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Almost spepped on this badboy...2" Model 34 Smith came out of the holster asap....one of the reasons it's always on my belt.

Anyone ever use shot loads in their pistols? Thinking about trying some out. Seeing a schitload of rattlers up here this fall..

I've never used the shot, but I have been tempted this year as well. Have shot two this year. Would have been three but the gun was dry.



Travis

Pat, the commercial shot loads from CCI work GREAT.I used to go after snakes the way you go after coyotes, shot a couple metric tons of them.



Use the .38s�..22 shotshells can leave a lot to be desired.

I agree that the CCI .22 shotshells are next to useless. The .38 shells are a big improvement. But, if you are serious about the handgun snake-killing business, use the CCI .45 Colt loads. They are the real deal.

RS

I've used both the CCI loads for a 22 mag and 38 with good success. Hasbeen

Snakes ... Brrr ... yucky.

I walk away from most of them, just to stay quiet coyote hunting, but I do like to kill them!

Anyone make shot loads for .45ACP? Or would they even cycle through a 1911? I've got a nice little Kimber Ultra that's nice to carry...

DocRocket's class on making 45colt shot shells...

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8962392/1

Pat, we have had several run ins with snakes this summer also.
If you have never tried shot, you may well like it. Ben and Nash have been using the .22 and .38 shot loads for years with great success. We love the shot because it allows us to shoot straight down into rocks, or back up under the front porch without danger from ricochets. We have patterned all the commonly found loads and the boys and I like the old Supper X crimped loads of 12 shot most of all. (denser pattern out to 10 feet or so) Sarah mainly shoots the CCI .38/.357 with 1/4 oz of 9 shot. Seems like she always needs a second shot, but she probably doesn't get as close as the boys do before shooting. All summer long our daily carry guns have the first two chambers packing shot. Just remember, it is a very close range proposition, so don't expect your favorite sixgun to throw shotgun patterns at 15 yards. Think six to ten feet and you will be happy.

I carry shot shells in the first two chambers year round here. Lots of snakes in the summer, only shoot the fanged ones, but I NEVER pass a chance to shoot a rat. With livestock feed, dog food, corn/beans planted, etc, I shoot a lot of rats. Heavier #9 shot works best for rats, lighter works better for snakes or mice...either will do in a pinch. I roll my own using shot capsules and 1/2 a starting Blue Dot powder charge for a 158 XTP.

The first two rounds in my snub 38 are CCI shotshells.
Have shot a lot of snakes with them, work great.
Just bought some for my 9mm.

They don't cycle worth a damn. Not the ones I tried anyway.



Travis

you put the pill right where it needed to be.

shot placement just like that is always the key.

stick with the loads you are using, as the shot is worthless, and you oftentimes need that .22 "right now" for other applications--such as when that one yote wanted to rip you, and the "snake shot" in the cylinder is a significant liability in those situations...

When working at the Ranch, I'm usually packing a Colt SAA 4 & 3/4" bbl in .45 Colt.
And 95% of the time the first loaded round is CCI .45 Colt Snake Shot Capsule.
It does a great job on big Rattlers.We're located on the Brazos River in N.TX and I kill Rattlesnakes year round, as our winters are usually pretty mild, and a lot of times, on a warm sunny day, snakes still come out to sun even in winter months.

Never had much luck with the CCI .22 LR Rat shot loads except in the barn for shooting rats in our feed room. The CCI 45acp Snake Shot work OK in a 1911,but like Travis mentioned, they will not cycle through any of my 1911's.
That's why I prefer the 45 Colt Snake Shot over all other Calibers.

Right, it was a good shot, but I failed to mention how many cylinders it took to hit his head....grin(and I may never say).

I still wish I would have snagged that Smith Model 60 you used to have...

CCI makes shot loads for the 45 ACP they are better than 38 shot load IMHO

Speer .38 shot loads work just great on snakes. I shot this one while on a prairie dog shoot in SD a few years ago. It was the last day of the hunt, and I had always wanted a snakeskin on the wall, so I chopped its head off and put the snake in a Walmart bag in the bottom of a cooler full of ice.

When I got home, the cooler was not in the truck...I thought it had been stolen. The next year I was in SD again and told the motel owner that I had lost my cooler with the snake in it. He started laughing very hard.

It turned out that a group of paleontologists had been on a dinosaur dig when I was there the previous year and had been packing their vehicle at the same time I was. One of the women in the group grabbed my cooler, thinking it was theirs, and put it in their vehicle.

When they got to the airport in Pierre, the TSA agent asked her to show him what was in the cooler...I understand the screaming could be heard all the way to Rapid City.

I bought a new cooler, but I'm still looking for a snakeskin for the wall.

Must've been a black TSA Agent

Ahhh...down here we call that a newborn.

Yes. I've killed dozens, as in multiples of 12, in the last 10 years, most with handloaded .38 shot loads. Until a massive range fire in '11, we had a pretty serious rattlesnake issue around my property. Anyhow, shot size doesn't seem to matter with the .38 as I've used 7.5, 8 & 9 with equal success and in every case, it's dead right there, right now. The .22 shotloads, at least the CCI's are damn near worthless and I lost a couple of good sized rattlers trying to make them work.

I walked in to my shop a couple of months ago just in time to see one slither behind my gun safe.

http://vid60.photobucket.com/albums/h6/308Scout/Rattlerinshop_zps5dfc1e97.mp4

Was at the back of the property last fall and found this one.



Was walking the creek about 1 1/2 miles from the house a few months ago and walked up on Mr. Grumpy Pants. He was far enough from the house that I let him go.



A few years ago I flipped over a big water trough and found this:



that'd be momma and 17 little ones.


My bird dog had this one backed up under a mesquite:



Anyhow, I use only shot loads because of the danger of shooting into and around rocks with bullets. My .38, .44's and .45 are all loaded with 5 bulleted rounds and a shot load except during the winter when the snakes are denned up.

I understand everyone, especially the lady paleontologist, was screaming. Everybody loves surprises.