Copperheads, the .22 shot shell and the new "woods gun" range report....

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  • indiucky

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    As some of you know we just bought us a little chunk of copperhead heaven down here on the river...Beautiful land but very snake-y....very woodcock-y too but the subject of this post is it's very, very snake-y....Now I like snakes, always have and I have never had any desire to harm them nor do I now...But......I do not think much of copperheads....They are not gentlemanly like a rattlesnake, who will warn you so as to give one an opportunity to allow a wide swing around them...Copperheads are just "there" all of a sudden....I had been carrying my model 18-2 beater with the first two loads of CCI .22 shot shells for any such emergency that may arise...The weather has been warming up and the ticks and the copperheads usually come out around the same time of year.....

    While perusing youtube and watching videos regarding the various shot loads out a weapon I can across a video where a young man had caught a black rat snake in his hen house and decided to eliminate the intruder with his .22 rifle loaded with CCI .22 shot shells on the snake (I would have let him live but that's just me...Black Snake lives matter.....I have heard that a big old rat snake will keep copperheads from taking up residence on a place...) The young man shot...The snake got mad...He shot again...The snake got madder...He shot again...Snake got even madder...."Hmmmm" says I, "Perhaps my woods gun caliber should start with a "4" instead of a "2".....

    So I dug out my Uberti SAA clone with the brass grip frame, aka "Spaghetti Western" Colt knockoff, in .45 long colt and bought me some .45 long colt shot loads....What a difference.....

    Here are some pics...I shot twice, once at 3 yards and then once at about 5 yards...Here are the results...I have come to the conclusion that .22 shot shells are for wingshooting hornets and that's about it...Anything else and you are just apt to make them angry...

    IMHO.....








    Here are some pics of the terrain...It's like you look up copperhead habitat in the dictionary and one of these pics shows up...






    I do not advocate the killing of even copperheads normally.....In the woods, even my woods, I will normally just let them slide on by but there are spots in this terrain where the trail is not big enough for both of you and there ain't no "go around" to "go around to"....
     
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    possum_128

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    I have found years ago that it takes 3-4 shots with .22 shot shells to kill a snake and only 2 shots from a regular .22 to do the same. Regular .22's are far cheaper and more deadly than .22 shot shells. Therefore, I no longer buy the shot shells.:twocents:
     

    gmcttr

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    Thank you for your attempt to generally leave snakes alone. "No go around" simply means it's time to turn around.

    While this doesn't seem to apply to you, I never understood shooting a snake. If you have time to aim and shoot, you have more than enough time to back away.
     

    indiucky

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    "No go around" simply means it's time to turn around.

    Our daughter is on the Autism spectrum......I wish it were as simple as "it's time to turn around" but trust me when I say it's a wee bit more complicated than that....

    Our land......Her playground.......A copperhead on her playground is not something I will allow.....

    If I get to kingdom and Steve Irwin or Marlin Perkins give me a rash of crap about it I'll deal with it then....:)
     

    canterbc

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    Back when I lived in Florida (just last year) we had a big snake problem. We lived in south central FL on the Gulf coast. Our neighborhood was on a river and a creek was the back boundary of our yard. The creek was at the bottom of a fairly good sized ravine that was overgrown with all kinds of things. I had to clear it out to make it look a bit better. After reading about the problems with shot shells, I just carried a 12 ga. In our neighborhood we had 4 types of poisonous snakes. We had copperheads, coral snakes, rattlers and cotton mouths. I've seen multiple cotton mouths chase people, those suckers are mean and I wasn't taking any chances. Thankfully I never had to shoot one. Saw a coral snake but it got scared and made its way on down the hill.
     

    KJQ6945

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    I can relocate them for you. All snake lives matter. :)

    Copperhead

    5006F31B-5CED-47B8-A1E1-2AC89CC540AE_zpshhwqbhbb.jpg



    Milksnake

    FE514F93-46B6-4CC4-8596-1BF64FDB502E_zpsznfsgybo.jpg
     

    gmcttr

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    Our daughter is on the Autism spectrum......I wish it were as simple as "it's time to turn around" but trust me when I say it's a wee bit more complicated than that........:)

    Now I better understand and agree with your thoughts. Carry on.:yesway:
     

    oldpink

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    Just as a suggestion for a bit better killing power, CCI has fairly recently offered a version of their handgun shotshells with #4 shot.
    I'd go with that to ensure an instantly dead venomous snake getting obstreperous.
     

    White Squirrel

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    I think you are on the right track with the .45 Colt. By the way, that is some beautiful land you have there, but most definitely looks "snakey". I don't blame you for protecting your daughter.
     

    oldpink

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    I think you are on the right track with the .45 Colt. By the way, that is some beautiful land you have there, but most definitely looks "snakey". I don't blame you for protecting your daughter.

    Yep
    134 years old and counting, and it's still one of the most popular handgun rounds of them all.
    There's a solid reason for that.
     

    00Buck

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    Jan 15, 2012
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    Thanks for the post, looks like the wads from your 45lc almost hit the head. I wouldn't expect the shot from a handgun to produce anything other than a wound unless you were standing directly over the target less than three feet away.

    Kinda apples to oranges but a long time ago I took a pump 22 smooth bore to the barn with a couple boxes of the old crimped style 22 bird shot. My Grandfather gave it to me just before he left for work on a bright sunny summer morning and told me to get rid of the pigeons in the barn loft. 20 min later out of cartridges and not a single pigeon was harmed. I went to the house and grabbed his old Win 410 singe shot with #6 shot and sat in idle waiting for the pigeons to return. This resulted in three dead pigeons and two holes in the tin of the barn. My Grandfather came unglued and asked why I was using the 410 in the hay loft of the barn. I explained to him how the 22 birdshot wouldn't harm a fly. He explained to me that was why he sent me to the barn with it.

    On a side note, Why the chicken thighs laying on the table? I thought you were going to shoot them and thought this would be really interesting. After reading I went back to the photo and seen the charcoal and determined that maybe you were just getting ready for a cook out when you decided to post it. Although it would be interesting to see what they would do to a chicken thigh at 3 feet away.
     
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