cheap and light snake gun?

[bullseyebob47]

i already carry a s&w .44 mag. the over priced cci snake shot gets bad reviews cause the cap falls off the rounds. does someone else make .44 mag snake shot?

i really want a small cheap .410 handgun under $200 if that exist. even if its single shot. or an ultra light .410 long gun would do.

 

[Russian Hammer]

I think you can get a cobray derringer in .410 fairly cheap but I can't say it would be enjoyable to shoot

 

[Sam1911]

You can get those single-shot NEF .410s Survivor shotguns for about that budget I think: http://www.hr1871.com/Firearms/ShotgunsAndRifles/survivor.asp

That would be a bit better than any handgun shotshell load, and you wouldn't have to stop and load your snake rounds into your carry gun. (Seems if you have time to do that, you've got time to just walk away! Snakes usually aren't mobile and aggressive enough to run you down! )

 

[USAF_Vet]

+1 on the NEF/ H&R .410 shotguns. I had one in a youth stock and it was manageable with just one hand.

Not a whole lot of sub $200 handguns at all, let alone in .410.

 

[Jackal]

Taurus Judge is pretty hard to beat as a snake gun, though it is over your given price.

 

[rule303]

You can get a single shot .45/.410 Comanche for right around $100. I doubt it is the kind of gun that will last for thousands of rounds, but for shooting the occasional snake it should be fine.

 

[Sam1911]

Of course, all this would require that you actually have that dedicated gun with you and quick to hand when you're assaulted by a snake. I'd imagine that happens so rarely that one would tend to be without in the moment one is attacked!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I have settled on my Springfield M6 Scout in .22/.410 over/under with CCI 45 Colt shotshell for close range use (only in gravest extreme). The best policy with snakes is to practice avoidance; the snake round is for unavoidable situations only. (Snakes in a Cabin or work area.)

On the mountain. if I carry a snake load in a gun, it is usually in a revolver, the first round up under the hammer, the rest are ball ammo. Larger pests are more of a serious worry, so other than first round shot, I carry bulleted rounds.

"cci snake shot gets bad reviews cause the cap falls off the rounds"

Have not had that happen to me but I have not shot multiple CCI snake shot in a .44 mag. I have shot CCI shot shells in .22 LR, 45 Colt and .45 ACP. My other snake loads are handloaded with Speer shot caps in .38 Spl and .45 AutoRim.

I did shoot CCI snake loads in .45 Auto; the recoil was sufficient to allow the gun to function. While they did function for multiple rounds, I again loaded one snake round in the chamber and the magazine was hard ball.

ADDED: I have seen Cobray double barrel .45Colt/.410 "survival" guns built on the derringer frame with a non-detachable folding stock. Never got curious enough to buy or try one. Did buy some 12ga Aguila 2" minishells to use in a Baikal Bounty Hunter 12ga double, but Baikals are heavy and nolonger cheap.

 

[Working Man]

Snake Charmer or Snake Charmer II come to mind. They are usual around $160 or so if you can find them.

 

[Outlaw Man]

Those snake charmer shotguns are exactly what I'd get if I was buying a purpose-specific gun.

That said, I've never had any issues with the CCI shot shells in 44 magnum, though I haven't carried/used them much.

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

It doesn't get much easier than loading your own revolver shotshells.

You don't really even need reloading equipment if you happen to have a bullet puller (cheap to buy just about anywhere if you don't). Pull a round of factory target ammo or whatever you have on hand. Use the powder charge as is, or dump a little out if you want to keep to a lighter load. Make an over powder wad using a chamfered empty case to cut little wad cookies out of cardboard or whatever. Seat this wad on top of the powder charge, add whatever shot you want, and add another wad over top of that. Leave about 1/16ths of space between the over shot wad and the mouth of the case. You will fill this space with a drop of elmers glue on top, which after drying should do a good job of keeping moisture out and will keep the rounds from disassembling in your pocket.

 

[barnbwt]

Cheap and Light Snake [Weapon]?

...a stick

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

if you've got time to shoot the snake, you've got time to just walk away

 

[texasgun]

^^^

Exactly. my thoughts.

it's not like you see a snake coming... have time to pull your weapon and fire....

you either see the snake and avoid it. or you don't see it and get suddenly and immediately bitten.

or someone is just looking to shoot snakes for fun... in which case I'd like to quote my dad: "if you kill it - you have to eat it"

 

[MistWolf]

...a stick

This is actually your best answer. One summer, I couldn't step outside without running into a rattlesnake and learned real fast trying to shoot one in the head is a waste of ammunition. If you gotta kill a rattlesnake, get it to strike at a stick until it's tired- about three strikes and they are done- then crush it's head. They do make good eating. Wearing them out also makes them easy to move to a safer area without getting bit or having to kill the snake.

Snakeshot in my experience is about useless

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

I have killed several copperheads with cci shot from a 357 that I carry when I mow the yard, and never had a problem.

 

[dubbleA]

I have a couple of Snake Charmers that I keep at the ranch on equipment. With their stainless steel construction and plastic stock they have been holding up well in a not so good environment. The butt has a trap door in it and holds a few spare rounds too.

I highly recommend them along with Win AA 2 1/2" # 9 skeet loads, they have ruined many a rattlers day.

 

[Ignition Override]

How about "snake boots"?

Back in '76 or '77 in the northern MS Delta, a guy was deer hunting and felt a real 'thunk' against his boot. He blasted the rattlessnake, and suspected that it had been slow to avoid him in the cool November weather.

The skin that I saw-minus the head-was over five feet long. Types over six feet have been seen near Tunica MS and even in remote areas of Shelby Forest State Park-north of Memphis.

 

[goon]

An NEF .410 will absolutely smoke any snake you'd have any business shooting at. As in, decapitate it.

The versions with the Survivor or other thumbhole stocks with the ability to hold a handful of ammo in the stock cost a little more, but standard and youth .410 versions show up for around $75-$120 depending on whether you get it at a yard sale or at gun store. I've got a youth model my dad gave me when I was 11 and it's not going anywhere.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

"Snake gun" is really a misnomer.

Snakes are either avoided (usual method), captured, or shot (or crushed or cut up) as a nuisance. None of which requires anything specialized.

After all, it's not as if snakes will chase you through the woods like a bear could.

A simple .22 will work if you insist on shooting a snake.

 

[dogtown tom]

"Snakes......I hate snakes", Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr

And I'm not a fan of them either.

But there needs to be a reason to dispatch a snake. If he's in my yard, he runs the risk of death. If I'm in the woods or on a trail I let him be.

Snakes are there for a reason. They eat vermin (rats & mice). If your yard/house/barn/whatever is overrun with snakes its likely you have a plentiful supply of food snakes like to eat. Eliminate or reduce what attracts the vermin and the snakes will look elsewhere.

That said, poisonous snakes that are an immediate danger are not welcome in my yard.

Real men kill snakes with sticks. If not a real man, then screaming usually attracts enough attention and someone will volunteer to beat the snake into a pulp for you. (pretty much any male over age twelve will be willing to do this)

Using a stick is superior to a gun because:
Quieter (except for your screaming)
No reload needed (unless you break your stick)
Sticks don't richochet
Sticks require little practice
Sticks come in various lengths to suit the users ability
Sticks require no permit (as of today)
Sticks can be used inside of the city limits (California may require you to paint the tip orange and limits the length of the stick to 12")

Edit to add:
Shovels or hoes are acceptable, but less satisfying, than the multiple strikes required by a good stick.

 

[lemaymiami]

Enjoyed reading all the above threads.... then thought about my own situation where you might encounter a python when you least expect it.. Since I work in Everglades National Park (and they aren't exactly gun friendly) that leaves me with few choices.
A panga or machete, or..... If I have a chance I'll kill everyone I encounter (and that's what the rangers there are supposed to do as well - since they're absolutely changing the eco-system by eating every small animal they encounter). I've considered a .410 single shot for use on my skiff but haven't done it yet (as a permitted guide, my permit would probably be at risk if I started any direct action..). I have seen one python that was easily nearing 20 feet long and I have seen video of a careless snake handler that almost lost a battle with with a bit smaller specimen so the potential threat is real enough... For those who've never been down my way, I'm not in the "freshwater, sawgrass, and alligators" part of the 'glades (that's only about 2/3 of the Park). Where I am it's miles and miles of mangrove jungle wilderness with lots of small bays, creeks, rivers and all of it a long way from the boat ramp.... This thread shows a chart of part of it....
http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/11432.shtml

the coastline shown is 21 miles over the water from nearest facility.... Friends of mine report that the darned animals have spread now throughout the 'glades where they have no natural enemies at all. I haven't seen even a single rabbit along the only road in the Park since 2005 and figure the snakes got them all.... By the way the recent highly publicized "python hunt" was never allowed in the Park -where 90% of the animals are....

 

[Carl N. Brown]

#21 ^

My first sight of snake is panic time. If my brain registers Copperhead or Rattler panick rachets up. If my brain registers Gartersnake or Blacksnake panic evaporates and is replaced with "Cool".

If I turn over boards or such outdoors, I use a hook, rope or gloved hand and lift the farside: if there's a snake underneath it's escape route is away from me. Found a gartersnake near the backyard shed that way last month; they eat large bugs and small rodents, so I was cool and we lived and let live. Copperhead would have met Mr. Shovel or Ms. Hoe since I live in the city.

 

[Sam1911]

As an aside: Copperhead sightings are far less common than most people believe -- especially those people who see them often!

There are other, more common, species of snake that are harmless to people, and actually quite beneficial, which are easily mistaken for copperheads. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a banded or northern watersnake and had multiple guys around me sagely look on and say, "Yup, copperhead. Place is loaded with 'em!"

Here's more: http://blogs.lifeandscience.org/greg-dodge/2013/05/29/northern-water-snake-vs-copperhead/

I've called a biologist pal of mine to ask if he would give me an identification of a snake I took a picture of. He asked where I saw it and immediately said, "Nope, not a copperhead." They're very territorial, or rather very specific about where they live, according to him, and he knew that the location I was in was not one of the zones they inhabit.

/End of Aside.

 

[MtnCreek]

Why not just shoot them w/ your everyday ammo? Last snake I killed was last Thursday or Friday and I shot it with a 9mm. Three shots to the (chest???) and it was done other than a little post-dead squirming. I'm sure one would have been enough, but I have plenty of ammo, so I overdosed.

Edit: Someone mentioned above about having an environment that attracts snakes. Good point and the snake I shot was probably due to me making good snake habitat. I have not cleaned up my bird field and it's full of mice taking cover and eating the leftover seed. I've noticed cats and hawks out there, I assume eating the mice. A large rattler was run over a few weeks ago where this field meets the road and I killed a small rattler in the same spot. Bushhogging will probably send them somewhere else.