[johncolo]

Has anyone tryed these for handguns? How do they do and do they damage the rifleing of your gun or what?

[critter]

They should not damage the firearm at all. They are marginally effective for small vermin at very close range.

[strat81]

Good for mice, snakes, and that's about it. Not that I'd want to get shot with one. It will not turn a Bersa into a Mossberg 500.

[haybaler]

I use .22lr or .22 magnum shotshells in my Ruger single six to shoot the birds that find their way into my shop. They work well and I don't have to worry about damaging the cieling or walls.

[Onmilo]

Ditto on the bird slaughter.
Same results.
Don't usually kill the snakes unless they insist on coming in the house,(they keep the mice population at bay.), I am growing quite fond of .45 acp CCI shotshells for this task when required.

[NORTEXED]

These three are speciality loads for my New Service in 45 LC.Right is .444 Marlin cut to cylinder length, loaded with 5g. Unique and 1/2 oz #12 shot with over powder and over shot card wads. Devastating on vermin to 15'. Center is a "2 Ball" load of .454 round balls that prints 3-4" at 25' :evil:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v368/NORTEXED/P1010001.jpg

[johndoe1027]

Nice thread, I have always wondered if those things were worth anything other than a conversation piece.

man nortexed, you could have just got a Taurus 4410...
That's what I shoot shotshells out of, 410ga 000 buck mostly. I guess 410 slugs count as a shot shell too. :evil:

Nice ammo though, very inventive. I love the 45LC cartridge.

[mainmech48]

Inside of about 10 feet you can usually get enough pellets where they need to be for small varmints, birds or snakes. Personally, I'd skip either of the .22 RF versions for anything other than mice or similar very small vermin. Where poisonous snakes are involved, I want bigger pellets and as many more of them as I can get.

I've had pretty good luck over the years with .38/.357 CCIs in a couple of revolvers, but my current favorite is the .45 ACPs. I carry and train with my 1911-type weapons most often, and the CCI loads will feed and function normally through them.

[sorensen440]

Pistol shotshells are great (they are also how my father amazed us as children)
Ive put probably 40rnds thru my xd-40 with no wear issues noticed
and as mentioned before they are not a defence round.

[sorensen440]

oh I wanted to add something
I have not tried these yet but they could be good for defence purposes
Strike Three Home Defence Rounds (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=55758)
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/sorensen440/strikethree.jpg

[Im283]

Guess i am the lone vote for NO to shotshells.

I put about 5 of them thru my single six .22. I originally thought the blueing was coming off the cylinder. It looked like hell. After showing the piece to a gunsmith he said something was coated on it, but was not sure what it was.
There was also lead compacted in around the forcing cone. Took forever to scrub that out without hurting the finish.

I soaked the thing in Rem bore cleaner for about 90 minnutes then scrubbed it with a toothbrush. It looks like new again.

One of the shotshells (CCI's) definetly fouled the bore as well. The last one I shot , and will ever shoot again came apart at the forcing cone and kind of came out on my hand. No harm no foul, but i was definitely aware it hit me.

[M2 Carbine]

I've been loading and shooting handgun shot shells since the early 1960's. I load mostly 38 Special but I've loaded 44, 45, and even 30 cal Carbine.

In the summer the first round or two in my S&W J Frame is a shot shell. I've shot MANY Rattlesnakes and Copperheads around the house. Usually the distance is about 7 feet but I've shot big Rattlesnakes 12+ foot.
Only once did one shot fail to drop a Rattlesnake's head and that was over 12 feet distance.

The 22RF is almost useless.
For a few years I carried a little NAA 22 in my watch pocket. I got rid of the gun when five 22 shot shells failed to stop a Copperhead, from about five feet.
I keep a box of 22 shot in case I have to shoot a critter inside the barn or shop.

[M2 Carbine]

sorensen440
oh I wanted to add something
I have not tried these yet but they could be good for defence purposes
Strike Three Home Defence Rounds

I load a double bullet 38 Special load.
For years I loaded a triple ball load and gave them to friends for "house loads".
They appear impressive. Five shots can put fifteen closely spaced holes in the BG.
The problem is the penetration is probably poor (I've never tested it).

What appears to be a better load is two light weight bullets. The velocity is higher. The bullets are heavier than the three ball shot. The accuracy is good out to about 20 yards. The front bullet can be a HP with the second bullet a short wad cutter.
I first loaded two short cast lead wad cutters. It appeared to be a very good load, except casting the short wad cutters was a pain, so I went to light weight bullets.

[M2 Carbine]

I just thought of a funny story.

I was mowing around a neighbor's place on my tractor. I kept looking for snakes. I knew they were there because a year or two earlier I had shot a BIG Rattlesnake in the yard, before the current neighbor bought the place.

I saw a good size Copperhead crossing where I had mowed. I stool up and shot the snake, with 38 shot in my S&W model 60, as I passed.
By the time I mowed back to the spot my neighbor and his grand daughter had walked over to where the dead snake was.

As I got off the tractor my neighbor was saying, That's the best pistol shot I've ever seen. Hitting a moving snake from a moving tractor, with a small pistol, that's amazing.

I didn't have the heart to burst his bubble and tell him I was using shot.:D :evil:


Later, on my place, I did shoot a Copperhead from the tractor using bullets in a little AMT 22 pistol.
Now THAT wasn't a bad shot.
I don't know who was more surprised, me or the snake.:what:

[nitesite]

General Rule #1

For .38 Shotshells you'd better be able to touch your quarry with a household broom held in both hands. Any farther and the pattern is so open that you are not likely to place enough #9 pellets into a snake or vermin to quickly kill it.

For .45ACP Shotshells the best results come from the rule that if you can touch it with a garden rake held in both hands you can kill it. The .45ACP has about twice the amount of shot as the .38 version for a very dense pattern.

.22LR shotshells have #12 shot which is incredibly tiny and is only effective within a very few feet against snakes and mice/rats.

If it's a non-poisonous snake that I encounter I simply encourage it to move on out of my yard.

[Zach S]

CCI .45 shotshells wouldnt properly cycle in my 1911s, any of them, because the rounds were hitting the slide-stop enough to slide-lock the pistol. Not a big issue, I had an extra slide stop that I filed down so they would function, but then my slide stop didnt work at all.

I havent used them in my .38, other than test firing.

Anyone know how well the 9mm performs?

[obxned]

I've shot a lot of dragon flies with the .22 shotshells in a pistol. Fun, but expensive!

[Im283]

Watch shooting them snakes in TN. oddly enough it is illegal to kill any snake in TN, poisonous or otherwise.

I am not a fan of snakes but the blacksnakes help keep the mice and rat population in check here in the woods.

[M2 Carbine]

Slow morning, so here's a couple test shots.

When I loaded these shells, 7-8 years ago, all I had was #7.5 shot.
#8 shot, or smaller, gives a much better pattern.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/Bell406_206B/Snakeshot6foot.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/Bell406_206B/Snakeshot3810feet.jpg

[nitesite]

M2 Carbine~

Great illustration with your photos! Wow! Thanks.

Your pics support my statement that if you can't touch your quarry with a broom or rake held in both hands, it's still too far away.

[M2 Carbine]

Yes, 10 foot is about the longest reliable distance, although I've dropped Rattle snakes further out with one 38 shot.

I load those shot capsules because they are fast and easy to hand load but using a gas check as a over powder and over shot wad makes for a better shot shell. The case holds more shot, holds a denser pattern and the two gas checks tear a big hole in the snake if they hit it.

My rough drawings would be a rather small snake. About the size of a medium Copperhead.

The Rattlesnakes are much bigger.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/Bell406_206B/SnakeStrike3.jpg