Snakeshot?

[Pistoler0]

I knew nothing about this, there is always something new to learn in the firearms world.

I was looking at guns at the gun counter when this fellow and I started a conversation, and he told me about his preference for 45 ACP because the bigger caliber round performs great with snakeshot loads.

He told me about how he often goes fishing in WY, and the river banks are teaming with rattlesnakes that (he said) can swim! (That I also didn't know). So he often used the snakeshot to clear the banks.

But I guess that as I think about it, I don't really grasp the concept of "self-defense" against snakes, unless it is a really sturdy pair of boots and gaiters.

At least here in the US, there are no snakes that would charge, are there? And the problem with snakes is stepping on them. If one spots a snake the thing to do is to step away. If you don't spot the snake, there is nothing to do against it!

And I don't think that snakeshot is going be of help if you are in the coils of an reticulated python in the Florida Everglades, no?

Is snakeshot really useful or is it just a marketing gimmick?

 

[MarkCO]

Copperheads and Water Moccasins (we don't have either in CO) are aggressive and will chase.

Rattlers, yes, you have to almost step on them to get bit.

For snake shot, my preference is a revolver in .357 Mag, .41 Mag, .44 Mag or .45 Colt. Sans the .41 Mag, all have commercially available snake shot loads. I load my own with the Speer Capsules in .357 Mag, and use .410 Shotgun components to load my own .41 Mag snake shot, which is my preference. I typically carry my .41 with 3 rounds of snake shot (first three up) with 3 210g JHPs.

 

[Pistoler0]

Copperheads and Water Moccasins (we don't have either in CO) are aggressive and will chase.

That's freaking scary, I had no idea.

 

[DaleA]

Years ago the gun boards were awash with concerns about snakes and bears and I thought the concerns were about even/steven. Then a couple of years ago the scales shifted almost entirely to bears and the snakes were left out in the cold.

Maybe as one person opined that if you see the snake you can avoid it and if you don't see the snake then you can't do anything about it anyway.

(We also used to get regular threads about guns in outer space but that topic has seemingly fallen by the wayside too.)

Snake shot in a semi-auto at times is problematic as far as feeding goes. It seems much more suited for use in a revolver.

I've personally seen .22 birdshot fail to knock over an aluminum pop can at 20 feet although it did dimple it up a bit. I certainly wouldn't want to get hit by it and I don't suppose a snake would either.

Good luck.

 

[Pahoo]

Not a Gimmick

Is snakeshot really useful or is it just a marketing gimmick?

Not a gimmick and as they say, there's a time and place for everything. I mostly took these with me when I hunted in Colorado and Wyoming as well as camping and canoeing. I also took In some backwaters, in Iowa, we have Blue-Racers and they will chase you. I give all snakes plenty of room and time to move on. If it was up to my wife, she'd have me shoot all of them. Snake-Shot is not cheap so I just keep them around, just in case. ......

Be Safe!!!

 

[jmr40]

Copperheads aren't particularly aggressive. And their venom isn't particularly potent. It would be rare for a healthy adult bitten by a copperhead to die. Small kids or someone in poor health might. Most healthy adults will see some swelling and discomfort around the bite.

Cottonmouths, or Water Moccasins are more aggressive about defending themselves, but won't chase you unless provoked. But once they go into attack mode will continue the attack instead of just standing their ground.

I have less 1st hand experience with rattlers, but they have the most potent venom and are the one most likely to kill or cause serious injury.

I don't waste my money on snakeshot. If I can see a snake, and have time to aim and shoot I have time to simply avoid it. It is the ones you don't see that get you. Or actually the most common bites are from the ones you provoke by trying to kill them.

 

[44 AMP]

Snake shot has one real advantage, it doesn't ricochet like regular bullets. No snake will stop a bullet and since they are often found in rocks and stony ground, shot is much safer for the shooter.

Snakes are the one place where I think a .410 pistol actually has an advantage over regular pistols.

Do some testing. Range needs to be short, and the rifling in a pistol barrel will cause the shot charge to "spin" some, and a pattern with a "donut hole" in it can happen. SO do some testing, and find out where that hole in the pattern is, at different ranges. Its not going to be the same at different ranges, so you might need to aim "off" to get shot on target. Only testing will show you if you need to do that, and if so, how much.

 

[Carl the Floor Walker]

I have been hunting all my life in the swamps and ran across water moccasins galore. Never seen one attack or had any problems with them. They are shy just like most snakes. The small babies are the most venomous. I have thrown them out of boats, stepped on them etc. They scurry off when you get near them. If confronted they will open that "White Mouth of theirs as a warning to back off. But seldom will strike, you have to almost entice them to do so. The bites are very rare, and the few times they occur is when someone is handling them. Copper heads the same. I have had Beagles walk right over them in the woods simply because they did not see it. Did see a dog bite by one that was attacking the snake and his face swelled up, but he lived. I think the biggest danger of snakes is when a person puts his hand under a log etc. In all these years, I have never once had to shoot a snake in the wild. So easy to just avoid them. The idea of taking snake shot into the woods or swamps is ridiculous. I have seen some jerks shoot them just for the sake of it and it enrages me. They are part of the ecosystem, just move on.

 

[Doyle]

Copperheads and Water Moccasins (we don't have either in CO) are aggressive and will chase.

Old wives tale. They will try and get away but sometimes that getting away means they move in your direction.

Venomous snakes are something that every hunter has to learn to deal with and work around here in the south.

 

[tex45acp]

"Is snakeshot really useful or is it just a marketing gimmick?"

We have lots of Copperheads and a few Coral snakes around our farm. My wife carries her Ruger SP-101 .357mag with 5 snakeshot rounds in the cylinder and I belive the count that she has dispatched is around 20 over the last 4 years.
I usually carry my .41mag with snakeshot rounds I make, since there is no commercial shotshells available. I use gaschecks between the powder and #9 shot, bullseye powder and a slightly crimped gascheck at the end of the shell to hold it all together. It will turn a large lemon into lemonaide out to 6' from my 4" Redhawk. Ive killed 2 diamondback rattlers with that load in South Texas while hunting.

 

[unclenunzie]

My fenced in property is where people and dogs go, so that's where venomous snakes are not tolerated. Outside the fence they are free to go about their business.

Don't laugh, I bought a polymer judge for snakes. It is ideal for this purpose with 410 birdshot, being small and light. I have also made up 38 shot shells using gas checks and #9 shot, and they test fine but I prefer the 410 as a dedicated tool when mowing.

 

[Ricklin]

My friend bought a long abandoned property in Socal. The place was loaded with big rattlesnakes, he proceeded to kill them.

Apparently he did a good job, he was then overrun with vermin. They ate part of the wiring harness of his range rover.

The snakes kept the balance.

 

[Prof Young]

Dispatch mice . . .

I knew of a guy who kept a 22 revolver filled with birdshot in his work shed to dispatch the mice.

Life is good
Prof Young

 

[MarkCO]

"Is snakeshot really useful or is it just a marketing gimmick?"

We have lots of Copperheads and a few Coral snakes around our farm. My wife carries her Ruger SP-101 .357mag with 5 snakeshot rounds in the cylinder and I belive the count that she has dispatched is around 20 over the last 4 years.
I usually carry my .41mag with snakeshot rounds I make, since there is no commercial shotshells available. I use gaschecks between the powder and #9 shot, bullseye powder and a slightly crimped gascheck at the end of the shell to hold it all together. It will turn a large lemon into lemonaide out to 6' from my 4" Redhawk. Ive killed 2 diamondback rattlers with that load in South Texas while hunting.

Take a look at the stump wads from Ballistic products.

Powder, wad, shot, overshot card. I am on my 2nd bag of them. Works great for the .41 Mag loads and a little better patterns and ease of loading.

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/Stump-410-cupless-wad-250_bag/productinfo/0724105/

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I have had an aggressive cottonmouth come at me on the bank from the water. He came up the bank after me- so it's not an old wive's tale. When it started toward me while in the water, I threw a few rocks at it to dissuade it, but it kept coming.

 

[44 AMP]

Some of the things old wives tell about actually are true. The trick is to understand that they aren't all true all the time.

While there is generally less observed individuality with cold blooded beasts, there is some. There is an old "African" saying, "today you meet a lion on the trail, and he runs away. Tomorrow you meet his brother, and your family wonders why you don't come home for dinner..."

Snake A may run (ok, slither) away, snake B may decide "Fang you!" Never know which is which until you meet them.

Yes, snakes do keep down the vermin, but non-poisonous ones will do that too, and be much less risk to man.

 

[CajunBass]

Back about 1985, I bought a pack of ten? 38 Special snake shot rounds.

I still have all of them, however many it was. They're on top of my gun safe in an MTM ammo wallet, another souvenir of the 80's.

I kept a Red Ryder BB gun in the rod locker of my boat, for the kids to shoot at junk along the bank when they got bored. One day out of boredom myself, I picked up the Red Ryder to run a snake away from the boat. Killed him graveyard dead, right there. I had no idea. BB guns aren't like the BB guns I had when I was a kid. Never shot at another snake after that. They're just being a snake. It's a full time job.

 

[RETG]

When living in SE Utah, most rattlesnakes were not a problem, they would let you know you were getting too close. I guess if a person is running it might be a problem, but running in a desert was not a problem for me...it would never happen.

However, near the green river basin the Midget Faded Rattlesnake which was noted to be one of the most toxic of all rattlesnakes due to having a neurotoxin, concolor toxin, as well as a potent mytotoxin venom, while others in that area had hemotoxic elements not as dangerous.

Also that little faded rattler seemed to rattle just before you stepped on them. Only good thing was they are only found on the Green river basins in WY, CO and UT (illegal to shoot in CO and WY, but not in UT).

So when down by the green river hiking, snakeshot was a good idea.

And a great gun for that was the old Judge using .410 snake shot. Light gun, fits in the pocket.

 

[Mainah]

Copperheads aren't particularly aggressive. And their venom isn't particularly potent. It would be rare for a healthy adult bitten by a copperhead to die. Small kids or someone in poor health might. Most healthy adults will see some swelling and discomfort around the bite.

I live in heavy copperhead territory. I don't worry about them, boots when I work in the yard is my defense. The mature snakes are likely to deliver a dry bite, they don't want to waste their venom. The young ones are more likely to release it.

I do worry about my dog because he's an idiot and will go face first into any rustling in the leaves.

 

[Carl the Floor Walker]

DON'T TREAD ON ME

Devil in the Shade