rat shot loads

[camerl2009]

ok i got to thinking of light loads for in barn use

this could be for just about any gauge/bore

somt thing like #9-#12 lead shot in .410-12ga

so what i was thinking is you load with a light loading of powder(following data) and the wad you want then cut the shot weight is half(in smaller shells just load as normal) and fill half of the wad with cream of wheat powder and then the other half with shot im guessing this would work best with card wads but it should work good enough with normal wads.

[klcarroll]

Hmmmm...........

If it was MY barn, I think that I would be seriously tempted to try a load worked up around a shotcup full to the brim with those plastic BBs that the "Airsoft" guys shoot.

At 30 to 40 feet they will be moving plenty fast enough to put some holes in Mr. Rat, and they will be much easier on "The Woodwork"!

...........Since the payload would weigh very little, I'm thinking that a load could be worked up by first starting with just a good, hot primer, and then running a trial series where you add a couple of grains of Red Dot at a time until the velocity looks good.

Kent

[biker_trash_1340]

I don't reload for my shotguns, but you may what to try something besides "cream of wheat powder" was just thinking that it would bring in more rats

[thehouseproduct]

I don't reload for my shotguns, but you may what to try something besides "cream of wheat powder" was just thinking that it would bring in more rats
Funny but true.

[HiVelocity]

Just a suggestion:

For farm/ranch use, this should work fine. I make these up for snakes here in SC.

Sized & Primed .38 Special case, 35 caliber gas check (cup up) seated on top of powder charge. Pour in shot (your choice) from old shotshell you cut open, fill to the top of 38 special case. Place another 35 caliber gas check on top (cup down) and lightly crimp. At 10 yards, these are deadly.

Note: You'll have to weigh your shot charge to come up with a "weight" for reference in order to determine your powder charge. (125 grains of shot = 125 grain bullet, etc)

If you don't have gas checks, you can use cardboard wads cut from "sharpened" 38 Special case.

Just food for thought. Have the best of both worlds.

HV:bigsmyl2:

[shotman]

rice works it will kill pigeons and not put hole in the tin roof. Killed a ground hog but had to shoot 3 times to slow and then a close shot

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Corn... hard and dried. Any old corn feild has old ears laying about. Power, cut down wad for more corn shot capacity. Out to 10 yards deadly on small critters. Only problem is you are adding to the feed source unless you choose to "coat" the load with bug juice.
Mike in Peru

[ted60]

many years ago I bought those Speer .38 shot cups with a plastic bottom to seal the cup,you could put pepper corns instead of shot? also I have brown rats bigger than any of my cats and it takes a well aimed .22 to put them down,I allmost petted a rat one night but saw what the hell it was and ran for the 870 and killed it with 11/4 oz of no. 2 shot. I hate those rats they will eat through anything that has any smell of food.have to store any feed in steel garbage cans.
once you see one you have ten others!

[ted60]

many years ago I bought those Speer .38 shot cups with a plastic bottom to seal the cup,you could put pepper corns instead of shot? also I have brown rats bigger than any of my cats and it takes a well aimed .22 to put them down,I allmost petted a rat one night but saw what the hell it was and ran for the 870 and killed it with 11/4 oz of no. 2 shot. I hate those rats they will eat through anything that has any smell of food.have to store any feed in steel garbage cans.
once you see one you have ten others!

[GRUMPA]

many years ago I bought those Speer .38 shot cups with a plastic bottom to seal the cup,you could put pepper corns instead of shot? also I have brown rats bigger than any of my cats and it takes a well aimed .22 to put them down,I allmost petted a rat one night but saw what the hell it was and ran for the 870 and killed it with 11/4 oz of no. 2 shot. I hate those rats they will eat through anything that has any smell of food.have to store any feed in steel garbage cans.
once you see one you have ten others!


When we moved up here we had no idea what to expect at all from RATS. They will in no time flat chew an engine wiring harness in less then an hour (very expensive). One day while watching TV I heard a noise and went out to investigate, well their was a rat in the corner of our screened in porch climbing up. First thing that went thru my mind was (what do I have that's low power) I drew a plank and shouted out to the wife to get the 22. Well I took aim kinda it was 9pm and dark, but I shot it twice and all it did was hiss at me. Finally it bled out and I weighed it and came out to just over 2 1\2lb. Those things are vicious, mean and what ever else one could think of. Later the next day I opened the hood of my truck and I found that it had chewed branches from our tree and made himself a home in my engine compartment that took me over an hour to clean out. Even still I find them in there when the dogs sniff them out, I open the hood and there it is just looking at me. Finally I got a blowgun, it takes more than 2 hits with it but at least I don't shoot my engine or transmission with something else.

[sargenv]

I can tell you that when I was younger and a bit less smart, I touched off just a wad over 17 or 18 gr of Bullseye in a 12 gauge hull with just the star crimp and no payload in my garage. Damn if that wad went out the barrel with a resounding POP!! er more like a BANG and struck the wooden garage door about 15 ft away.. That wad made one heck of a dent in that heavy plywood door and there was a slight bulge on the outside of the door from the impact. I can say that you could likely put some small payload in the hull and that thing will go off no matter the weight. I belive the load called for 7/8 oz of lead shot.. but it worked just fine with just the wad..

[Trapshooter]

I saw what looked like a good solution for rats in an old Farm Journal sort of book several years ago.

Rats are omnivorous, they will eat anything that resembles food. Unfortunately, pets, children, and some livestock might be tempted by some types of poisoned bait. The recommendation was to mix flour with portland cement dry. Rats will eat it, others aren't even interested. Nature adds water, end of rat, but pretty safe for everything else. Not as spectacular as a shot load, but alleged to be effective.


Trapshooter

[cratergrease]

A couple years ago I read an artical about "snake shot", I'll post an abreviation of it for 44mag
size and prime cases like nomal, use a .45 case with the mouth sharpend and saw teeth cut with a triangel file for cutting "wads". I use card board from primer boxes. put 9 grains of 2400 in sized, primed case, using a flat ,un sharpend #2 pencil push 1 . 45cal card board wad firmly on top of the powder, fill case with # your choice shot ( Iused #8 93 pellets = approx140 grains) to 1/16 to 1/8 below case mouth, using your pencil firmly push another .45cal wad on top of shot, use white glue and put a good bead completely around wad and let dry. I haven't killed anything with this load other than pop cans but I'm sure it'll work good for close range vermin

[Johnch]

Dad loaded ground corn cob in shotgun shells to use when the bull got mean

I bet they would work on rats at close range
He also loaded soybeans .........I can tell you soybeans still leave welts at 50 yds or so [smilie=1:
But that the rats would eat them

John

[cratergrease]

OK, I had to find the artical just so you get the straight scoop. you can find it at www.castbullet.com you end up at the Frugal Outdoorsman, look for reloading/casting 4-04-05 good read if nothing else.

[GRUMPA]

I make those speer shot loads for a lot of folk up here and they love the things, but I still wouldn't want to try those in an engine compartment. Got way to much plastic in those things now-a-days. Heck even the intake manifold is plastic. But like you said makes for interesting reading, I even bookmarked it for later reading.[smilie=w:

[Greg5278]

I wouls guess that Polyethylene pellet for an extruder would work. They are cheap, and inedible, they are the feedstock for making all types of plastic items. I would check Ebay for them. Somebody must have some bulk stock for cheap. Perhaps a wad molding Company could sell you a few pounds, like Downrange MFG
Greg

[mold maker]

If there is a plastic injection molding co near by, that is the form their raw material comes in.
Be sure to ask for Polyethylene beads, as some of the other plastics are really hard.

[randyrat]

I can get TONS of small plastic BBs for real low price (for a test run postage only). They are about an 1/8" oval hard plastic. PM me if interested. I could fill a flat rate envelope and send em your way. Test them out and let me know how they work.
I'll pick some up next week. They are a real hard plastic/ Polyethylene beads.

[geargnasher]

Sombody had a good write up on light shot loads for killing the bees/wasps that destroy barn timbers, was it Junior1942?

If you want to kill small game or shoot skeet with your revolver, here's the best way I've found: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=77286

Gear

[geargnasher]

Here's Junior's article: http://www.castbullet.com/reload/44shot.htm

Gear

[Molly]

Here's a few things to consider. In medevial days, a popular rat killer was to use a tub that was too tall for them to climb out of, and fill it half full of water (over their heads anyhow). Then wire a hard, smooth board see-saw style to one edge so it won't fall off, and have the heavy end outside the tub, propped up with a cinder block or something for it to rest on and keep it more or less level. Use some wire to attach a chunk of meat - rancid is fine! - to the end that is out over the water, and provide a ramp of some sort so that the rats can get to the board. When a rat runs out on the board to get the meat, his weight causes the board to fall downward, and he falls into the water and drowns. With the rat gone, the heavy end of the board falls back down to the cinder block and resets the trap.

Another trick is to load a .32 or 38 caliber revolver with low velocity round balls (buckshot). This works great for me. For the 32, prime the case and load it with half a grain of Bullseye or red dot or HP-38. Then set a 00 buckshot on the mouth, and press it in until it's flush with the mouth of the case. This will leave a small groove between the mouth of the case and the curve of the 00 shot. Fill it with bullet lube, crisco or most any type of soft grease for bullet lube. With most revolvers, this load will just about bury itself in seasoned wood, but won't penetrate a board of any thickness.

You can do the same thing with a 38 S&W or a 38 Special, just use a 000 buckshot and about 1.5g of powder. You'll get pretty much the same result.

A couple of notes on these buckshot loads. Results will vary slightly, depending on how wide the gap between your cylinder and the barrel is made. Also, the deeper you seat the buckshot, the more powerful the loads will be. You may need to slightly adjust the powder accordingly. Also, the nearly nonexistant recoil means they will shoot slightly low: Try a few practice shots to get the feel of them. They're also great fun for popping tin cans with the grandkids.

[tacklebury]

I used to kill rats with my Crosman 1377 pump pellet pistol and a flashlight on dark nights. I'd just set out a small piece of bread on the workbench and when I heard them scurrying to get to it, hit the button on the flashlight held alongside my pistol with my off-hand and shoot for the red beady eyes. 8) Also, we used round pelletized rocksalt in some areas, although it won't always kill them, it certainly sets them on fire and I think some did die, since it penetrated their skin, might have infected. 8)

[xfoxofshogo]

chep 9mm light load and some small shot work good on rats and the 22 stuff not bad just not chep

[Jim]

He's been gone and won't be back. 'Nuff said.

[Junior1942]

Here's Junior's article: http://www.castbullet.com/reload/44shot.htm

GearWEAR SAFETY GOGGLES! The shot will bounce off boards, trees, etc., and come straight back at the shooter! If you shoot ratshot inside a barn and don't wear googles, you're asking to be nicknamed One Eye.

[Gray Fox]

Junior: Just read your article. Did you shoot those from a revolver or a rifle? GF

[Junior1942]

Junior: Just read your article. Did you shoot those from a revolver or a rifle? GFRuger Super BlackHawk. By golly, I don't say in the article! Thanks!

[randyrat]

Junior, I use a felt wad I purchased from you over the powder., then place some #2 shot inside then top it off with some RED sheet wax I purchased from you. Then I run the brass through the bullet seater with a lot of crimp. 44 RAT shot. Deadly at close range.

I believe I bought the red wax from you...I also have used it as a wax gas check under plain base boolits, it helps a little. You still sell that stuff?

[Junior1942]

Junior, I use a felt wad I purchased from you over the powder., then place some #2 shot inside then top it off with some RED sheet wax I purchased from you. Then I run the brass through the bullet seater with a lot of crimp. 44 RAT shot. Deadly at close range.

I believe I bought the red wax from you...I also have used it as a wax gas check under plain base boolits, it helps a little. You still sell that stuff?I still sell the felt wads, but I've never sold wax. I buy my wax from a fellow named Randyrat. :-)

Speaking of wads, the price of raw felt almost doubled. So if'n anyone uses felt wads and your supplier hasn't increased his prices a lot, I suggest buying extra.

[randyrat]

Yes I need some more felt wads Junior...I'll PM you. anybody need wads contact Junior1942...also check out his articles fun reading on a bunch of stuff. I can't seem to stop playing with RAT SHOT loads.

I get a heck a blast out of popping soda cans at 5-10 yds makes me look like a real crack shot. Very impressive:smile:
Junior I just placed an order for 250 wads on PayPal. Glad to find your stuff for sale on CAST PICS below the main page Thanks

[randyrat]

You all gotta read Juniors "Frugal Outdoors man" Start at the bottom of this page go to "Cast Pics" and then click "members products" find Junior1942 and click on him. Bottom of the page go to "HOME" and have fun reading. I had to share this.:grin:
It's a go to for fun interesting reading.

[Dannix]

You all gotta read Juniors "Frugal Outdoors man" Start at the bottom of this page go to "Cast Pics" and then click "members products" find Junior1942 and click on him. Bottom of the page go to "HOME" and have fun reading. I had to share this.:grin:
It's a go to for fun interesting reading.
I think this link will get you there.
http://www.castbullet.com/index.htm

[1kshooter]

My Marlin owners manual says not to shoot shot capsules out of it...has anyone tried these in a Marlin 1894 44mag?
I think it would be a good load to have along for shooting bush chicken on the way out of moose camp for a main course!!
Thanks in advanced! Jonathan