SP101 first blood...rattlesnake

[shooting on a shoestring]

I was sent to Anniston Alabama for a 3 week job, so I drove my own pickup so I'd have some wheels on my days off. Alabama is a beautiful place. Today I drove about 50 miles of gravel roads in the Talladega National Forest east of Anniston. Just beautiful.

There is a shooting range there called the Henry Shooting Range. A nice little 100 yard range in the bottom of a hollar. I spent a couple of hours there today exercising my Blackhawk. No one there but me today. A couple of days ago, I met a local man there and he warned me about the rattlesnakes, copper heads and cotton mouths in the area. So today I slipped a pair of snake shot loads into my shirt pocket. The loads were old military .38s on the short side, loaded with 2.5 grains of Bullseye, card wad, #8 birdshot topped with second card wad.

After I cleaned up the Blackhawk and started driving back to civilization, I rounded a bend and met a brown and black rattler cruising across the road. There was a house place about a quarter mile away and I really didn't want to discharge a firearm on the road, but, I didn't have much time and nothing else in the pickup besides a short handled hammer. So I drew, slipped a snake shot round into the SP101, dispatched the rattler and departed the scene.

Snake shot load worked great. About as loud as a .22, but no worry of boolits going places they shouldn't, and the snake died.

I'm not sure about the legality of my actions, but I'm sure of the morality. Growing up in New Mexico I was taught to never leave a rattlesnake, leave a carcass.

Thats the story of first blood with the little SP101. Time was short before the rattler got into the forest, SP101 was on me and worked fine.

The rattler was prettier than the ones I'm used to seeing in Nex Mexico and Texas. Out there the rattlers are grayish. This one was black and tan, stocky, rattles about 2 inches long, snake was about 2.5 to 3 feet long (I don't touch rattlesnakes even when I'm sure they're dead).

[GP100man]

they look like catfish skinned & taste like chicken !!!!

i don`t use the blue capsules either & most die qwikly not even a wiggle !!

without seeing the snake, i think your rattler was an eastern diamondback , deep rich colors

[Rick N Bama]

I'm not sure about the legality of my actions, but I'm sure of the morality. Growing up in New Mexico I was taught to never leave a rattlesnake, leave a carcass.



Trust me, no one in the area cared whether you were legal or not, as long as you killed the snake:)

Was that an old man at the Range that tried to tell you all the so called rules, etc then talked your ear off while you were shooting?

Rick

[Ekalb2000]

Did ya pick you up a garand or carbine while you were ther in Anniston?

[softpoint]

Here in central Texas we have timber rattlers, or some people call them blacktails.
They are protected, and if I see them in the river bottoms I will usually leave them alone, but if I find one around the house(I haven't yet) he will lose his protection.:drinks:

[exile]

I have never loaded anything like that. Do the card wads need to be lubed in any way or just left alone? Do you need any kind of special crimp on the case? I have a 629 Mountain Gun, and might want to try something similar in .44 special, unless I buy a SP-101 in .38 special.

exile

[GP100man]

exile

i cut mine from cereal boxes& leave just enuff room on top to crimp a little then seal with waterproof carpenters glue.
if ya got a lee trimmer take the holder & spin the case with the mouth notched , don`t forget to drill the primer hole out enuff to punch out the cards.

enlarging the hole on the one i use to cut cards with so i`m able to push the cards out.

[exile]

exile

i cut mine from cereal boxes& leave just enuff room on top to crimp a little then seal with waterproof carpenters glue.
if ya got a lee trimmer take the holder & spin the case with the mouth notched , don`t forget to drill the primer hole out enuff to punch out the cards.

Are you talking about enlarging the primer hole the way they do it with wax loads? Sorry to be so ignorant of this stuff and sorry if I hijacked the thread.

exile

[45nut]

they look like catfish skinned & taste like chicken !!!!

You sure chicken doesn't taste like rattler ?

[felix]

Nah, it's what Ray says: It's all chicken, even the beak (fangs,rattles). ... felix

Only in Arkansas:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/02/07/national/a155210S31.DTL&type=bondage

[shooting on a shoestring]

Exile - The drilled out primer hole is in the single case you use to cut out the card wads. I place the backing board from a paper tablet over a piece of 2X4 and drive the empty case through the cardboard with a hammer, like a cookie cutter. Repeat 5 or 6 times, then push out the card wads that are stacked up in the case.

To load snake loads, use standard cases, standard primer, a small charge of fast powder like Bullseye or Red Dot, place and over powder wad and mash it down firmly (keeps the powder from trickling into the shot), fill the case with the smallest shot you have (#12 is best, I use #8 b/c thats what I have), then use and over shot wad with a generous crimp to keep the shot in place under recoil of neighboring chambers.

Small powder charges are best b/c you don't need or want much velocity and you do want all the shot possible.

In lieu of card wads, you can run some gas checks through a boolit sizer to swage them down enough to get them into the cases. I've heard of some folks using styro-foam from carry-out containers. No lube needed. You usually don't shoot but one or two at a time.

[dsmjon]

From a biology POV, unless the snake is near your residence, leave it alone. Even critters we don't like have an important role in the ecosystem. Now if it's in my yard, it's either dead or relocated depending on my mood. Unless of course you're going to eat it, then shoot the legless bastard.

[dsmjon]

Shoestring, I imagine these would operate best from a revolver. No reason they couldn't be used in a slide-gun is there (obviously knowing the slide won't function)?

On the top card wad, do you force the edges downward into the shot, or just put it in and crimp?

[theperfessor]

Not to hijack thread, but just as a historical note on use of shot cartridges in auto loaders. I have several WWII era .45 ACP rounds that are shot cartridges. The "bullet" is formed paper to approximate shape of ball ammo which forms crimp. Light waxy coating on paper. Headstamp is ECC - Evansville Cartridge Company (I live in Evansville IN).

Mother and father were in USMC in WWII, met in Hawaii. Told me that the rounds were intended to be in chamber with ball ammo in clip. Paper case and shot would be expelled, case would eject normally but wouldn't feed well so only used when single loaded in autos followed by full clip of ball. Used in Pacific for snakes, not intended for combat.

[StarMetal]

Was an accident on our mountain road and the car went over the side. Big crowd was gathered by the time the state trooper arrived. He asks the tow truck guy why he's not down there hooking up the vehicle and pulling it up. The guy said, "Well I was down there I had to kill a rattlesnake and go the hell out". The trooper says, "You do know that they are protected and theirs a $500 fine for shooting one"? Then the trooper asks, "How many do you think are down there"? The tow truck guys replies, "Oh, bout $10,000 worth"! The trooper smiles and says, "Do what you have to do". True story.

[exile]

When I lived in western kansas, they had a rattlesnake roundup. My pastor used to go and shoot and shoot and shoot and he said they never made a dent in them. He took me to play golf with him once, the biggest problem was clearing the mating bullsnakes off the green so you could putt. I hate golf, so I did not care, but it was kind of funny.

exile

[Dale53]

I have used Speer shot capsules in .38/.357, .44 special/Magnum, and .45 Colt. They are MUCH better than trying to load your own cases simply because you can get so much MORE shot in the capsule.

All shots when using shot capsules will be at close range (20 feet or closer) and #12 shot works best of all (you will get a MUCH denser pattern). Even #12 shot, as fine as it is, will work very well at 20 feet and give you the big advantage of a denser pattern. #9 will work but #12 is better. You can get #12 shot at Ballistic Products. It's pricey but you do not need much.

Dale53

[shooting on a shoestring]

dsmjon,

Top wad, I just put over the shot and just below the case mouth by a hair, then crimp liberally. Try some in your slide-action, they might feed.

I'll admit the first box I loaded I shot up just having fun. I patterned a couple, then started throwing plastic pop bottles in the air and swatting them with shot. Had a hoot.

[Big Dave]

These days Waterproof carpenters glue is a good choice, Years ago we used Sodium silicate(water glass) to seal the B card over the shot in full brass shotgun shells. If you take a 5/16 wood dowel and whittle it 3/4 of the way around it will make something like an old fashion pen quill which dipped in slightly thinned glue wil let you apply a bead around the case to seal the wad in place. Of course a hypo syringe with the sharp end filed off is faster and easier.
As far as the shot capsuls are concerned, they work fine but are fairly expensive and if you are shooting a 357 or larger cartridge the case will hold all the shot you need. The capsules seat in like a boolit and don't use the full case capicity.

[canyon-ghost]

Shoestring, you are almost as crazy as I, except for the fact I will touch snakes if they happen to be headless. I use a TC Contender with the .410/45 barrel and dove shot. Generally, it's loud but, I shoot on a range that has it's own population of snakes. If I don't shoot them, do you really think the town folks will? I kinda doubt that.
You do have it right, don't leave a rattlesnake, leave a carcass, yes sir!