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A handgun that shoots shotgun shells

9K views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  Kristi 
#1 ·
I would like a very lightweight and small handgun that shoots shotgun shells. I am a nature photographer who would like to have this for rattlesnakes and just general protrection. Many thanks in advance.
 
#5 ·
Kristi said:
I would like a very lightweight and small handgun that shoots shotgun shells. I am a nature photographer who would like to have this for rattlesnakes and just general protrection. Many thanks in advance.

Considering that a snake isn't deangerous to you for much more than the snake's length, seems like 20 or 25 feet range would be enough (aren't a whole bunch of 20 footers out there). With that in mind, the .44mag. shotshells loaded by CCi seem to do the trick just fine.

Smaller and a little elss effective are the .38shot shells...still seem to do the job ut to 20 feet without a problem.

Nothing special baout the guns, just the ammo fed them.

the big Taurus is one deveil of a large handgun...think that will be your first impression upon seeing ne, and the impression is correct. The CCi shotshell ammo can be used in "normal" sized guns and is effective past the danger range of snakes.
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Nature photographer....then you already know that most snakes should be left alone to go on about their snake-lives. IT's just real hard to sort out the good from teh bad when they slither over your boot top....identification is mostly after the fact.
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Are more complicated ways, but using a gas check as an over-powder wad, filling with shot, and a second gas ceck as an over shot wad is pretty traditonal.

Have also used the thick dry-lubed felt wads sold for 44 cap and ball handguns as my over powder wad and a cut cardborad wad as my over shot wad. Usually will glue the overshot wad in place, then lightly crimp while the glue (nothing facncy...basic Elmer's white glue works fine) is still wet. Idea of the light crimp is to make the cse mouth a bit smaller than the card borad wad so it won't recoil or vibrate out of place spilling the shot.

Would use small sized shot. Large shot has more energy, but you'll run out of pattern long before that becomes a factor...and the more shot, the better for this application. hard to find real small shot locally...smallest usually found locally will be wiehter 9's or 8's, so mostly that gets used.

One load yu might like is to use a cap-and-ball felt wad over the powder, shot, then crimp the case into the middle of a .433" round ball (sold for muzzle loaders). The ball will go just about where you point the gun and the shot fills a pattern around the ball...miss the snake with the ball, and you stil get him with th shot. Buess the good thing about this load is that if you accidently run into something larger tahn you thought was out there, one of those .433" balls on top of the load will take care of it.

The simplest method, fo a guy who only needs a handful of rounds a year, is to buy the empty Speer shot caps and load those.
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YEARS ago, were REMCO shot cups. Pretty much like the Speer product in concept, except (1) the shot caps cam pre-filled with shot (2) they were longer and carried more shot (3) were sealed one piece units. Worked fine for me, but in some guns had this tendecnty to very rarely not shatter the shot cap...so once in awhile would launch a tumbling whole shotcap: was interresting when one of those un-opened caps hit a snake.
 
#9 ·
Ribbonstone,

Your reply was excellent and much appreciated. I am assuming you fill the void entirely between the overpowder wad and the case mouth with shot and that the weight of the shot doesn't matter. Could you also provide some indication of powder used and grains? Thanks.

Now on to my dumb question. I'm not familiar with Speer shot caps and really don't know what they are. Could you explain? Thanks again.
 
#10 ·
Years ago in either American Rifleman or Guns & Ammo there was a story about a Charter Arms 44 special they modified i,e reamed the chambers, And used a cut down rifle case and made a "shotgun" out of it. I have no idea how long ago it was though. Something to look for. I liked my 10" contender 45-410 barrel that I went ahead and bought a BFR 5 shot 410. Both of these guns have killed alot of snowshoes and a few grouse. Probably too big for a photographer to tote around. I seen a few derringers in 410. Think I would rather fight the snake than shoot one of those though. All in all, Snakes are not so bad. Actually they do alot of good. Best free laxative available for some people. God Bless Steve
 
#11 ·
My Tompson Center Contender .44 Mag came with a screw in knife that screws in the end of the barrel to split the plastic cup that holds the shot as it comes out the end of the barrel. I reload mine and it makes a good snake gun. They don't hold enough shot to be very effective as a hunting load.
 
#14 ·
.44 shot load

Tamid said:
Does anyone have receipe for loading a 44 mag like a shotshell? Sure would come in handy in the mountains for grouse.
i have an old speer loading manual w/ a load in it that uses their shotcapsules,manual #11.p.459-461.
or,this is what i did, (couldn't find the shotcapsules)
.44 mag. case
standard large pistol primer
4.0 grains of red dot
177 grains (wt.) of #7.5 shot
2 wads cut from a milk carton w/ a cartridge case (or ?, must be .430 +/-)
prime case,drop in powder, press in 1 wad (push down w/ a dowel or ?, make sure it seats flat).
i then addad a grease wad( don't know if one is needed, but i put one in,(denim, cut w/ case, soaked w/ some sort of black powder (soft) lube)
pour in shot (i shook it a little to settle it )
place top wad on
crimp case over the top wad
i sealed the cases w/ some clear fingernail polish (read someplace of someone doing that) i used it just to help the wad stay put, used it as a glue.
i don't know if they will take grouse but if you throw up an empty pop can, w/ the can on top of the front sight. i can hit the can twice before it gets to far away, sometimes 3 times.
LOTS OF FUN.
 
#17 ·
I use the Speer shotshell capsules. I got mine at a local sporting goods store, but I'm sure Cabela's sells them. I load them for my .357 Mag, 5 grains of IMR 700X, good for 1000 FPS. They are really easy to use, I have to use #8 or smaller shot in my .357, Speer shows that you can use up to size 7 1/2 shot in a 44 special/magnum.

I would go with a Ruger Sp101, small, light, and it'll give you a fighting chance if you run into something more than a snake.
 
#18 ·
If you want a real shotgun shell, look at the Thomson
Center Contenders with the 44 or 45LC bbls that also
accept 410 shotgun shells, as an earlier poster indicated.

If you want to simply shoot handgun caliber shotshells, look for any revolver in 38, 357, 44 Mag, or 45 Colt caliber and buy the CCI shotshells (much less effective range though).
 
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