Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns birdshot out of a 22 lr revolver?

I've found the .22lr bird-shot rounds great......for shooting flies and hornets. The pattern is so thin at what I consider safe distances from the snake that they were ineffective for me. Shot a rattler at about 10-12 feet and watched him curl and for a strike. I understand that the 44/45 snake rounds are better performers but I haven't tried those.

I've shot snakes with a Sig 40 with 155g loads with great results and my favorite, although there is no ankle holster for it, is a 20 gauge double barrel with 1oz of 7.5's.

Personally the only downside to using a standard lr/mag bullet is the chance of ricochet at close range (rocks and such), imo. Other than that, that is #1 choice. I think LR shot should be kept for rodents and nothing less than 22Mag shotshells (tied for 1st place) for fangs. Keep in mind that with the more power pushing ALOT of shot, anything larger than 22mag, you may run the risk of Many little projectiles heading in all sorts of directions. Seen it happen. Either way I'll be packing my New Single Six with both Lr and Mag cylinders and a plethera of shells for both.

Don't kid yourself, those standard Colibirs penetrate way more than one would think. So far I haven't had a gopher (13 lined ground squirrel) stop one at 20 yards and from testing I don't expect it'll happen. As dangerous as any rimfire, within reasonable range of course. Now hitting with one projectile is another matter.

Buckthumper: I have ACTUALLY shot many Rattlesnakes with birdshot loads from both 22 Long Rifle revolvers AND 22 Magnum revolvers.
I'll have some comments on them shortly.
But first... are you asking if you CAN shoot 22 Long Rifle shot cartridges in a 22 Magnum revolver?
To tell the truth I don't know for sure - BUT I personally would not even consider doing that!
Now to the 22 Long Rifle and 22 Magnum shot cartridges use/lethality on Rattlesnakes.
First the 22 Long Rifle shotshells - it usually takes about 3 or 4 head area hits with the 22 Long Rifle to "kill" (even though they will squirm for a while) an adult Rattler with these.
With the 22 Magnum (I use a Smith & Wesson 4" stainless Model 651 with 4" barrel) and shot cartridges it usually takes 2 head area hits to render an adult Rattler harmless.
I suggest the 22 Magnum 4" or 6" revolver and shot cartridges.
I use the Winchester gray box shot cartridges with #12 shot in 22 Magnum. I am not sure if these are still in production but I have a "lifetime supply" of them on hand.
I made a mistake last November here in Montana and left my "snake pistol" back home while on an extended Elk Hunt in eastern Montana.
On November 7th of 2,010 myself and my partner came across an adult Rattlesnake in our path - I slapped leather where my trusty 22 Magnum usually rides and there was no "leather" there!
My Model 651 was back home in one of my gun vaults!
Who would have "thunk" that a Rattler would be out and about in November, in Montana?
We had a hard time killing that adult Rattler because the rocks in the area where smallish!
That November 7th encounter was the latest in the year encounter I have ever had with a Rattlesnake in Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington or Idaho.
My partner was carrying a custom 338/378 Weatherby (with muzzle brake) Rifle and I was carrying my 7mm Remington Magnum - and we did not want to "wake up" all the Elk in that area by shooting the Rifles, so we resorted to rocks.
For early season Antelope and Deer Hunting in Rattlesnake country the 22 Magnum pistol aimed at the ground and fired is WAY quieter than a big game Rifle.
I used to carry my Model 34's and my 4" barreled Model 63 (stainless S&W revolver with 4" barrel) but once the Model 651 came along that became my preferred Rattlesnake gun. I have also harvested a Grouse or two with this 22 Magnum and shot cartridges (where legal).
Good luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I completely disagree, .22lr is one of the better rounds for snakes.

It doesn�t take much to kill a snake, so you�re best off using very small shot; #11 or #12. In the .22 calibers, CCI uses #12, but when you get to larger calibers, they go to 7.5 size shot. This really decreases the effectiveness of shot cartridges on snakes. Using a .38 Special, 9mm or .45 ACP CCI shot cartridge will not kill a snake ANY faster than a .22lr. .22 mag is actually better than all of them. It�s not until you get to .44 special/.45 Colt that the larger shot loads do any better than .22lr. When using CCI shot cartridges, regardless of the caliber used, I haven�t noticed that any of them actually kill better than the .22lr. All snakes get 2-3 shots, which will both kill them, and stop them; and even if I�m shooting them with a .45 CCI shot cartridge, it still takes at least 2 shots, if not 3 to completely stop them from moving.

Now if it were a REALLY big snake, then the switch to larger shot could be of some benefit, but in Arkansas, we really don�t have truly BIG snakes; copperheads & cottonmouths are what we worry about most.

Now if you were to load your own using #11 or #12 shot, then the larger cartridges can make a BIG difference. It�s the shot size that makes the biggest difference, and the smaller shot makes for fuller patterns and more pellets on the target.

Just my experience.

I've only killed one rattler, a sidewinder, with birdshot. Used the .22 RFM, not the Long Rifle rd.
Killed him very dead at 15 ft.
Shooting at an empty aluminium beer can will show you that the little #11 shot I used will almost make it through both sides with excellent coverage at 10-12 ft. E