9s will work, but never as well
as 12s.
With 12s, you get snake burger pure and simple with one shot.
9s will work, but never as well
as 12s.
With 12s, you get snake burger pure and simple with one shot.
Just a possible consideration for you: you could stuff some of the excess small shot in a cloth or leather bag as a shooting rest or a weight to stabilize something you're working on. Can also use such a bag to dish thin sheet metal if you happen to need to do that. I've done it for both jewelry-making and for armour, back in the days I was unbreakable.
Bill
On one forum, (HERE?) A fellow by the handle of Old School Wheelgunner or something similar ran a photo of his load...7 1/2 shot, iirc, at 4 yds./3 gr. Bullseye. Tore the center of a 9 in.(?) target up! I doubt any snake or rat could survive that tight pattern and weight of shot. I went to Walmart and bought a box of cheap #9 shells and broke them down. Enough shot for a while! They probably have #71/2s, too. I will try it. I have Speer capsule loads with # 9, 10, 11,(I think,,,it's bigger than #12, and smaller than #10, sooo must be, right?)and #12 loaded. Waiting for the weather to get more pleasant, so I can test them!
Last edited by sniper; 01-29-2022 at 02:07 AM.
IT IS A FINE AND PLEASANT MADNESS !
7 1/2 and 9's seem small by comparison, but 12's are the cat's meow for certain.
Rio brand shotshells are the only ones I ever saw loaded with 12's but they are well worth it if you ever load a pistol shotshell.
They really make a snake or a rat into bloody paste with one shot.
That's all I'll ever use is 12's for snakeshot.
Well worth the wait when it's a poisonous snake.
.
Best is to look for a box of shotshells loaded with #12 shot.
Buy the box and you'll have a lot of shot to play with after cutting off the crimp and dumping the shot.each shell holds enough shot to load 4-6 pistol loads depending on how big the caliber you use.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |