Anyone ever killed a snake with shotshell out of a .38 snub?

[Jamie C.]

Killed a small Copperhead, Memorial Day weekend... A couple of shots from a Beretta Bobcat, then a good thump on the head with the back end of a Mag Light did the trick. ( It was about 8:00pm and getting dark. ) I've never had much luck with shot shells, and don't bother with 'em.

Cost us $600 to get the three of our dogs it bit treated.
Would've cost a lot more if it had bit my 11 year-old step-daughter. ( She was out playing with the dogs. They got to the snake before she stepped on it. )

I don't see many poisonous snakes around here... usually it's just Black Racers and Rat Snakes. The Racers I don't kill, since they will actually eat other snakes. ( Yes, I've seen 'em do it. ) The Rat snakes... depends on how contrary they are. If they'll go on about their business, I'll let 'em. They wanna fight... well, it is my yard...

The years I see lots of Racers, I don't see any Copperheads.

Haven't seen the first Racer yet this year though, for some reason.
( By now I typically have seen 3 or 4. )

Anyway, I do kill the poisonous snakes ( no way to relocate 'em around here. Besides, we have plenty. ), but will run a person off from here for bothering the non-poisonous variety.



J.C.
P.S. The Beretta is always in my pocket. No need in looking for a stick or rock. And the Mag Light is usually laying by my chair when I'm out in the yard in the evening.

 

[Poor East Texan]

I'm always mindful when walking on our 3.5 acres where I'm walking etc. and the only three I've seen since being here are one water snake that MAY have been a Mocassin, one I'm pretty sure Copperhead and one Young Ratsnake (I'm also pretty sure).

I did see a Rattlesnake about a half mile away on the road. Just missed it.... (with my 8K# Ram 2500)

 

[ppcrusa]

CCI shotshell out of a Ruger SP101 3" equaled instantly dead snake.

 

[rondog]

Only shot one snake so far. 'Bout 25 years ago I made a HELL of a shot (for my amatuer self) on a big, fat water moccasin. I got it right behind the head, in the "neck", with a 6" S&W Model 19 .357 from about 40 feet. That's like hitting a bottle cap at 40 ft., which is an impossible shot for me. I've got a witness, though.

 

[Dr. Snubnose]

Once shot a Diamond Back Rattler in Florida that pushed his way thru the screened porch....CCI shotshell out of a Colt Det. Special One shot was all it took....Doc

 

[The Bushmaster]

Revised update...Shot a copperhead the other day with that "Wonder Nine" and Hornady XTP 124 grain. Second shot took his head right off...

 

[Nicky Santoro]

Anyone ever killed a snake with shotshell out of a .38 snub?

Used CCIs to kill a couple of copperheads at the cabin to see how well they worked. They work fine. A rake is easier and quieter, though.

 

[BlindJustice]

fwiw - In my teens in the '60s I usually had a S&W Model 18 K-22
Combat Masterpiece - adj. rear, plain ramp front sights on a belt
holster on the farm - when I had shot shells I'd line up the cyllinder so
it was the first shot & the rest of the 6 shot cylinder was regular .22 LR.

Plenty of Snakes on our farm - it was only a half mile from BLM sagebrush
country and a couple of miles east of the ColumbiaRiver in Central Wash.
heck a .22 LR shotshell works fine for a rattler, solids take more aiminng but
a shovel works also, heck one time I was without both so I used a grapefruit
sized rock

.38 special - gun writers have written for years a snubbie gives a good
pattern because of less rifling/bor len. to mess up the shot.

Randall

 

[foghornl]

Never used a .38 shotshell, but have popped several scaly things with .44 shells, and a few with the CCI .22LR versions, too.

 

[hiker44]

I carry a handfull of shotshells for both the .38 and the .44. When we find snakes up around the house, we shoot them. It is easier to stand off 10 feet or so and dispatch a big diamondback than to try and hit it with a stick (with my reflexes, anyway). There is no way we'll let a snake get close to the grandkids. If we see 'em farther out from the house, we 'relocate' them. I use a hooked snake stick to lift 'em into a steel bucket that has a secure lid with holes, then we take 'em down the road about 8 miles and turn 'em loose. Rattlesnakes actually migrate as far as 5 miles from a den. Snakes do a fine job of keeping the rodents under control and make a fine meal for the occasional red-tailed hawk. I only relocate snakes because my son and his wife are veterinary technicians and have convinced us that some of these reptiles actually have a socially redeeming value. As for the rats the snakes don't get, I use Speer plastic practice ammo out in the barn. Works fine and doesn't penetrate the walls.

 

[rondog]

I can't believe that so many of you live where you (A) get snakes, and (B) can SHOOT snakes! I'm jealous, I'd LOVE to live on some acreage. All I get are garter snakes, and can't even shoot a pellet gun in my yard without trembling in fear.

 

[jjohnson]

Yes. But I like shot loads in 44 and 45 better.

Oh, yes indeed. I've cured a few snakes of their "uppity attitude" with a Colt Agent in .38 with CCI shot caps. Like lots of ammo, "more is better" so I do prefer .45 Colt shot caps in my big ugly wonderfully smooth Colt M1917. I leave it in the garage 'cause every now and then my wife sees a snake in the yard and feels like sending them off to .... well, wherever snakes go when dead.

 

[Quoheleth]

Not a .38, but I am looking for a snub-nosed pocket 105mm field howitzer loaded with grape shot for my next anti-snake weapon.

Or, perhaps a 20mm Gatling gun with snake shot would do the trick for me.

Snakes + Quoheleth = complete loss of nervous system control. I need lots and lots of firepower to spray down the (approximately) 15.3 acres of ground I will cover in the .344 seconds after spotting a snake of unknown (but live) species. I also need a clean pair of shorts and a whole pack of ORBITS gum to clean my mouth because a live snake *is* enough to make this preacher swear.

No joke...I told my board of elders at a previous congregation that, after I encountered a snake on the back door of the church one afternoon, they had one week to resolve the situation before the transfer-request paperwork hit my eccleastical supervisor's desk with "Reason for request" listed as "Snake known to be on premesis."

Q

 

[Korbin]

Ugh. Looks like my two hobbies (amateur herpetology* and shooting) don't get along so well. All I can say is please take the time to become familiar with what snake species are in your area before bloodying them up. There are a lot of completely harmless snakes that get killed out of ignorance and fear. I always hear freinds tell stories about water moccasins in Michigan that they killed and I know it must have been a harmless water snake. Makes my blood boil.

*herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians

 

[Harve Curry]

I stop carrying those snake shot loads along time ago. If your gun shoots to point of aim, especially windage is on with the front sight, then all you have to do is is put the verticle front sight on the verticle body/neck of the snake and presto!
You can shoot strings that way or split playing cards. I've sent many rattlers back to their maker with a single hard cast boolit. One lady said "oh he struck at the boolit and it took his head off", yea right

 

[ChefJeff1]

Yes.

 

[gallo]

I've killed many rattle snakes, not one with a bullet. A good stick or a couple of well placed stones to the head is all it takes.

 

[rondog]

When we bring in alfalfa bales, I carry a .410 SXS with a pistol grip and cut down to 11 inches. It is like an old double barrelled pistol from the early 1800s.

Um, isn't that gun like, illegal as hell?

 

[rdrancher]

If it's protected, just shoot, shovel, and shut up I guess.

MC, I just spit coffee! Thanks.

rd

 

[KD5NRH]

Have .22 rat shot but see no real use for it.

It does a good job on mice and wasps, and as long as you don't pepper the linoleum, it's relatively easy to clean up after. Wear safety glasses, though, because the pellets will bounce off anything harder than linoleum or drywall.

 

[IdahoLT1]

Ive only shot 2 rattle snakes. Ive only seen about a dozen. These 2, both struck at me, the rest slithered away and hid after they rattled. One i shot in the head with a .223 about 4 ft out. The other i shot with my Kahr CW9, using snake shot. I also hit him in the head and he dropped pretty quick. We dont get big snake here but they are just as deadly.

 

[saltyyn1]

I used to carry in the woods a 3" model 36, first 2 snake shot & the other 3 158 LSWC. Don't like snakes. Ran upon a rattleheadedcoppermoccison & shot it 5 times. My buddy asked "You hit it the first shot,why shoot 5 times?" I told him I shot it 5 times because that's all the gun holds.

 

[tx gun runner]

I had a SP101 and it did a good job cotton mouths . I have empty capsel for 38/357 for sale . I got the gun below for snake and I no longer own the SP101 .

 

[GrendelPrime]

Almost, but not entirely, completely off-topic.

I have to share.

My Dad grew up in California back in the day (1950s) and used to regularly go out camping in the desert overnight with his buddies, carrying a pistol was a given.
Dad had picked up a low-slung fast-draw cowboy holster to show off to his friends, and executed a quick-draw on a rattlesnake, shooting the head clean off.
Playing it off as being intentional, he was goaded into drawing on another snake, which also promptly lost it's head.
Worried that his luck would run out, he declined any further demonstrations, basking in the adulation.

Turn the clock ahead to 2006, and while marvelling at the sharpness of the picture of his son's new 56" HDTV displaying the Discovery Channel HD, dear ol' Dad caught a segment on how fast a rattlesnake's reactions are, specifically, how they are able to detect and strike at a bullet in mid-flight, often to their detriment.

He sat dumbfounded for several minutes before relating the whole story to me.



Nope, never killed a snake with a shotshell myself.

 

[lev83]

Rat shot loads have proven very effective in elimination of snakes at close range (i.e. less than 10') in my personal experience. I hate those damned Black snakes.