Old school snake shot in .357

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Bullseye

Bullseye

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I ended up with maybe 30 or 40 of these and I am assured they go "bang" and kill rattlesnakes. I have never shot anything but bullets out of a revolver and really have no use for these except to mess around with them.
I don't have any rattlesnakes that I need to kill around here with these, maybe the crows at the bird feeders or the squirrels. Two legged varmints would only get mad.
I think these are probably capped with gas checks? I might sacrifice one in the kinetic hammer to see what's inside.
Has anyone else ever seen these? It's a new one for me.
I've seen blue plastic caps on factory shot ammo in the gun shops. Seems there is less shot in these that I have here, than in those.
Well, I get cases already primed out of this anyway if I just empty them out.
 
Yes, I used to make them that way myself before Speer was kind enough to market the shot capsules. There will be a gas check seated under the shot, too.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Thanks Fred, I think I'll shoot a few and see what they do before I decide to break them down or save them for rattlesnakes.
( Which so far, I have never encountered in the wild yet in my lifetime ... and that's been a long time. )
 
Come on over to my place and I can't introduce you to the whistle tailed SOBs. We have a few Easterns, but we have a bunch of Pygmy. The fang packers don't mix well here, where I see Easterns that's all I see, where I see pygmy that's all I see, where I see copperhead I shoot. The rattlers have so far stayed well away from the house and have not bothered anybody or any pets.
 
I've got some of those in .45 ACP (WW2 survival loads).

IIRC there should be a fiber/paper wad over the powder and under the shot, and another on top, covered in a sealant.

Very cool. I use .35" gas checks now when I make my own. For .38 Special I use the ready made shot capsules. Much easier.
 
And much better!

The shot doesn't come in contact with the rifling, so no bore leading and better patterns then with those.

They look like somebody's gas-check handloads to me.

rc
 
I don't have any rattlesnakes that I need to kill around here with these, maybe the crows at the bird feeders or the squirrels.
Click to expand...

The true effective range of most birdshot I've tried and used has been in the 5-10 feet range. The pattern spins from the rifling and spreads very fast, and has a hole in the middle of it before long.

I find birdshot to be great on snakes at about 5 feet. That's about all I use it for. Extra-light loads with a round ball or very light bullet is probably going to be better for varmints at any distance past 5-10 feet.
 
Yeah, these are somebody else's from a time long ago. My friend and his Dad did a lot of wood cutting and ran into an occasional rattler back in the 60's. I don't think I'm going to have this problem. Chances are I won't get 10 feet close to a crow either so I am going to empty them out one way or another. They were a curious lot though for me.
I'll keep a few and make the rest into some real bullets.
I have 148 crazy hot .357 that I will be pulling when Midway gets around to sending my collet and puller for the press. I'll resize them all and flare a bit. I took the depriming stem out of my die to save the primers in the cases.
I have a 148 JHP bullets there in the hot loads and 100 110 gr Hornady in a box, so I am going to load em all up pretty soon.
The powder I get from these will end up out on the grass in the yard.
 
I would shoot a few to see what they do but I would not take them apart. They are useful to have and not only for killing rattlers. They are good on rats and other vermin in and around the barn. There aren't many so why not pattern a few and hold on to the rest in case you need them?
 
Sort of related question, and seeing as this is the reloading section: if one uses the blue Speer shot capsules to make snake loads, how do you seat the capsule? Same as with a bullet? Any special equipment needed beyond the normal?

Don't expect to need to do this any time soon - but have always wondered.
 
Start them in the flared case mouth straight, by hand pressure alone.

Then use a standard seating die and a flat wad-cutter seating stem.

Set the roll-crimp just enough to hold them in place without breaking them.

(IMO: The smaller the shot, the better they work on snakes.)

Seems to me #9, and even #12, shorts out a snakes nervous system far better then a few big holes from #8, 6 or #4 shot.

Hit with the swarm of small shot, they don't even twitch.
Bigger fewer shot just makes them PO,d sometimes.

I found a weight bag used for exercising years ago at a garage sale full of #12 lead shot.

That was a real lucky day when it comes to loading snake shot shells!!

(I have just enough left now to last me the rest of my life!)



rc
 
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As posted, the range is limited, which makes them good for snakes near your feet, but not much else. I use to load my own using home made plastic checks. Worked great.

Since we do have poisonous snakes around here, I would test a couple and then save them for that use.
 
Out around my neck of the woods (desert) the Mohave Green Rattlers, are a very aggressive snake, I've found the .44 CCI snake load is about the best medicine for them, although I have yet to have to put one out of it's misery. I generally carry 3 in my Charter Arms Bulldog, along with two HP's for the other type of snakes when I'm out wondering around near home on my range. Talk about aggressive while out exploring in my Jeep I saw two sunbathing near a little ravine, I stopped my Jeep to observe, and low and behold if one of them didn't try striking at the Jeep, which was about 6-8 feet or so away from the snake. Very quick I might add, left them to fight another day though as they weren't any threat to me inside the Jeep.
 
16in50calNavalRifle said:
Sort of related question, and seeing as this is the reloading section: if one uses the blue Speer shot capsules to make snake loads, how do you seat the capsule? Same as with a bullet? Any special equipment needed beyond the normal?

Don't expect to need to do this any time soon - but have always wondered.
Click to expand...
Load data is on the capsule packaging. I fill the capsule with #9 shot and snap on the cap. I seat to the OAL recommended and apply just enough roll crimp to hold the capsule in place without breaking it. (very similar to what rcmodel said) Its not hard to do and it's easier to do than explaining it in words. As with most of my other handgun loading I use W231.
 
My shot loads are pretty simple and consist of thin cardboard wad (about 1/16") on top of the charge, #8 or #9 shot and a thin cardboard wad to top it off and a crimp to seal the deal. I've used these for 38 and 44 special for 1.875" and 2.5" barrels respectively. The shorter barrels give a tighter pattern, the effective range is about 10'
 
I still make this way but insted of gas checks I use a wad and dab of elmers glue. I like them for a couple of reasons. Out of my revolver I get a better pattern than the capsules. They hold more shot and they are cheap. I also use them on mice at close range. The downside is you do get some lead wash in the barrel but its not hard to clean out.
 
Talk about old school.

Anyone remember waterglass? (Sodium Silicate)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_silicate

When I first started reloading revolver shot shells in the 1960's, Waterglass was the recommended sealant to hold the top wad in place.

You could get it at a pharmacy, and apply it with an eye dropper.

After drying overnight, it turned into a clear glass like chrystalin seal that most effectively held the wad in place and sealed the shotshell against recoil.

Now looking back on it, the sodium part sounds like some kind of salt, which would promote corrosion.

But I don't remember any problems like that.

rc
 
I didn't use waterglass in the 60's. I used airplane cement. I used my Lyman lubesizer to cut the wads from an old shoebox and a gentle dose of Unique under the shot. I got my shot from cutting open old paper shotgun shells.

I submitted the idea of cutting the wads with the Lyman 450 to the American Rifleman and they printed it in one of their tips columns. I used to have a copy of it, but haven't seen it in years.

Fred
 
Good for you!!

I used an old 3/8" leather punch to cut wads.

BTW: I submitted the idea of using a thin rubber O-Ring to lock the safety button off on the cross-bolt Marlin lever-guns to Rifle Magazine back after they first came out.

It got a good write-up using my photos in one Rifle mag.


Now it's all over the internet with no credit given!!!

rc
 
ReloaderFred said:
I didn't use waterglass in the 60's. I used airplane cement. I used my Lyman lubesizer to cut the wads from an old shoebox and a gentle dose of Unique under the shot. I got my shot from cutting open old paper shotgun shells.

I submitted the idea of cutting the wads with the Lyman 450 to the American Rifleman and they printed it in one of their tips columns. I used to have a copy of it, but haven't seen it in years.

Fred
Click to expand...
Fred, I would contact American Rifleman and see if they could help you out with a copy. Since you were the author and contributed to their magazine they might go the extra mile for you. In any case it can't hurt to ask.
 
Well, I did.

Until the wife made me throw away all the moldy old gun mags I had stored in the basement 10 years ago!!

rc
 
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