rat shot for a ...... rat

[Hillbillyhunter]

Went out to a small shed behind the garage to get a tarp. My wife usually keeps chickens, but something killed the last of them about 4 months ago. The left over high protein chicken feed was put into a brute plastic trash can with a lid. I noticed the lid had been chewed through and there were pine shavings everywhere. I picked up the bag of shavings and the biggest rat I ever saw fell out. I shut the shed door and went for the blackhawk in 45 colt with rat shot. We played hide and seek for a while as I slowly removed items for him to hide behind and I managed to connect with my first shot as he ran for cover.

I have another picture with the SBH next to the rat for size reference, but it won't load for some reason.

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[Nines&Twos]

That's a rat writ writ for a rat...and legal service of the same.

[Hillbillyhunter]

I took a screenshot of the original picture and it worked to upload. He's a big one for sure. That's a SBH in 45 colt with a 4.62" barrel for reference.

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[HWooldridge]

In the immortal words of Farmer Hoggett, "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

[Bull]

Nice job Hillbilly Hunter

[racepres]

But...If that was a Pig Barn instead of a Chicken Coop... That rat would be twice that size!!!
But...No Proof so ...BS meter active!!!!

[Texas by God]

It’s a good rat now.
Good shooting with a nice Ruger!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Barry54]

This made my day! Thanks for sharing. How was the shot ricocheting inside the shed?

[YoungGun88]

No better rat than a dead rat. Snap traps with pin nails driven through to "lock em in" baited with undercooked bacon and chunky peanut butter. They work juuuussst fine.
Good shootin!

[Mk42gunner]

I was expecting a large rat, not a juvenile. Still, it is a good rat now.

Two places came to mind when thinking of large rats: 1. Nabasan Wharf when I was stationed at NAVMAG Subic, they weren't too bothered by normal rat traps. And 2. Adak, AK.

Robert

[TNsailorman]

The first "wharf rat" I saw was in San Francisco in the fall of 1961 when I was in the Navy. He was climbing a cargo ships tie up line to the pier. I pity the cat that would have the nerve to tackle that dude. He look like he weighed somewhere around 6 pounds, a regular monster. I'm not sure a cat could have handled him. We used to shoot rats around the town dump rats back in Tennessee in the mid to late 50's but nothing anywhere near his size. I would have liked to have had Dad's old Remmington bolt action .22lr to see if it would put him down cleanly. my memory anyway, james

[racepres]

LOL I do recall the kind of rats TNsailorman describes.. Our pig barn rats were Not bigger than Cats...bout the same... but, Tough!! We mostly used the Speer shot capsules, with as much 7-1/2 as they will hold!! a 38/357 would Not anchor them, even when "rolled" 2 or 3 times!! they Always ran off and their brethren Ate em, quite a Noise!!!... the 44, Mag or Special... they Always stayed put!!
No 45's back then... but I sure wish I would have had a Taurus Judge... Just to "Judge"

[WILCO]

That's a rat writ writ for a rat...and legal service of the same.

Thanks for the U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn reference. :)

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I use a 12ga loaded with sorgham seed in 1 1/4oz wads; good for about 20' and doesn't take the paint off!

https://i.imgur.com/XttYS5kl.jpg

[WILCO]

Nice job Hillbilly Hunter

Yes!!!!

[HumptyDumpty]

Holy smoke, I'm glad that I've only had to contend with housemice; at this point, I've shot more of them than deer.:mrgreen:

[Rapier]

Wharf Rats in the tropics get very big, large enough that the cats will not take them on. I used to shoot them on the ranch, in the everglades, durng the 50s with 22 shorts out of a Rem 510 with a battery powered head lamp. 22 rat shot would at times not put them down with one shot. The 50s era heavy gauge galvanized corrugated steel siding and roof would stop a standard velocity short most times. They will do a good job on the big rats. Shot hundreds of rats at the open small town dumps in NH during the 60s when I was in HS and College there.

[Txcowboy52]

Only good rat is a dead rat ! Good shooting amigo!

[TNsailorman]

Rapier, I kinda miss the old days when we could spend a nice evening at the dump shooting the rats. Policemen would come around once in a while and sometimes end up shooting a little with us. It was a different time. The rats would come out in force as the sun started going down and they would be running around all over the dump looking for any food that had come in with the days dumpings. They were a quick target, you had to swing fast to get on them. I was just thinking while I read some of these posts and I can't remember seeing a rat in something like 25 to 30 years. There just don't seem to be very many at all around here now since they close the local dump and covered it over iwth several feet of dirt. The last one I remember seeing was when they tore down an old cattle barn about 1 mile away and a few that were living in it scurried all over the neighborhood for a bit, but even they have disappeared now. Local cats probably did them in. So much for a 82-year-olds nostalgia, james

[Nines&Twos]

....so...what mold would a person use for a rat trap?

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[Hillbillyhunter]

I'm glad I haven't had the pleasure of seeing the wharf rats some of you mentioned. I'm not a fan of any rodents, not even the little mice that occasionally find their way into the house or the field mice the cat kills. This thing was a giant by comparison and I hope to never see another.

[racepres]

^^^ You do Know there is Never...Ever just 1...Right...
Arm Yerself!!!!

[Bad Ass Wallace]

In Australia we have to give the police a "genuine reason" to purchase and own any firearm. When I bought my 58cal BP rifle I told them it was for sabre-toothed field mice. :kidding:

[Adam Helmer]

Hillbilly,

What is "Rat Shot" that you used? Was it a reload? If so, what. I handload #6 or #7.5 shot for my farm needs. Be well.

Adam

[Brassmonkey]

Late eighties folk bought an old farmhouse to live in, by the garage I discovered a rat over a foot long, no gun around but a shovel turned the rat off.

[Mk42gunner]

The most rats I have ever seen was on the pier at St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. They weren't real big, about like the one pictured in this thread, but there were thousands of them.

The Love Boat (Pacific Princess) was across the pier from us, it is a lot smaller in real life than it appeared to be on TV.

I was standing OOD on the midwatch before transferring off the ship at 0630.

Robert

[Hillbillyhunter]

Hillbilly,

What is "Rat Shot" that you used? Was it a reload? If so, what. I handload #6 or #7.5 shot for my farm needs. Be well.

Adam

Factory CCI loads like this https://www.cci-ammunition.com/handgun/cci/pest_control_shotshell/6-3746.html

We always called it rat shot

[HWooldridge]

Late eighties folk bought an old farmhouse to live in, by the garage I discovered a rat over a foot long, no gun around but a shovel turned the rat off.

Funny you mention that. My grandmother grew up on a farm and kept a big garden hoe with an adze eye that she could wield like a battle ax. Snakes, rats, possums, etc. - didn’t make any difference…she had this big overhand swing like a circus maul. Saw it with my own eyes more than once.

My grandfather was always the one with a gun, but he never got in her way.:shock:

[ohiochuck]

In the 1960s every small town in eastern Ohio had a city dump that at night was full of rats
a .22 rifle and a large flashlight or car headlights worked well
Now city dumps are a thing of the past except some cities have become Dumps

[popper]

An old teacher told me the use of the 1911 45 (WWII Pacific) was predominantly to kill Warf rats. They couldn't get tommy guns for dock patrol.

[Gewehr-Guy]

In the mid 70's one of my best friend's Dad ran the grain elevator, and he would let us kids hunt rats at night in the boot pit, under the dumping floor and scale. Rats running around everywhere on the huge wooden beams and iron braces above our heads. All we could use were BB guns, and we hit them, not sure how many died. Pretty creepy under there with our crappy old flash lights. Don't be the last one up the ladder, or one of your buddies would close the trap door on you, and stand on it for a few minutes, before they let you out!

[Charlie Horse]

22 short hollow points and rats go together like peas and carrots.

[racepres]

22 short hollow points and rats go together like peas and carrots.

Not at any Farm I been to...You put a hole in the Barn...Yer Fired...after you Repair said Hole!!!

[steve urquell]

Late eighties folk bought an old farmhouse to live in, by the garage I discovered a rat over a foot long, no gun around but a shovel turned the rat off.

I started hearing scratching in my house's crawlspace a few years back. I put my racoon live trap in the crawlspace with a rat trap inside it just in case it was squirrels. The next day I pulled my trap out there was a rat in it that was the length of the trap. 30" counting the tail. Probably every bit of 14" of body. Big as my deer head chihuahua or a really big red squirrel. Breeding parts as big as an English walnut.

My brain could not compute what I was looking at and it freaked me out so much all I could think to do was get it out of my sight and I hauled it down and threw it down a holler w/o taking a pic. Totally regret not taking a pic of that beast but it really messed with my head. When I picked him up his weight tore the skin on his tail.

Next night I caught Ms Rat. She got her nose hit by the rat trap but had tripped the live trap and was bouncing around in it trying to eat me up when pulling the trap out. I shot her in the head with a .22. Took a pic of her. Caught 2 babies over the next 2 days. Both a little smaller than the OP's ratto.

Mama rat below. I have very wide hands BTW. Really, really hate that daddy rat freaked me out too much to take a pic. He was huge!
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[Charlie Horse]

Not at any Farm I been to...You put a hole in the Barn...Yer Fired...after you Repair said Hole!!!

Oh. Excuse me.

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[racepres]

Oh. Excuse me.

325771
I don't understand the reference above..But...I have Never even thought about putting holes in Our, nor Others Barns..

[jsizemore]

My miniature manchester terrier killed a rat that used to get into the dog and chicken feed in the barn when I was a kid. The rat could open the trash can lids holding the feed. When he had killed the rat, he tried to bring it to me for show and tell. When he straddled it only his legs on one side could touch the ground at a time. He was a very determined dog. I hear Baltimore has some very large rats.

[farmerjim]

I was a grain inspector. I saw rats by the hundreds. Poison traps everywhere, but there was so much grain to eat that it didn't get rid of many.

[owejia]

Living in a hole [bunker] in Southeast Asia had to be careful not to get eaten on by some big ole rats while sleeping.

[TNsailorman]

My 1st cousins husband was on the border between South and North Vietnam and while he was asleep one night a rat took a bit bite out of his toe. Ended up in the hospital for a couple of weeks while they pumped him full of anti-biotics. He hated rats after that. james

[Adam Helmer]

Factory CCI loads like this https://www.cci-ammunition.com/handgun/cci/pest_control_shotshell/6-3746.html

We always called it rat shot

Hillbilly,

Thanks for the link. WOW! Ten rounds of #9 for $28.00, or about $3 a shot. I handload #6 shot and two gas checks with a stout charge of Unique for about $.25 per shot. I bagged a raccoon one night that was on my back porch checking out my bar-b-que grill.

Be well.

Adam

[TNsailorman]

Yeah, I went to the link website and when I saw the price, immediately backed right out. I not rich enough to pay that much for .22 ammo. BB guns are a lot cheaper on BumbleBees. I have a box of .45acp (factory) that I have had for umpteen years and never shot anything with them. The problem right now is the BumbleBees have took a temporary hike because of the rain and wind. I haven't seen one in two or three days now.

[Rockindaddy]

If yah can find em the 22 Federal shot cartridges are loaded with No.9 shot. The Winchester 22 Shot cartridges are loaded with No. 12 shot. The #9 shot cartridges work better on rats. The Winchester 22 shot cartridges with the #12 shot will kill a rat but are better suited to kill wood boring bumble bees. Found a box of Remco shot caps for 45 Colt Think I am going to try and load em.

[Hillbillyhunter]

Hillbilly,

Thanks for the link. WOW! Ten rounds of #9 for $28.00, or about $3 a shot. I handload #6 shot and two gas checks with a stout charge of Unique for about $.25 per shot. I bagged a raccoon one night that was on my back porch checking out my bar-b-que grill.

Be well.

Adam

Just to be clear, that link was only to demonstrate what I was calling ratshot. I wouldn't pay those prices either. The speer capsules are getting tough to find, but can be reloaded a lot cheaper than the factory offering.