? .38/.357 ammo for shooting snakes?

CCI .38 Snake Shot from a four inch GP-100

Tyro,

My parents live on a large pond in costal SC. They, too, have a had a few cottonmouths close to their home and -- since they are both 80+ years old -- asked me to address the problem.

I decided to use a revolver, rather than any of my autoloaders, because I was not certain CCI snake shot would have adequate recoil to cycle the weapon. And I also decided to use one of my KGP-141s, rather than either of my Smith 627s, because the four-inch barrel is faster to aim.

Long story short, I found two cottonmouths sunning themselves by he pond bank within fours days. Both easily dispatched from 9 - 12 feet with a single round of CCI .38 Special snake shot. Point of aim and impact was the head, and the snake shot really was effective. One snake lived (moved) perhaps 10 seconds after impact, the other appeared instantaneously dead. I let them both lie about an hour, then picked them up with a shovel, and deposited each in a newly dug two foot deep hole.

Both cottonmouths were 2.5 to 3.5 feet long and had a hefty girth.

My parents have seen no further cottonmouth activity during the last two months, so I presume the problem -- at least for this year -- is resolved.

Bottom line: GP-100 (four in or longer barrel) and .38 Special CCI snake shot was highly effective.

Regards.
 
RWK,

What a great response.

The gun I will be using is, like yours (of course, you helped me decide to get it :)) a KGP-141, and the CCI snake shot is on order from cheaperthandirt.com.
 
tyro - I'm jumping in a little late here. I agree that the CCI shot shells are the way to go.

But my reason for responding is a statement you said yesterday - "We have many kinds of snakes here, including harmless water snakes." I always consider all water snakes as dangerous. I could swear I heard or read that they are at some time in the distant past.

We also have some good snakes around our home and a few bad'uns. When I see a Black snake or one of the other good guys, I say "Howdy Mr. Snake" and we both go on our merry way. But if I saw one of the two you mentioned, I'd whip out my trusty ol' GP-100 and say, "Hold still Mr. Snake, you're not going to like this." (If you talk to 'em, it confuses 'em. :) )
 
Mal,

'Good to hear from you. Here is my authority for the comment re "harmless water snakes":

“WATER SNAKEs are chiefly eastern species (nine) of lakes and rivers. They show little adaptation to water life but are actually fine surface and underwater swimmers. They seek water when molested and there find their food, mainly fish and frogs. Heavily built, with short, narrow tails, they are harmless and should not be confused with the venomous southern Cottonmouth. However, Water Snakes are usually vicious; do not tame or become good pets.” - quoted from Reptiles and Amphibians: A Guide to Familiar American Species (212 species in full color), published by Golden Press, 1953.

So, "Water Snakes" are "harmless" but "vicious".

'Easy to see how "vicious" could be interpreted as not "harmless". But the fact remains that the only water snake in my region of North Carolina that is venomous and therefore potentially harmful to me and to my family & friends is the Cottonmouth - like the 3+ foot, thick girthed specimen that was lying within 2 feet of striking distance along my creek/beaver pond path when I stopped walking and noticed him (just in time) a couple of days ago - that is one mean, serious snake.
 
Thanks, tyro. Maybe it was the "vicious" part that I read about long ago. Frankly, I don't want any snake "harmless" or not to even think about attacking me. At best, I might get hurt stumbling/bumbling to get out of its path. At worst, I might drown. And remember, death is just natures way of telling us to slow down. :)
 
Tyro: I've used several combinations of shot shells for rattlers when we're prairie dogging out west, mostly Wyoming. My observations much as the other posters have related hinge on caliber and whether a shot capsule was used. My opinion is obviously the larger the caliber and more shot, the better the result. Also shot capsules along with moderately loaded rounds improve results. I have also done some informal patterning to strenghten my beliefs. The reason I wrote this was not merely to repeat what everyone stated, but to relate information I had read some time ago. According to the testing in the article, a short barreled large caliber round using a capsule gave the best results. The short barrel it was theorized would limit the affect of the rifling. Just some thoughts, good luck......Bogger
 
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