Rock Salt: BE HONEST

[Hal]

I know this guy that,,,,,,
hehe.

Ok, seriously,,when I was a kid every garden was protected by a double barreled rock-salt shooter, anything dangerous would put your eye out, I had to eat all my food cause some kid in China was starving, everybody liked Ike, money didn't grow on trees, Beaver was a TV show and not a body part, Sunday School was mandatory, gas was under a quarter a gallon, Fred welcomed us to his show for Chevrolet, the NRA wasn't a boogy man, the REAL boogy man lived under the bed or in Eastern Europe, playing cowboys and indians would get you expelled from school,,,,

 

[Kalindras]

Well...

Here's a story I've posted here, before:

Ah, days of youth...One of my boyhood memories involves having watched my grandmother shoot my grandfather in the butt with a double load of rock salt...

It goes something like this:

Grandpa was comfortably huddled in his chair, watching the Cowboys, when Grandma came in to remind him to go out and look at the hogs (one of them was pregnant, and ready to litter out, as I remember). He blissfully ignored her repeated cajoling, even up to the point when she walked in, turned off the TV, and gave him "that look." It should be noted that my grandparents were second generation Redneck/German farmers, and the double 20 gauge stood by the door at all times.

Grandpa had gotten up, with some grumbling, and headed outside. After walking almost halfway to the pen, he stopped, turned around, and came back. Two minutes later saw him with the game on again.

"She ain't done, yet." was his reply when Grandma asked about the sow.

Again the TV was switched off, with Grandma's stern admonition that, if Grandpa didn't "...Get out there and check that sow, he'd have a butt full of buckshot." Again he grumpily headed out. And again, two or three steps off of the porch, he stopped and turned to come back in. This time, however, he was greeted by the double barrels of the 20 gauge, and an irate little German woman!

He made it fully halfway across the yard before she unloaded on him (about 30-40 feet) with both barrels. Grandpa missed the rest of the game, and spent the better part of the next couple of days sleeping on his stomach!

_________________________________

Back after I posted that, I got to wondering about that event...went and asked my mom about it. She told me that it wasn't the first time it had happened to Grandpa--apparently Granma lit him up two or three times in her memory! Grandpa kept the salt loads for the hogs and such, to keep them out of the gardens or to dissuade the cows from certain areas. Now, livestock were precious, and probably the most expensive thing on the farm, next to the tractor. Thus, he would buy normal shells, open them, remove the shot and the powder, and put about half of it back in. So what he got tagged with was a half-load of powder and a bunch of rock salt--which would tend to explain both why he was alive, and why Grandma was still up and around, too (these were different times, folks, and it wasn't beyond possibility for a man to strike his wife 'to put her back in her place...'). And now I know.

Kal

 

[Kharn]

My GF's dad took part in stealing some watermelons down in Florida while he was in college with his friends. They were shot at numerous times before one of them took a load of rock salt to the back. It cut his shirt to peices, and he spent the next 48 hours soaking in the University pool trying to get all the salt out without having to go to the doctor.

Kharn

 

[Jeff White]

I grew up hearing stories about rock salt loads. Have several friends whose fathers swear they took loads of rock salt stealing produce and playing Halloween pranks in their youth.

I've never seen a rock salt load. Given the illustrations in Jim Crews new shotgun manual of what the plastic packing from standard buckshot loads does to targets (not just paper, but plastic ones like tactical teds) I think it would be lethal up close, which lends even more doubt on some of the stories I've heard.

I'm going to put rock salt loads into the urban legend category.

Jeff

 

[Da-Fed]

I know this is an older thread, but after reading the posts, i had to giggle just a tad


rock salt loads?.....you bet there real, although ive never SEEN a FACTORY shell. all of the rock salt loads ive ever seen were all hand loaded. ive had great sucess with them in the past. i started with mine by emptying out a couple of low base #6 shells and pourng the rocksalt in, and recrimping the top. there were fair, but not very good. so what i did was this:

uncrimp a couple of LOW BASE shotgun shells ( they must be low base, as if you use a high base load, the rocksalt will be powdered when the gun is fired.)

pick thru your rocksalt, and find pieces about the size of #000 buck. pour these in your shell.

after your shell is full within 1/16" from the top, pour in some regular old table salt. tap the shell gently on the bottom to settle the table salt. add until youve got your "load" packed fairly tight to the touch. recrimp your shell

recrimping:
if you dont have a shotgun shell loader, recrimping is still fairly easy. what i do is to take a short piece of wooden dowel about the circumfrence of the inside top of a shotgun shell thats crimped. i then set the shell on a soft surface ( such as a hand towel ) and push down firmly with the tip of the dowel until the crimp is down close to where its supposed to be. then, WITH THE BASE OF THE SHELL ON A SOFT SURFACE,SUCH AS A HAND TOWEL OR SOMETHING SIMILAR, I LIGHTLY tap on the top of the dowel to seat the crimp.


now, loading the shells as previously stated works great. the table salt acts as a "buffer" to keep the main payload from powdering from the impact of the initial shot. ive had my rock salt loads actually patern almost as good as #6 and#8 shot at about 60 feet, and hold together very well.

as far as personal experience with the business end?.......NO, ive never been shot with one myself.

personal experience being on the delivering end?......YES.....i shot a guy and his girlfriend with my RS loads a few years back for trying to steal my motor of of my boat while it was parked on my property. at about 40 feet, the RS penetrated both of there clothing ( actually, i shot them below the waist, and both were wearing blue jeans) and about 1/2" into there rumps/legs.....they rithed around on the ground screaming like i had busted them with #00 buck....after they healed up, i had the oprotunity to confront them in court about the whole situation. they both said that it was the most excrutiating thing ( being shot with RS) that they could ever imagine. the guy said that he STILL had burning in the wound sites ( i think it was actually power of sugestion, but who knows)..my local DAs office declined to file any charges on me and actually PRAISED me for not shooting them with something more lethal.....


the moral of the story is that SALT ROCK ROUNDS ARE REAL,ARE MOST CERTAINLY LETHAL AT CLOSE RANGES, and can be made to be very accurate.

as was previousley mentioned though.......if you shoot rocksalt thru your guns, please be sure to completely wash it ( wash it meaning to take it off of the gun and rinse it well with HOT water,scrub it with a bore brush, and wash it again with HOT water.when you wipe it down after washing, the heat the metal picked up from the hot water with evaporate any residual moisture) and oil it good. rock salt with eat your barrel worse that the most corosive ammo....

 

[kozak6]

My dad has told me stories of friends who kept rock salt shells handy, and of other friends unfortunate enough to catch some.

 

[sm]

Steve, you have got to log into TFL. I cannot believe YOU did not post in that thread

Hi,
Seems I have some folks "looking out for me".

Unlike Dave going after 'maters, I figured if you are gonna go for it...well then go for it! Cantelopes, Honeydew and Watermelons. Now the raining of Rock-Salt loads were a err...traditonal rite of passge. I passed!

These guys shot up and such as to have the salt rain down. Granted at the time we didn't know that, we thought they were actually trying to hit us. One learns some great skills for cross country track - like running over stuff and hopping fences.

Yes I have used the loads, up close they are lethal to small critters. Still getting pests out of barns this does not put holes in tin roofs and planks.

Popcorn loads are the bestest IMO for sheds, barns, teaching kids by busting balloons. Not corrosive to barrels as salt is.

pax said it best. It is a wonder boys ever grow up to become men

I didn't grow up - just got bigger -Art

I'm with Art on this.