Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Ported barrel revolvers and CCI Shotshell

Howdy.. I am new around these parts so I apologize for just jumping in, with what is undoubtedly probably a stupid question to begin with.. with a bit of background...

Got a camping area that is prone to snakes, and young boys (between ages of 2 and 4) who will be running all around.

OK, so shotshells are a good load for snakes, but not practical for me to carry the shotgun around at all times.

I do know that CCI makes shotshells for my .40, but feeding can be an issue with autoloaders.

No problem, I think to myself.. I got that wheelgun that I don't shoot enough (Taurus 617) , no doubt they make a .38 or .357 load. And they do.


Except stupid me, I don't read the box until I am ust about to shoot, though probably a good thing I did. Specifically, the CCI package says not to use a ported barrel handgun to fire the shotshells.

Previously I had not even thought about it, since I know several guys with ported barrel shotguns and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them...

Is it a matter of lowered recoil that would affect an autoloader, or am I risking getting a faceful of #9 birdshot if I use this ammo in this gun?

It could "stick" in a port.

you now have a perfect excuse to go buy another gun,lucky dog skeptic!

Thanks Dave

The wife is gonna be dubious (she is more skeptical than me .. or at least OF me lol) .. of course I have been looking at a revolver as a new backup CCW.. this could work

Skeptic;

The .38Spl shot shells work BEAUTIFULLY on snakes... as do the 9mm versions. The .40s are great (work even in my 10mm Glock 20), and the .45s are devastating...

We have a lot of snakes in central VA and central NC....

VA, you ain't whistlin dixie. (though you could if you wanted to ) I live in Central VA myself, round about halfway between C-ville and Richmond.

I am more than half considering carrying the shotshell load just around the yard since about half our prroperty is pretty heavy woods - never yet seen a snake here but as the boy is 4 going on 13 going on 18, I am sure he will find some just in the yard.

Skeptic;

You're either in Louisa, Greene, Orange, or Fluvanna... which one?

Myself, I was raised in Nelson County, halfway between C'ville and Lynchburg...

Small world.

Skeptic,
The issue may not really be the ported barrels themselves, depending on the size of the ports. My Taurus Mod 44 has an expansion chamber at the end of the barrel where the ports are, but the end of the barrel narrows back down to 44 cal size. I can see where that configuration could cause a real problem if the shot pattern started opening up before reaching the end of the barrel.

VA,

I am spittin distance to Louisa county and a good .308 load could probably shoot into Fluvana county ;if you ever heard of Shannon Hills you know about where I am at.

Zion crossroads is fixing to be quite the hotspot soon - big Walmart being built, a lowes, a hotel, and an outlet mall. One side of me will be glad to have groceries closer by.. but dang it I moved to the country to raise my boys in the country, not the burbs . oh well. Meanwhile I will keep shopping at the hardware store in Zion Crossrooads as long as they stay open with a Lowes less than a mile or 2 away...

Nelson county is mighty nice though land is sure pricey nowadays. Blue Ridge Pig is always good but overpriced, my own Q is better but im busy nowadays to do it.

Not sure if it is still Nelson county but we spent a day at a friends campsite up near crabtree falls area last summer.. what a dream area.

Wow, just as I say haven't seen any snakes in my yard, now I have seen 2.

One was a harmless little garden snake.

The other , I am not sure what the heck it was, big long and black, saw it sliding into the ditch by the road as I was driving up the driveway. Thick and long, longer than a yard.. maybe a cottonmouth so I didn't go looking.. I sort of wish I did but I was late for an appointment

So of course I traded in the 617 for an unported one, and bought more shotshell. Looks like it might get more use than I planned...

I'll open myself up again. I have one of those cheap ($100)double barreled .45/.410 derringers with the tiny grips. I changed the rubber Pacmyer Professional from my .41 Blackhawk to Hogue fingergroves. The Pacmyers fit on the derringer and make a very comfortable grip. Some water snakes are huge in my area around ponds and coal pits. Only about 3-4' long, but as big around as your forearm. They are not poison, but very mean. The 2 1/2" shells in .410 are deadly on them. We don't shoot Black Rat snakes around the farm, as they keep down the mice, but we have Rattlesnakes and Copperheads that we do. Good luck.

George