Posted: 6/25/2010 4:10:25 AM EDT
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With out starting a "good snake/bad snake" thread, I like to know how effective .45acp shot shells are againt medium sized "evil" snakes.
I'm going shooting at my new range next week, and heard it is chock full of rattlers. If in the off chance I see one and have no means of escape to prevent bodily harm or death, I will defend myself and would like it to be effective. In before whatevers coming..... 
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Snakeloads 'O Truth...
I have used these shells as snake medicine on hunting leases here in Texas where we had problems with rattlesnakes that wanted to share our blinds with us, or that wanted to hang around the yard of the house.
They work great on snakes. 
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Quoted:
They work better out of a revolver. Usually even the .45 snake loads don't cycle the action on a 1911. Get close enough and they'll blast 'em. That's what I always thought. I usually get .38/.357 instead of 9mm because I don't trust the reliability of feeding them. |
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Quoted:
The CCI .45 loads cycle my 1911 fairly reliably. The patterns are really sparse with these things so your target needs to be close. It requires moderately high pressure and velocity to operate the action on a semi-auto. And therein lies the problem. Speer's instructions for loading shotshells specifically warns that if you try to get the velocity too high,it will only cause the patterns to open up and be sparce. With revolvers, you can load them to the specified velocity and keep the patterns good and well-defined. They work very well. Never had a snake complain. 
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The factory loaded ones suck IMO. I load my own so I can use larger shot, in 357 and 45 Colt, I've tried some 45 ACP, but the way I put them together your basically trying to feed an empty case and not all pistols will do that, 2 of my 1911s will one wont at all so YMMV.I prime and powder the case like normal, I put a cardboard wad over the powder, shot on top of that, I use #6, another wad to the top of the case over that and then slightly roll crimp them, which holds it all in place.
Some people use wax on top of the crimp but I've never found that necessary. |
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My Dad had to use some this past weekend on a Timber Rattler. One shot of CCI .45 from 7 feet did the trick, although he followed it up with two rounds of fmj to be sure. He was using a Llama 1911 and they wouldn't feed when he tested it earlier in the day. He chambered one round of snake shot then loaded the mag with fmj before he went hiking. He was glad to have it. I haven't tried them in my G30 yet, so I dont know if they will cycle through that gun or not. As previously stated, they work great in revolvers. |