About 12 years ago I took the head off a rattlesnake from 6' away with the original CCI 38/357 snake shot load out of a 4" GP100. Starting in March or April, I put a snake shot load into the first chamber of my revolvers when I go out into the woods and continue to do so until deer season begins here in VA.Originally Posted by GJM
I tried the 9mm snake shot in my G19, but it wouldn't cycle. I'll have to try it again with the G48.
Chris
A few years back was amazed when the CCI 9mm shotloads ran through my G19 just fine. I can't recall if it was a Gen 3 or 4 that day. Seemed the patterns were ok at 6' or so. I don't think I tried 10'. I figured I'd have to be pretty close.
I've always read that a snubbie will pattern better than longer barrels as more time in the rifling = worse patterns.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
The best hands down snake gun (even though I will get flamed for it) is a Taurus public defender poly. I have taken out quite a few with that thing, only problem is I hate carrying it because A: it's a Taurus. B: I need protection from other things than just snakes.
Last couple of years I have experimented with 9mm CCI birdshot and found it to run reliably in Beretta PX 4 and my m9a3. Only problem with that is I didn't like the fact that if it wasn't a snake then I have to try to waste a shot quick basically to get to self defense rounds, that and the plastic shells popping off or cracking from loading them in and out of a autoloader and such.
My final setup is the best I can come up with for a have a little something for anything occasion. I have dispatched smaller rattlers that were in my yard in short grass with a LCR 22 mag CCI birdshot. It worked quite well for that, but after my dog stepped on one in the tall weeds last summer the 22 mag was not effective with all the brush. So now it is a ruger lcrx 357 mag stoked with #9 and #4 I believe CCI birdshot. They are the ones in the blue and red cap. The #4 doesn't have much shot in them at all and spread really bad, if it wasn't for that they would be great, but since they do spread you have to be quite close.
I have the LCR in my pocket from March to mid December anymore around here. So it gets to be a lot carrying a revolver in my pocket and a G19 in virtually the same place on my belt. So I found the best way to disperse weight and be more comfortable is a lcr in my left pocket ( non dominant hand ) and either a G42 in my right pocket if I am right around the house or a G43 or G48 aiwb and lcr in my left pocket. Anything 22 mag and up birdshot should do the trick. Thick brush then I'd go 9mm or 38 special and up. I like to keep my ammo separated because I don't want to accidentally shoot a hole in my house or vice versa because I thought the first round was birdshot. And no matter how many times I've come across venomous snakes, my heart starts beating like crazy and virtually freeze in my tracks so I keep it as simple as possible with which gun does what.
Even though I dislike venomous snakes and the paranoia they can cause for me most of the year, I know they aren't actively searching my pets or me out trying to kill us. And I know they are vital to the ecosystem. But I also know how dogs and pets are and they are virtually oblivious to snakes from what I have seen. They don't smell them or see them generally. So my philosophy has been if they are out in the woods or way out in one of the fields or ponds I leave them alone, unless my pets are in danger. But if venomous snakes are in my yard or by my house or in my garage again I dispatch them as quickly and humanely as possible.
A friend of mine has a Taurus Judge that he bought for snakes or feral hogs while bow hunting. I can't comment on how well it works for that purpose but, having never shot anything like that before, shooting it at the range and seeing what it did to paper targets was hilarious.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
I won't lie, the judge is a very fun to shoot gun. I wish you could shoot the high power 45 colt out of them, might have something there then. It is good for squirrel at close range too. Actually all in all it is a pretty decent choice for a tackle box gun. That S&W governor would probably be a little better, but too expensive for me for the purpose I'd have for it. If I knew CCI had birdshot back when I bought the taurus then I probably wouldn't have got it. But then again it definitely excels as a role of a snake gun.
I am preparing my stuff for a match tomorrow, so I had both out this afternoon.
Based on a purely subjective ‘feel’ I’d say, allowing for the physical size difference between a G19.5 and a G43X, the two Overwatch triggers are like peas in a pod.
My G19 (4,500 + rounds) might be a tad slicker / lighter at the wall, but not my much over my G43X (400 + rounds).
Hope this helps.
@ssb @cornstalker
Last edited by RJ; 02-28-2020 at 02:20 PM.
I bought the NP3 trigger bar and plunger today for the 43X. Hoping it smooths up the break some -- I've been having some pretty dismal performance on B8s and low-percentage targets compared to my G19s. For reference, I tend to shoot about 94-97 on a B8 at 25yds with my G19; with the 43X, I can hold them all in the black maybe 4-5 times out of 10. I'm attributing a lot of that to the break -- when shooting 1" dots today, I noticed some very bad trigger presses which all but disappeared when I switched to the G19.
Also today, failures to return to battery reared their head again, this time with my 147gr reloads. This is my first "large" batch of reloads and I'm not quite ready to attribute them to the gun just yet, but nevertheless, as much as I like the gun, I've had more stoppages in the past three months with my 43X than I have with all of my pistols in... probably five years. I've had five failures to return to battery (four today with my 147gr reloads, one last month with 115gr Federal) and one failure to eject with 115gr Remington.
My new G48 shot quite well today. I'm waiting on the new mini Holosuns and then it'll be sent off for milling.
Went into the LGS today, and they had some inventory. Since I had a big credit balance, I grabbed a 365XL and 43X MOS. Took them to the range, pulled them out of the box with the irons as set by the two factories, and shot them both at about 15 yards. This is the result of shooting the two guns, which I proclaimed fine.
When I got home, I realized I had a Swampfox Sentinel auto new in the box, and since it didn’t require a plate I installed it. Found an Ameriglo front sight and reversed the plastic Glock rear, so I don’t have the white outline distracting me. Haven’t seen, or remember seeing, many reliability/durability reports on the small Swampfox, so I will see what happens.
507K went right on the 365XL. Used my wife’s laser thingee to get a rough zero. She also bought the daddy big bucks JCN model, but that is for another day. I really like a red dot on a slimline pistol as it makes it perform more like a mid size for me.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Have a friend who purchased a Springfield Hellcat a few weeks ago, and this past weekend he debuted the pistol in IDPA competition with a Swampfox optic mounted on it. (I know nothing about these optics, so don't know if there are different versions. In any event, I don't know the particulars other than it was "mini"in size and was made by Swampfox).
He got seven rounds into the first stage of the day before the optic quit working. He fiddled with it for quite a while, and gave up. Said he would be contacting the manufacturer.
Sample size of one.
With my track record, I am pretty sure if something will break, it will happen to me!
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
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