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At 5 or 6 feet, #12 does the job in spades!

My typical encounters with snakes usually involve cottonmouths while fishing. And if your running trot lines with my brother or uncle running the boat it's not unheard of for them to end up in the boat with you.

I always carry my S&W M18 and it's loaded with Win. Rat Shot. I keep a half dozen boxes on hand. This revolver throws a good pattern out to about 8 feet. Inside that distance I've had no problem killing any snake shot at.

The most snakes I've killed in one day was 17. I was pretty much happy to go to the house by that point.

Frankly, if I were going to be living in the snakezone again, and spending a lot of time in the outdoors.....I would without a doubt buy and carry a "Judge" or similar rig loaded with .410 cartridges in #7.5 flavor for dispatching snakes.......

It would see frequent use as well.... LOL

This is what the Judge and the 410 ga Shotshell was made for

aboltfan,
When they flop in the boat with you, you take the paddle and flip them out...no muss, no fuss.

It keeps the mental midget in front of the boat from pulling his service sidearm (P226) and wanting to shoot said water moccasin while it's in the bottom of the boat.....

SC

As others have said: CCI .38 snake shot - it worked great for me, though my experience with it starts and stops with one snake and one shot. 2-1/2" 357 M19 from about 6-8 ft, dead right there - no kicking or squirming. Similar in size to the one you're showing...

Scenarshooter: I have used my S&W Model 34's (2" and 4"), Model 63's (2" and 4") and my Model 651 (4" 22 Magnum) for killing rattlesnakes for a LONG time now.
I prefer the shotshells.
I imagine I have killed 25+ to date with these arms and shotshells.
Again I prefer the shotshells to slugs - as a general rule it takes up to 3 shots from 6' or so with the 22 L.R. shotshells to quickly (humanely) kill said snakes.
Where as I generally just shoot just twice with the 22 Magnum shot shells to render the snakes inert.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I respectfully disagree. If there has ever been a use for an 8 shot magazine tube on a pump shotgun, the "brood 'o rattlers" pic is a prime example.

That one got a dose of 155 grain Gold Dot out of a Glock 35. It was all I had on me at the time.

No doubt that my Factory 8 shot 870 Riot gun would be the better tool for that job.
But mine stays loaded with 00 Buck and my Double Barrel stays loaded with AA #8 shot.

I've had very good results using the Speer capsules loaded with #10 shot with 4.0 grs of Bullseye in 38 special cases.

You might want to consider the Ruger LCR or LCRx. Both very nice guns.

frogman,

My uncle and brother have Judges now. Uncle's has 6.5 in. barrel and brother's is a 4 in. titanium model. They use .410 shot shells and .45 Colt I load for them.

Our lease is in an area known for a lot of rattlesnakes. Rest assured my brother is carrying his while he's out prepping food plots.

We don't have none of them there poisonous snakes up here.

Because 12 is so hard to find, I bought a couple of boxes of cheap Rio 12 gauge loads to cut open for the shot. I think I paid about $2.50 a box. I'm about half way there, with the capsules loaded, but not the cartridges yet.

The shot varies in size a lot, but there sure are a lot of them in one shell.

I have never done any weighing of the results but a .45 Colt with a gas check above and below, or suitable cardboard, would be a step up from Speer .44 shot capsules.

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus)?

Your relatives would do well to do some testing with those Judges, double-action. I've had three of the 3" barreled, 3" chambered, stainless models. You simply cannot get them to work reliably double-action. I much prefer a 3" 410 to the Smith and Wesson Governor's 2 1/2" chambers, but the Governor is everything the Judge is not in every other respect. It even throws better patterns IME.

It seems that few Judge owners ever try their guns double-action. IMO that's a serious mistake.

On .45 ACP shot shells. The old Remington crimped #12 load was durable, no cracked plactic cases. As stated, they don't cycle so one round is the limit. Just pull the magazine before firing and get another one from the ammo wallet or dump pouch to finish the job, or just reload the chamber. One chambered round in .45 auto or one round in first cylinder of S&W 25 or 625 gives peace of mind. I rather think you'd guarantee addling the snake and then finish with ball if it came to that. Not ricocheting a ball round into livestock or equipment is the true plus.

We have two distinct species here; the Western Diamondback and the Massasauga. The two have remarkably different personalities. The Diamondback, given a modicum of opportunity will without exception beat a hasty retreat unless cornered. The Massasauga however are quite the opposite and of the several I killed don't remember a one who tried to get away, rather stayed put. The problem with the latter is they're significantly smaller than your typical Diamondback which not only makes them more difficult to see but also makes it more difficult to hear them rattle.
If memory serves we have had dogs bitten on six different occasions, one of which resulted in death, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they were by a Massasauga.