So as I watch the .22LR stocks, I see .22LR bird shot - the Walmart in town even had some last week. I know this has some specialty uses, but at $.25-$.35 per shot, why does this sell out so fast? Am I missing out on something here? Just a curious thought.

feeding frenzy.

My figuring was that people who don't actually shoot but are trying to "flip" the ammo are just purchasing it because it says ".22LR" on the box. Am I right? Or way off base?

Sounds reasonable. I remember when 22 lr was readily available I would usually see the birdshot too. It was usually covered in dust next to the other ammo. We used to use it to shoot rats in my grandparent's grain bin. Worked great, but make sure wear safety glasses 'cause every once in awhile a pellet would come back and hit me in the face.

Remington used to make a .22 pump with a smooth bore, called a "garden gun" for just such use. I remember some of the men shooting short-range trap with one at Boy Scout camp when I was a Tenderfoot. Other than that, I think they're carried in pistols for snake shot.

I carry it in a snub nosed revolver when cutting grass or weed eating.

Mike

And you would have to be right on top of a snake for it to be effective. I patterned some out of a S&W 317 AirLite 22 revolver and decided I was better off with bullets than birdshot. I've got one box of #12 shot that I will probably never use up and gave my other box away.

I agree it is probably the flippers buying it. I have certainly never found a legitimate use for it! Used to go frog hunting a lot as a kid. We had a LOT of swampland, and used .22's for frogs. Found out we were supposed to use shot, not bullets. It will very rarely kill a frog, can't imagine it's very good on snakes, either.

I shot a piece of cardboard at snake in front of lawnmower range and it was softball size.

I will shoot some tomorrow and post a pic or two.

Mike

Used a lot of it in 22 mag on snakes. Can't see why this would not work. Hasbeen

I've used or tried to use both on various things.
Basically, I have found the #12 shot in the .22 LR ammo to be a waste of money. The patterens fall apart quickly, and it doesn't penetrate much.
The .22 Rimfire Magnum, however is alot better. Some of the #11 pellets will penetrate through both sides of an alumnium beer can, for instance. Killed a Side Winder with that load once. At 15-20 ft., it anchored him on the spot. E

We used to shoot rats and mice on the porch of my uncle's cabin up at his mining claim. We'd sit out there at night, throw crackers out, listen for the scurry of feet, then hit them with the flashlight in our left hand and shoot them with the revolver in our right hand.

I also ran the Mo-Skeet-O range at our Scout camp for a few years as a teenager with smoothbored Remington single-shots (and shot bats at night...)

My son and I have shot several rattle snakes from 6-inch .22 LR revolvers at up to 10 feet. With head shots, they die just fine. I also load the #12 shot into the Speer capsules for .38/.357, .44 and .45 Colt as it makes for a dense pattern and is deadly further than the .22 LR shells.

As to the OP - I think there may be some trying to take advantage of the shortage and there may newer shooters just trying to find ammo and not knowing any better.

Works good on bats when they get in the cabin. The plus is you can't really see the damage to the logs.

I've killed lots of Prairie Rattlers with it --- works fine @ 5-6 feet. If a bird gets in the shop and I can't remove it alive, I can kill it with birdshot and not hurt the galvanized metal (or wood).

Unless I'm hunting a RattleSnake den -- one box of 20 CCI birdshot lasts for years.

We used to use it on rats, when I was growing up.

I am not familiar with the 22 "bird shot" that uses pellets, I guess I am too old school. The 22 "bird shot" I use is the brass case with a crimped end and it shoots small pieces of lead shavings. It does do the job on snakes and puts out a large enough pattern that it usually does the job with one shot. I would think that pellets would no be a great choice, particularly in a 22.

drover

Ruffcutt: "Right on top of" is not a very specific measurement - it is ambiguous and subjective.
Let me relay to you some "objective" first hand experiences of mine.
I have killed quite a number of Rattlesnakes with 22 L.R birdshot and 22 Magnum bird shot.
I have used S&W Model 34's (both 2" and 4"), S&W Model 63's (both 2" and 4") and my 4" barreled S&W Model 651 (22 Magnum) to kill Rattlers.
Ranges have been (as I recall and estimate) from 4' to 10'.
Not a one of the Rattlesnakes I chose to shoot lived to tell about the encounter.
Additionally, assess this, I have seen maybe 10 - 12 of my friends try to engage Rattlesnakes with the pistols firing single slug ammo.
Many of those occassion saw the shooters reloading said pistols with a wounded snake slithering and/or coiling about - I do NOT recall any of those first hand observations ending with a dead snake after one shot!
If I may be crude - when I decide to kill a Rattlesnake (because it is close to civilization or a house where children may be present) then I shoot it in the head with birdshot and then shoot it in the head again immediately.
Then if more rounds are needed to ended these dangerous creatures lives they are administered.
I would much rather carry my rimfire pistols loaded with birdshot whilst in Rattlesnake country.
If I am 15 or 20 feet away from a Rattlesnake I would not be shooting at it with birdshot.
But at normal encounter distances (right on top of?) the birdshot works just fine for me.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

No the crimped 22 shell you are familiar with holds 25 grains of #12 shot----- Bird Shot.

We killed a 5 gallon buck full of rats in my pals chicken house years ago with this stuff.. Out of a long barreled rifle it was deadly much farther than I would have imagined.. When I was a kid, I had a smooth bore .22 rifle for this stuff.. We used to shoot bats on our pond with it.. Again it would kill at distances that amazed me.. Never shot it in pistols though..

Remington made a smooth bore rifle, called the routledge, worth quite a bit.
I have shot a lot of small critters , slimey things and bugs, with the .22 LR shot.
Never had a smooth bore however and the pattern sucked.
You have to be really close to do much damage.
I picked up a Marlin smooth bore garden gun a few years ago in .22 Mag. Marlin dropped them a while ago. The .22 mag with CCI shotshells is much more potent than the LR.

Many years ago , I had a Mossberg 144LS Bolt Action 22 . I got some of that #12 Bird Shot and went off to the local Dump to shoot Rats at night with a flashlight taped to the Mossy . Never did stop even one . They just jumped up and ran off . After a few tries , I forgot the Birdshot and went back to Hollow Points . No run offs with the HPs . An old friend had a Win 61 Smooth Bore . I worked at the A&P in those days and took some Ann Page Pie " Tins " , and shot both Rifles at maybe 25 feet . The Rifled bore put barely noticeable dimples into the Plate , but the 61 shot right thru it . I could have purchased that 61 for $150 in those days ....but that's another story .

I shot 3 rounds at cardboard yesterday to confirm softball sized groups, then used the cardboard to lite my burn/brush piles so no pics!

Was hoping to run a snake out of one, but no luck.

Mike

i use cci 22 LR shot and last year it accounted for 3 one shot kills on rattle moccasins at 5 ft. any farther and ya just end up hunting for a long stick.

i always though a smoothbore 22 would have been da bomb at the dump.

I shoot doves with them! Seriously, I carry a .22 revolver with shot when I dove hunt because they are just the ticket for those doves that only end up with a pellet or two in the wings. They hit the ground and take off like a roadrunner and let you get within grabbing distance before trying to fly and landing out of reach. It's frustrating for you and entertaining to the shooters across the field watching you. Use to lose several birds each season until I learned that a revolver with shot will end the chase quickly.

INteresting. We carry it in a NAA around the yard. Have yet to not kill a snake with it, though a few we've shot 2 times.

Have killed some rattlers up to about 5-6 feet with it too.

Wished I could find some. It'll come around again and this time I"ll buy a couple of bricks instead of 5 boxes....

I must have done something wrong. Some years back, I shot a rattlesnake, in the head, with .22 LR bird shot at about 7-8 feet. The kind with the crimped end. 6" revolver. The first shot upset him a little bit, the second shot really pizzed him off. He rattled like crazy while I reloaded with hollow points.
I used the rest of the box on bugs.

Yeah, at that distance you are on the ragged edge of their usefulness on snakes. However, @ 5 feet they kill Rattlers --- At least our smaller Prairie Rattlers. I killed 24 one afternoon with the crimped 25 grain shot shells out of a 4" S&W. CCI plastic capsule shells have 31 grains so, in theory, are marginally better. At one time Remington made crimped shells with #11 shot that penetrated better (but had bigger holes in the pattern).

Well, Dan - you still have to aim....

No! Your comment is wrong. Why do you feel it necessary to make a comment on what I have since you have not seen it?

The "bird shot" I have is about 50 years old, was made by Remington and is as described by me. I am down to my last 4 rounds of it after all of these years, it lasted a long time since it was only used for nearby snakes.

I did pick up a box of the "bird shot" with the #12 shot in it so that I will have some when the old stuff is gone. I haven't tried it yet so I did not comment on it, I only commented on what I have used.

drover

Are you sure it isn't shooting confetti? Because those were also very popular way back when. The Rattlers would think there was a celebration going on and dance themselves to death. ---- I'm down to my last few rounds of these or I'd send you one.

Cute reply but their maracas don't work very well after they are shot with the shredded lead "confetti".

drover

I can see that you doubt me. In fact these rounds were so popular that to this day in small Montana towns the HomeComing Weekend is traditionally started by a celebration called THE SNAKE DANCE.

The CCI .22 bird shot patterns very well for the distance required to shoot a coiled up rattle snake. I use a S&W 317 and keep the first three chambers loaded with the bird shot and the remaining five with hollow points.

Shot a fox in the butt with the bird shot at 10 yards or so because he was waiting for my puppy to come outside.
Not too good on the fox, he was back the next day. Hollow points worked fine.

I guess my point is, rattlesnakes are not that hard to hit in the head with a regular bullet at three or four times the effective range of bird shot.

Rick ?
Heck, if I can hit a squirrel at 20 yards with that old Ruger MK 1, I can sure hit a snake head at 10 feet.

I shot a possum in the head with one from about 2" as he was coming out of a trap, and I couldn't tell it had any effect at all.

He ran off into the woods before I got another shot off

Hi, Dan - just giving you a hard time. I've heard that a snake will line its own head up with the barrel as that will be the closest part of the threat.

First rattlesnake I killed, was as a kid(about 10) shooting my Ruger Bearcat. I was shooting LR HP's

The snake was coiled and buzzing. When I aimed my gun, the snake's head followed the barrel. One shot through the top of the head!

Made me think I was quite the "marksman"

Virgil B.