The other day, there was a snake in my yard.  Ran into the house to grab something besides the G17 that I was carrying at the time (I may or may not live within the city limits...) because I wanted something quieter.  

My go-to is usually my M&P 15-22 with CCI Standard Velocity (1070 fps, just barely subsonic) with my SilencerCo Sparrow SS screwed on.  Well, I had taken it off the M&P and put it in the pistol case with the Ruger 22/45.  So I grab the Ruger, screw on the suppressor, and then check the mag to find that there is those crimped-top .22 rat shot shells in the mag from some previous adventures (without the suppressor attached).  At this point, I just say screw it and head out... I had been digging around my gun room for too long at that point. Went out, shot snake in the head, the setup killed the snake just fine, threw in field behind my fence.   At this point, if you don't like that I shoot all snakes, I don't give a damn... you do what you want on your property and I will enjoy the same privilege on mine.

Took the Sparrow apart after and saw a couple places where the lead fowling inside had been knocked off in the 3rd and 5th baffles, and found a few small, shiny, flat pieces of lead that had been part of the #12 shot that the .22 shot shell was loaded with.  No damage to the unit at all.  BTW, the shot was supersonic, it made a pretty good pop out of that 22/45.

So, if you ever sat around and wondered if you could run that rat shot stuff with a crimped top through a stainless Sparrow without causing damage, and you came to ARFCOM to search if it could be done... now you know that you can.  I probably would not make a habit of it, but in a pinch, it works just fine.

ETA: Just pulled one of those rounds, it is a Winchester Super X .22 LR shell, and I counted 127 pellets in there, so only having 3 or 4 of them catch a baffle is pretty darn good.  Also, did not cycle the action, in case you wondered.

I have a bolt 22 with primer only rounds and a can ready for just the same thing. the rifle gives me stand off distance, and i've farted louder that it sounds. not super powerful but not trying to hit things at distance, either.

thanks for the heads up though. I always figured it would work, sure it spreads the shot though

Thats just dumb.  Why risk it.   No thanks

Stupid is warrantied once...

Snake Hoe
It's what we call the 6ft long root chopper we keep by the door.
Stand off distance, quiet, effective, always ready and no more searching through the gun room. It's just a straight hoe.
Only used for copperheads and water mocassins, but your place, your rules.
Appreciate the AAR if the need ever arises.

Yep, I guess so.  Stupid is as stupid does.

Did the snake return fire?

Yeah, with three little turds age almost 6, almost 4 and just turned 2... That hoe left outside the back door would cost me about $5,000 in medical bills.

But I get it.

That's a negative, it promptly lost its face and died.

That is the point of the thread, you do not have to risk it, I have taken that risk for you.

You're welcome.

+1 When I was a kid we kept a hoe next to the back door for the same reason.

"Snakes......I hate snakes", Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr

And I'm not a fan of them either.

But there needs to be a reason to dispatch a snake. If he's in my yard, he runs the risk of death. If I'm in the woods or on a trail I let him be.

Snakes are there for a reason. They eat vermin (rats & mice). If your yard/house/barn/whatever is overrun with snakes its likely you have a plentiful supply of food snakes like to eat. Eliminate or reduce what attracts the vermin and the snakes will look elsewhere.

That said, poisonous snakes that are an immediate danger are not welcome in my yard.

Real men kill snakes with sticks and rocks. If not a real man, then screaming usually attracts enough attention and someone will volunteer to beat the snake into a pulp for you. (pretty much any male over age twelve will be willing to do this)

Using a stick is superior to a gun because:
Quieter (except for your screaming)
No reload needed (unless you break your stick)
Sticks don't ricochet
Sticks require little practice
Sticks come in various lengths to suit the users ability
Sticks require no permit (as of today)
Sticks can be used inside of the city limits (California may require you to paint the tip orange and limits the length of the stick to 12")

Edit to add:
Shovels or hoes are acceptable, but less satisfying, than the multiple strikes required by a good stick.

Thanks Bro

Ok. I laughed.

Good point

I guess you like rodents.

Screw all snakes.

I stand with OP.... good kill.

I killed a black snake in my daughters garden 2 days ago. (1) 12ga #4 turkey load to the dome and then (6) 00 buck across the body. Snake was chopped into nice little 3-4" pieces.

Good shoot, and thank you for the AAR with the rat shot.

I have some of the CCI .22LR shotshells that I've put through a .22 revolver.  I wonder how they'd do out of a can.

Since you're feeling froggy, what does the encapsulated shot do...

And diseases like Lyme that are carried and spread by the tick infested rodents.

Killing all snakes is a bad plan. There was a decent sized snake on our back porch a few weeks ago and my wife wanted me to look at it and identify what kind it was. It was a kingsnake so I left it alone. Kingsnakes are not dangerous and like to eat venemous snakes so he's a good guy to have around.

Always was curious about shooting CCI snake shot thru a can.   I wonder how 9mm and 45 would fair.

Yup. Certain snakes are quite beneficial with no down side. Good snakes get a pass. Snakes that can cause a huge vet or hospital bill not so much.  To kill all snakes willy nilly is doing yourself a disservice.  Especially the good snakes that kill venomous snakes along with rodents.

Yeah, I'm not going to send a .45 shotshell through my TiRant with aluminum K baffles.

Stainless vs a .22 is one thing, that is another.

Snakes follow food, if you have them in your yard what they eat is in your yard.
Killing all snakes just "because" is dumb.
Learn to ID them, and educate the little ones around you and live along side them and let them do their job and I promise they will leave you alone.
They come, they eat, they leave.

You kill one, the next one following the same preys trail will be along eventually.
It is a cycle that can only be broken by
Eliminating rodent hiding spots and food, and rodents.

I have lived along side all manner of snakes for 40+ years and have not had one attack me once in my 5000+ encounters with them.

I would never waste a bullet on one let alone potential damage to a can.

Yeah, circle of life and all of that...

I live in the suburbs on the SW edge of DFW, we have a dozen cats in our neighborhood and I have not seen a lizard, toad, or mouse yet this year. 

I'm pretty sure my local eco system is being wrecked by these assholes with their outdoor cats much more than my removing one 3' long coach whip that was getting in one of my weep holes in my brick.

If it makes you naturalist bed wetters feel better, I let a small speckled king snake and a brown earth snake live last year.... so I'm not quite a "kill them all" type of guy. And a lack of snake ID is not a problem. 

Lawl no.  Real men catch snakes with their hands, examine, appreciate, and release.

You are correct about the cats.  

You are an asshole for killing a coachwhip, and are only further harming your local ecosystem.  Be a cool dad: catch the snake, show your kids, educate them, and release (and if that needs to be somewhere that's not your backyard, that's fine).

My post...you didn't read.

Read every word.  Twice.

I've ran many, many boxes of the CCI shot shells through a MKII with an X-Caliber 22 can with stainless baffles.  Hard to beat it inside a tin chicken coop to nail egg sucking rats with.  Does not cycle, but absolutely ZERO damage to the blast baffle and I looked at it HARD for first 100 rounds or so.

I'm not trying it with a suppressed 9 or 45 though.

ETA- All of the CCI shotshells I was using had the blue plastic tip.

So........you think real men should catch poisonous/venomous snakes with their hands?
Yeah, that's foolish.

Reading the OP, I was just wondering how the cci stuff with the plastic shot cup on top would perform.  This stuff

I'll test this on Saturday.

What suppressor will you be using?

Killing off the snakes?  Not a good idea.  

OP will be overrun by red meat allergen spreading ticks.  No more steak for you!!

Probably the sparrow. Maybe the mystic.

Very much looking forward to the results.

I snipe chipmunks in my back yard. They eat the strawberries. Some angles are no good for anything but shot.

I've been tempted many times to run the shot shells through my rimfire cans.

Buy some CB caps.  Recockulously quiet and accurate at snake distances.  Wear eye protection. 

I just killed three scorpions around my foundation.  A stick works well.  So did my Olukai.  

So you're saying there's a chance...

As long as it doesn't damage the suppressor

I hate snakes so bad i would have emptied the mag in the Glock let lets the cops take me to jail.  Good Shoot if snake is dead.

So cool!

Interesting.  I thought that might be the case.  

So would it possibly clear a 22 K can like the Oculus is K configuration?