that for PATTERNING density (percentage of pellet hits on the "snake") the longer the barrel the quicker the pattern spread and the closer the gun had to be to keep enough pellets in the "snake" to be effective. Rifling spins each shot charge, and the faster the velocity is, the faster the spin rate out the muzzle is. Consequently, a faster spin rate creates a faster spread rate, leaving more of the pellets in the outer "ring" area of a mostly empty center of the "doughnut" pattern as distances increase. Short-barreled snubs held patterns together farther than a 20-inch carbine, because of the increased velocity out of the longer barrel. Twist rate is also a factor, and obviously so is the caliber (regarding the size of the shot charge) in effectiveness. But- that testing showed clearly that, in terms of patterning and distance, the shorter the barrel the farther the pattern remained effective in dumping more pellets into the "snake". The side issue is that greater velocity generally means greater penetration, but with that greater velocity you're back to lesser pattern density. I've killed with a .22 Speer shotshell, I know it can take out a sizeable snake, IF close enough. A bigger caliber with a larger shot charge through a shorter barrel would be my choice for a snake gun today if I were to carry shotshells for such purposes. If you do your own pattern testing, you get a better picture of the practical ranges of those shells. And I don't mean setting up a water jug. Denis