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.