I was one of the people who posted this very question a couple of months ago. I wanted a 'snake load' to take with me in the desert. The advice I received was to load shot into a .45LC case. I loaded powder according to the total weight of the shot. I used #9 shot.
1. Sized, deprimed and reprimed case.
2. Drop powder
3. Insert cardboard wad..use a pencil to seat it not too tight. Note: You make the wad by sharpening a .45 LC case and pounding it into the cardboard with a rubber mallet...gently.
4. Drop shot
5. Insert final cardboard wad to hold shot in place
6. Give the case a good tight roll crimp to hold the cardboard in place.
I would recomment using an old .45 case as the tight crimp tends to ruin the case and cause it to split a little on the end on firing.
I tested against an 8" Shoot-N-C target at about 6 yards using my Ruger Blackhawk. It patterened great and covered the whole 8" Plenty enough for any rattlesnake.
Hope this helps, regards Mikey.
[This message has been edited by TheOtherMikey (edited January 03, 2000).]