Carpenter Bee Load

[Frank V]

W.R. I like that sounds like having fun while ridding the place of pests.
Sounds like a nice pattern too, wonder what the velocity is just wondering probably no way to chronograph it.

[ohiomadman]

OK guys the solution has arrived! last Saturday I ordered a Bug A Salt gun. It arrived today.

This thing is so cool I almost soiled myself. I read the instructions, filled the magazine with table salt as set forth around my insect infested home.

There were many casualties! and will continue to be for some time to come.

It is a pump action gun with an auto safety and is well made and bright yellow so you won't be cornfused with an armed felon.

My first shots to check sighting were at Roses from 3 feet. The pattern is about 2" dia. and the salt perforated the flower petals in a nice even pattern. Max Range is about 3 to 3.5 feet. at 2 feet it blows small Garden Spiders to bits. One Black Widow which had a body about the size of a pea took about 5 shots to completely annihilate. heh, heh,,,

Flies have no chance ! it blows them away ,,, literally,,, but it doesn't necessarily blow them apart because they are too light and just get blown away with the blast. I can see being able to wing shoot them as long as you are quick.

Haven't shot a bee yet but I have no doubt it will work just fine. If the thing has landed and you can get within 2 feet it will blow them away for sure.

Spiders are easy as they sit still so you can blast them.

This thing is something that people who live in bug infested place should be issued at birth. I immediately considered this gun to be a mandatory part of any serious shooters arsenal after 15 minutes of firing about 50 shots. Best $50 I've spent in along time and I will get many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Off to the store to pick up some nice coarse Kosher Salt for big game!

Randy

Our local Bass Pro ad shows the A-Salt gun on sale for $39.95

[W.R.Buchanan]

Frank: the usable range is less than 4 feet with 3 feet generating a pattern of about 2" in Dia. I am going to try some coarser Kosher Salt to increase my shot size from like #6's to #4's and see if that increases the range slightly.

The whole idea here is to not get into the bugs Visual Flight Distance. With Flies, being 2-3 feet away doesn't seem to alarm them at all, so you can get a good shot on them, and bees would be more of the same.

The sights are regulated to 3 feet so a dead on hold works great.

I swear you feel like the "King of the Jungle" when hunting your garden with this thing. Alley Oop would be proud!

Randy

[Nueces]

I've used pneumatic salt guns on flying insects for years now and have found that a slow approach of the muzzle to 6 inches or less seems to leave the little buggers unaware of their impending doom. Haven't tried them on crowds in the grocery store yet.

[lightload]

I was trained as a zoologist but taught and did not practice. Carpenter bee adults spend the winter inside their caves and tunnels. Plugging entrance holes will help reduce local populations, and you can always spray insecticide inside these areas. Painting wood surfaces discourages boring there--more so than does staining same. Males lack stingers but not females. This group is not aggressive.

[Down South]

I think that one of you guys with your high powered salt guns needs to sneak up on a big red wasp nest and and give it a blast. I'd bet you would kill every one of them!!!

[Down South]

I was trained as a zoologist but taught and did not practice. Carpenter bee adults spend the winter inside their caves and tunnels. Plugging entrance holes will help reduce local populations, and you can always spray insecticide inside these areas. Painting wood surfaces discourages boring there--more so than does staining same. Males lack stingers but not females. This group is not aggressive.

Back in the day my 44 & 357 mag bee loads with rat shot did the trick. The real fix was when my house burnt to the ground from an electrical storm. Boy, that really took care of them. I live in a brick house now with very little wood trim that is well painted and I don't seem to have a problem with the carpenter bees now. I do miss the fun of blowing their butts our of the air though.
For flys, I use a common old fly swatter.

[Frank V]

Frank: the usable range is less than 4 feet with 3 feet generating a pattern of about 2" in Dia. I am going to try some coarser Kosher Salt to increase my shot size from like #6's to #4's and see if that increases the range slightly.

The whole idea here is to not get into the bugs Visual Flight Distance. With Flies, being 2-3 feet away doesn't seem to alarm them at all, so you can get a good shot on them, and bees would be more of the same.

The sights are regulated to 3 feet so a dead on hold works great.

I swear you feel like the "King of the Jungle" when hunting your garden with this thing. Alley Oop would be proud!

Randy

This sounds like a lot of fun. Sometimes we have wasps that will chase Humming Birds away from the feeders. I'm betting a nice salt gun would do the wasps?

[JSH]

I have a fair bit of shotgun powder I was gifted. No load data available for it(Winchester 500HS and 473AA)so I am tempted to give these loads a try.

[thegatman]

Solved the problem with corks.

[Gtek]

Saw a hole today, started paying attention to front porch. Being smack in the middle of a neighborhood powder on the front porch would bring more unwanted guest. Carb cleaner = DRT, but I am sure not as much fun!

[dougader]

Brake cleaner melts their wings on contact and kills immediately. Shots in midair are not that hard...

[W.R.Buchanan]

I had a friend I worked with once who was a Champion USPSA shooter. My bench was right next to him and one day a fly flew past and he picked up a can of Contact Cleaner and shot the thing out of the air. It was one quick squirt and the fly dropped strait down DRT!

I was impressed!

My Salt Gun is working well but so far I have not shot any bees with it simply because in Drought Ridden CA there aren't that many bees around. Usually this time of year we have Yellow Jackets but I haven't seen a one yet. So far Spiders have been the main targets of opportunity.

Randy

[Gtek]

Update- Inspection revealed them things had made two holes. Sprayed carb clean in both and got three more that were in them. I have been in this house for almost twenty years, no bore bees. I see this thread on here and days later I have holes and bees. Hmmmmmm!

[casper_zip]

I use a 38 special with fixed sights. I resize, prime, use my smallest Lee dipper with Red Dot, usually, put in wadded toilet paper, fill with rape or mustard seed, another tiny bit of paper, and seal with beeswax. After a lil practice, this load is deadly. Takes some practice, they will usually come in, hover and then zip away. Shoot when he is hovering, if you want to nail him.

This is cheap and fun, and targets about unlimited.

Casper_zip

[Frank V]

Casper I'm thinking that would be great fun, but you'd best be in a place with few neighboors to see someone pointing a gun.
The "man with a gun" call is one that really gets the Police attention.

[RP]

Yes the man with a gun will get called in for the most part but a few of us are lucky the ones around me are aware of my hobbies and I shoot often in the back yard heck even in the front yard when I am after some pest. The only one that can see into my yard will even yell out here comes one lol and has borrowed a rifle to rid a few pest in his yard. Not many cop callers in my area at all which is great for all.

[Frank V]

RP that is great. Sounds like a lot of fun.

[Down South]

Pretty much the same for me. My old house that burned down a couple years ago, I had my own shooting range. The house that I now live in, the next door neighbor has a shooting range just across the road.
One of neighbors is the sheriffs deputies that takes care of our neck of the woods. He comes over and shoots with us at times.
The good problem is that I don't have problems with carpenter bees in the brick house that I now live in.
Living out in the country "Sticks" has its perks.

Now, where I stay in Houston when away from home, if I fired off a shot, I probably have a Swat Team surrounding my place within minutes.

[W.R.Buchanan]

A House Fly and two spiders paid the ultimate price for their invasion of my home today!

Kosher Salt is like #4 shot!

Randy