Anyone have experience with these things? I have quite a few buzz worms to deal with and am curious if these are a viable option or if I just need to keep an old shotgun handy or buy something like a judge. I wasted 6 rounds from my carry pistol today trying to hit a snake. I have an old 357 pistol I could load up with these and keep in the truck if they will do the deed.

If it’s going to be in the truck a shotgun is the way to go IMO.

I've made my own 357 shot shells, and they're great. Never used the CCI ones, but I'd think they'd work fine.

I use CCI 22 shot shells and have killed 1000’s of snakes with zero survivors. I constructed a snake rifle just for the task.

Looks like a homemade Cricket rifle..

I have a Judge that I carry around with me for buzz worm control. #9 shot; 2 1/2 inch shells; and it tears 'em up. But since you don't have a Judge, the 357 shot shells will work. I've used both, but like the Judge because I can slide in a 45 Colt shell to have in case I encounter a hog/coon/armadillo. Obviously you could carry a solid in your Mag as well and rat shot.

They work fine out of a revolver or bolt action. Don’t shoot from a semi as there’s usually not enough recoil to cycle.

Hit the pawn shop and buy an old beater 410 or 20.

Yep. Cricket that needed a full length PVC stock.

Not impressed with the .22 and even the .357 left a lot to be desired. I'm not THAT bad of a shot. I'd go with a shotgun.
I'm looking for a cheap .410 or 20 ga. My brother had a .410 model 12 (or whatever they called the .410) that I coveted. He could hit doves with it consistently. I just want one for snakes.

i use 45acp shot shells and they will cycle a 1911

& 44 special shotshells

they work great

had some 9mm & they cycled a semi also

I used a 38spl in the CCI shot shells and smoked one last year. Fortunately, I have not had to use it but once...I'd love to find a 22 NAA black widow and go with the 22 shot shells. It just hasn't been a priority and I've not run across one yet. A buddy of mine has one and it's a snake killing son of a....

The issues I've seen with folks saying they weren't pleased with the 22 shot shells are because they don't pattern it at normal snake shooting range (6-8 feet) and then try to shoot it from 20-25 feet away. It's a snake not a tiger.

9mm cci shotshells did the trick on a copperhead for me last week. 10ft away approx.

I keep one mag full of the shotshells and one mag with the regular.

I've loaded both the 38/357 and the 45 shot capsules for years and never had any complaints. The 45 has more authority but that's to be expected.

I suspect that the reason a lot of folks who cuss shotshell performance in rifles and pistols is that they've never studied the detrimental effect of the rifling on pattern performance. A buddy who had shot some snakes with shotshells I'd put together for him (at his request) was whining piteously about the sorry performance of my product. Since his experience didn't mirror mine, I asked him to show me how far his target snakes were from him when he fired. When I saw the distance he was from the snakes, I marched him over to my pistol range and had him fire at three painted silhouettes (one shot each) from 6 feet, 9 feet and 12 feet. Centrifugal force shreds those patterns miserably very rapidly...and at the distances he was shooting he'd have been better off throwin' rocks!

Nxtrapper has the right of it: get close and give it to 'em. The average diamondback will slip three discs trying to strike half his body length so it takes a BIG snake to have even a close shooter in danger.

Mark

I’ve tried the .22 and 9mm in my SA. Neither would cycle for me.

That's a Model 42. If you do find one, be sure to take your banker with you!! I have two of them and NEITHER is for sale. They are hens teeth..

Frio

The .22 will cycle a Browning challenger; I have used the .38 SPL in my wheel gun, and have a box of the 9mm as well. I needed the 9mm the other night as it took me three shots with the Shield to dispatch one. Both the .22LR and the .38 have performed very well for me; as posted above, kill him from <10'.

I've killed many a snake with .38 CCI shotshells out of a snub nose airweight and a few out of a .22 revolver as well.

It won't blow them in half like a shotgun shell will, but it'll kill them and eliminate any threat. Aim for the head.

Man I hope you didn't chop up a Winchester Model 42 to kill snakes with. There should be jail time do if you did.

I would not expect to kill anything with .22 shotshells and to be real honest I would not trust anyone that told me it worked. Im sorry but it is what it is. In my honest opinion if you’re close enough to a snake to kill it with a .22 shot shell you are probably well within his range and taking unnecessary risk to get even closer! Better off using a standard .22LR cartridge. Better yet a .410.

One time when we were out shooting frogs in the Lampasas river, I actually caught a water snake after a buddy of mine panicked and emptied his .22 revolver loaded with them things on this snake at pretty close range. This snake wasn’t even bleeding from anywhere at all. I’m not sure if a single pellet even hit this snake. The pattern density is pretty abysmal with only as much shot as you can fit in front of powder charge for a .22 lol. Add to that the twist of the rifling, scatters the shot even worse. It’s a worthless load if you are asking me.

He could shoot just fine too he brained many frogs with a .177 pellet gun. We left with a bucket full of frogs. Could not kill the snake with that .22 rat shot.

IMO that stuff is not any good for anything except maybe dispatching a rat, in a trap, in the house. From very very close range.

And another thing I seen plenty of pictures of snakes killed on this forum. How many been shot with one of those little .22 shotshells? I don’t remember a single one. It just don’t work. Maybe a pistol cartridge can throw enough shot fast enough to do something, I don’t know. But those .22 shotshells are not worth the package they come in.

I wouldn't do that! I didn't get my brother's. I hope one of his son-in-laws did, but who knows. My sister-in-law isn't the brightest. I just hope she remembered to pick up my brother's ashes. Seriously.

I just shot this at 8 feet with a 22 LR CCI shot shell out of my Crickett snake rifle. Couldn’t ask for much more. The spot is 3”.

As far as getting close...a friend of my father's showed me on his place by Batesville that a nice, sharp garden hoe is very effective.

It don’t have to be sharp, rusty old hoe is all I used for snakes growing up. And you don’t have to get close with a hoe either. It has the range you need.

Well the pattern density looks good let’s see the dead snake? #12 shot so you better get close or it will run out of steam. That stuff probably ain’t doing 500 feet a second by the ten yard mark lol.

works fine in a 45ACP 1911

Well, my late Daddy used to say that "Differences of opinion are what makes horse races".

I just walked outside and put a CCI .22 LR shotshell into this target from 6' (my usual snake-killing distance regardless of sidearm) with my old Smith M17 (a gun that's accounted for more than one danger noodle here on the place). It came as no surprise to me that it printed an angry little swarm right under the sights. This revolver stays loaded with these CCI shotshells and stays close to the front door for when the next buzztail appears.



Asking ANY shot payload to stay together out of ANY rifled tube is a fool's errand past just a few feet. Stay inside that effective distance and they'll kill a snake EVERY TIME regardless of caliber.

My experience says that most folks don't want to get close enough. But that's just my opinion...

Mark

Mmmm this crow taste good lol. That’s what I call a pattern and I really like your taste in guns. Still want to see the damage to the snake. I’m sorry guys I have not seen this stuff kill anything but I’ve seen plenty of people try. Enough not to fool with it mysel.

My own stepdad got frustrated shooting snake shot out of either a .357 or .38 special and shot a trapped rat with a wad cutter instead, lol.

I've used nothing but the .22 LR and Mag shotshells out of my Ruger Single Six, and I've never needed more than the first shot. The .22 shotshells will easily kill any snake in Texas if you do your part.

Here's the snake to prove it.

Just had to edit my earlier post 'cause I realized that I'd said that group was shot at 6 INCHES...had to remove one of the ' to make the distance correct. At six inches I'd be trying to take the snake prisoner and that ain't happenin'. For the record, it was six FEET!

Well done. Did you happen to note the distance? My money's on "under ten feet". Works every time!

Thank you my friend this is what I needed to see. I’ve seen so many fail using that stuff. I guess it works in the right hands lol.

Thanks. Depends on the situation. Sometimes I've found myself WAY closer than I wanted to be (4 feet), but if I had my choice, 6-10 feet is about right. I may have killed one or two a little farther out, but not much.

P.S. I had an infestation of bats once and those .22 shotshells did a wonderful job. Yes, I like bats. No, I don't like them or their guano in my house or shop.

Only in .357

I carry a spare mag of CCI shotshells in 40 S&W sometimes in the woods but haven't had the pleasure of using any yet. Should be comparable to the 38/357 load though right? So far all the snakes and frogs I've killed in my life have been with rocks or BB guns.

So 4-10 feet, with 6-10 being your sweet spot. I've found the same thing (with all the shotshells: 22, 38, 45). Yessir, close is the order of the day. Otherwise you're just making noise!

Ain't tried bats...and don't want too! Glad it worked out for you!

How about a play by play? I control the chicken snakes on my ranch due to their egg eating abilities. No I wasn’t ten yards away (30 feet) I’m guessing I was standing about 7 feet away. If you need to be 10 yards away then you probably should use a shotgun.

I’ve used it in a NAA 22 revolver. Killed a quail and a couple of squirrels with it. Have seen several snakes dispatched with it also.

My .40 (Ruger) won't cycle 'em.

I've got my hoe. I'll try to post pics this summer.

This is the best crow I have ever had in my whole entire life. Never ate so much crow before. Way to remove any doubt. Now to figure out why I have only ever seen these fail.

I've killed quite a few grouse and ptarmigan with the .44 specials. It works if you get reasonably close.

I like the .22s because they work for me. I also have them in 9mm, .45 ACP, and .44, but have never had the need to use them. Also with the .22s, I don't have to worry about my hearing so much.

I used to carry a 22 with shot shells on my 4 wheeler for the numerous rattlers. Then the hogs moved in. Nuff said.

That certainly looks like it would work.

Well i have killed all kinds of snakes on my lease i had in San Saba tx. Used a Ruger single 6 -6" never had one crawl away and only one shot did the trick

Same here I've had great success with using the shotshells out of my Ruger Single Six 22 Mag. I keep it loaded when at the lease working. Just last weekend while mowing the creek area shot and killed 4 water moccasins. Granted my shots are usually about 4-6 ft away, but it does the trick everytime.

My wife has a Ruger SR22. A few years back she shot a rattler from about 8ft. That is as close as she will dare to get.
Every time I come up on a snake I have a rifle or shotgun, I just go with what I got.

Well, it took a few days but I finally had a diamondback volunteer for a .22 LR CCI shotshell demonstration.

Four feet target distance. One shot and done...never a wiggle. Not a big snake by any means, but I didn't WANT a big snake. And now he's a GOOD snake...

Git ya some of the Speer Capsules: ( https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010935619?pid=313962 )
I cut open a few 12Ga #9 shot cartridges to get plenty of lead to load - does great on rattlebugs & rats with 38spl/357 revolver.

These sorts of threads have an interesting outcome when someone posts a dead timber rattler they killed.

Which are no longer protected in Texas, that I'm aware.

I thought the same thing. But, according to TPWD, still protected.
https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wil...e%20the%20second,(0.58%20to%200.9%20kg).

Click me, then click Attached Graphic ->Texas Threatened Species - last amended two years ago

This came up a year or two ago and information was all over the place, so I contacted a local Game Warden and asked him. He said yes, the Timber Rattlesnake was removed from the "Threatened List" in Texas and is no longer protected, but TP&W hasn't updated their website yet. Not sure what's taking them so long.

I sincerely hope this is a moot point for me. If I'm ever in east Texas...again, I've messed up massively.

I shot a big one bow hunting South of Victoria years ago, didn't know they were protected then.

Good info. Thanks! Hopefully, the statute of limitations has run out on you. Lol

Well they need to round up the protected snakes and put them in a safe place!!!!!


if it gets close to me it will DIE!!!!