Snake loads in a C/B revolver?

[Kermit]

So while walking about in AZ with my son-in-law, we happened on a sizeable and venonous snake. Not something we find much here on the wet side of the Cascades and north of the Columbia. He dispached it with a shot load from a little North American Arms .22 mag. I appreciated the gesture, as I'm allergic to bee stings and have been told I definitely don't want to experience snakebite. One of his buddies packs one of those Bond Arms .410 derringers to the same purpose, but there's the recoil question, and the two shot issue.

So I got to wondering about shot loads in a short-barreled perc revolver. Anyone do this? If so, how, specifically? Bigger bore better? Would a .31 do the deed? The .22 mag sure did.

I haven't owned a percussion revolver in absolute decades, but just might again. I sorta like the cool factor in packing such a snake gun, but I'd kinda like reliability in case of need.

Discussion?

[Three Hawks]

I grew up in snake country.  Learned to avoid 'em.   Unlike the two legged variety, the slithery ones try to avoid us.  That's why they rattle.  

Hear the buzz?  [size=150]STAND STILL ![/size] The snake will leave.  Why kill a perfectly good vermin control  officer unless you're going to eat him?

My snake load for the two leggers is  98 gr. Speer .32 cal. Hollow Base Wadcutters loaded base out over 3.5 gr of Unique in my lil' M1895 Nagant 7-shooter.  No idea what it'll do to a 2-legged Snake, but it will blow a jack rabbit in half at 15 yds.

I know this sounds like heresy, but for me BP is to play with.  When it comes to actually defending myself against a clear and present danger I use fixed ammo with smokeless powder in a gun I know will work.  WITHOUT. FAIL.  EVERY. DANG. TIME.

Three Hawks

[Kermit]

Aw, gee, Three! Thanks for disabusing me of my fantasy. I think. Living here where snakes are either garter snakes or rubber boas, my experience is limited.

Reliability, as in kinda like my house gun is a modrun slide-type 12-bore, I reckon. I haven't packed a sidearm since my job "required" that little Chief's Special that's still in the safe.

[Tin Type]

I have a question about C/B revolvers.  Decades ago,I owned a Ruger New Old Army C/B .45 cal.  Stanless steel... OK, I fired it a lot in eastern WA.  I never had it missfire.  Is this luck? or ...  Are C/B pistols prone to misfire?

[R.M.]

I've had many of them, and in my mind, the Ruger Old Army is about the best shooting revolver out there.
As far as misfires go, a lot depends on cap quality, cap fit, nipple, and powder used. I suppose the shooter has a lot to do with it too.
I found that the Italian imports just don't stand up to the thousands of rounds I used to put through them. For the occasional shooter, I'm sure they'd be fine.

[FG1]

Kermit , I dont see why you couldnt use a wonder wad with the same weight of #9 shot as the ball/bullet or perhaps a little more seeing how it wont build the same pressure as a ball as theres less resistance and a over shot card from tablet backing type material or thicker .
 I would check other chambers in cylinder to make sure the charge was still seated before firing though after firing the next shot.

[quigleysharps4570]

the slithery ones try to avoid us.  That's why they rattle.  

The ones that bite the barefoot kids around here don't rattle...copperheads. Vermin control...rattle or not...I'll kill every one I see.

[Mule Brain]

I have a question about C/B revolvers.  Decades ago,I owned a Ruger New Old Army C/B .45 cal.  Stanless steel... OK, I fired it a lot in eastern WA.  I never had it missfire.  Is this luck? or ...  Are C/B pistols prone to misfire?

I don't think it is luck at all!

Keep the gun clean, and be sure the nipples are all clear! I have yet to have a misfire myself, and have much faith in them!

[huntinguy]

Hear the buzz?  [size=150]STAND STILL ![/size] The snake will leave.  Why kill a perfectly good vermin control  officer unless you're going to eat him?

Three Hawks

Does that mean I wasted two perfectly good 20Gauge loads on rattle snakes that were chasing my dog? Those two snakes taught me that the critters can be very aggressive and that a snake can strike without being coiled.

Never tried shot in a CB revolver but in a single shot pistol it works ok. Just don't shoot far enough that the shot spins out like a doughnut.

[Ironwood]

My experience with shot loads in a .44 caliber revolver have been less than my favorable.  To the point they are almost useless.  I was using #8 shot.  Smaller shot might preform better.  After 3 shots at close range at a water moccasin I changed to a bullet and dispatched the rascal.  Like Three Hawks, I've decided bullets are better.

Here in East Texas we don't have the Diamondback rattler.  However, we have one that might even be worse.  The Canebrake or Timber Rattler gets mighty big.  Most I've seen have a squirrel inside them.  

Of course the Canebrake rattler is consider an endangered species here in Texas and as such is protected.

[jbullard1]

I like the the cover Gene

A rattler is still a rattler

[Three Hawks]

I have a question about C/B revolvers.  Decades ago,I owned a Ruger New Old Army C/B .45 cal.  Stanless steel... OK, I fired it a lot in eastern WA.  I never had it missfire.  Is this luck? or ...  Are C/B pistols prone to misfire?

likening all cap and ball revolvers to the Ruger Old Army is disenengenuous.   I hardly regard it as a muzzleloader as it is a retrofit of the Ruger Super Blackhawk, a strong, reliable, well made MODERN arm.  

I (foolishly it seems) assumed Kermit was thinking Colt style open tops and replicas of c&b arms made in the 19th century.   I was also not assuming only misfires, although I've experienced those even with good quality replicas.  I was thinking more of a load moving in the cylinder under recoil, which I've experienced as well,  and cap fragments jamming the cylinder at the rear and/or shot and wadding fragments jamming the cylinder at the front.

Everyone is right in a measure, there are certainly some reliable c&b revolvers, but in a situation where I or someone I value is in danger, I want a good modern gun with good fresh modern ammo.

Like I said before, in my life Black Powder and loose projectiles are recreational.    A modern sidearm  loaded with modern fixed ammo is for business.  And there are commercially loaded shot cartridges made in nearly every handgun caliber.  

If I deem it necessary to pull my thoroughly  modern .38 Spec. heavy bbl revolver I can depend on each of the six rounds in the cylinder discharging with the full power I expect.   Not only that, but I am not signatory to the Geneva Convention, and any adversary can expect to be hit with an extra lethal expanding jacketted bullet.  Several times.

Your mileage, as always, may vary.

Three Hawks

[Uncle Russ]

Gene, Rattlers can get big!

FWIW: Years ago, while living in Texas, there was this place outside of El Paso know as "Hueco Tanks" (Pronounced as Waco Tanks by us gringos) and it was a rattle snake haven.

Students from U.T.E.P (University of Texas, El Paso) captured a 8.5 foot, 45 pounder for their lab.... and they did it by hand!
No stick, no rope, no loop on a stick, no nothing but their bare hands!
One would think University students would have better sense, but apparently that is not always true.

At Cumberland Gap Virginia, at the entrance to the park, there is a Cane Break Rattler in a large glass cage of formaldehyde(?sp) that was killed by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) back during the Great Depression, and it weighs over 80# and is about 12' long, if I remember correctly...I do remember the 80 pound part, but I am no longer sure about the length...anyway, it is big!

Back when I was much younger, and a whole lot dumber, we would go out to Hueco Tanks to get rattlesnake meat for some of our party's.
(Supposedly this adds class to party's in the Southwest) The weapon of choice was the lowly .22 with bird-shot.

To get back on the subject, I would say that a C&B, properly loaded, would do the job. but I personally no longer have any desire to get within pistol range of any snake.....when it comes to snakes, I'm a lot like 3-Hawks. Besides that, they seem to always make me hurt myself!

Uncle Russ...

[Ironwood]

RussB, not to drift away from the topic, I've been to Hueco Tanks.  That was some years ago.  I understand TP&WD has made a park out of it.    

I've also had better luck with the .22 "rat" shot cartridge than I did with the .44 shot cartridge.  I think the reason might be the smaller shot used in the .22 shot cartridge.

C&B Revolvers are not consider muzzleloaders by TP&WD.  Therefore they are not legal during the short muzzleloader season we have here.

[2-bellys]

all snakes are in-danger if i see them first  good snake -bad snake there all the same and by the first- right of adrenalin flow must die on site snakes are pure evil  if they were any good  they would not slither and slide in  the high weeds and  make you say bad things when you see one, a snake actually has the power to make a full grown  man fall down by doing nothing more than jumping out in front of you on a trail or when you are climbing up a steep rocky grade he only has to show his  slimy head with those slit eyes ,yes if snakes were people i would be the most racist  person alive  unless one sneaked up on me .in Missouri the conservation dept is more concerned about snake welfare than people a place called mingo is a wildlife sanctuary and has a place that is called the rock ledge in February you can observe on a warm day thousands of snakes  just laying about  in the sun and signs everywhere saying do not molest snakes,well all i can say is a man would have to be one sick puppy to even consider  a snake molesting material ,wonder if you did molest one  if you have to register as a snake offender,  any way whether they are useful or not  i cant stand to be close to one ,had a garter snake  climb up my pants leg on the inside once ,not  really knowing  how to deal with it i grabbed  him all i got was part of his body  thought i just reach down  and get the tail an pull him out  couldn't  get my hand up the pant leg far enough  only recourse shuck the pants  dropped em where i  stood unaware my neighbor lady was in her garden there i stood all 300 lbs of me pants to the ground and  evil 8" garter snake in hand when  dear ol: Mrs Adkins  hollered tom what the h--- are you doing ,tried to ex plane snake up my pants  i could talk or breath  only mimic a few words  mrs,adkins being near 80 only heard  snake and with my pants down past my knees  who knows what was going through her mind so  as i say snakes even if they are good can cause a large amount of problems even if you try to leave them alone.