ayoob files: dueling rifles - Jeffersonian's Home Page

Duke’s home site on his piece of the Big Sky country. At
one time or the other he has killed rattlers near all of the
buildings and near many of the vehicles.
with a .44 Spl/Mag one containing
approximately 170 #9 size pellets.
It worked just fine.
A natural question would be, “Why
insist on revolvers? CCI shotshells also
come in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 Auto
calibers.” That’s true and in fact the .45
Auto shotshells are labeled as carrying
210 #9 pellets as opposed to the .45
Colt’s approximately 150 of the same
size. My preference is due to reliability.
From experience I know a semi-auto
pistol cannot be counted on to function
for more than the first round with shotshells.
I’ve definitely encountered more
than one rattler at a time.
As an aside, I’d like to stress you
should pay attention to the label on
CCI’s .45 Auto shotshells. It says not
to use them in revolvers because cylinder
lock-up may occur. I took that
as a direct challenge and fired one in
an S&W Model 22 .45 Auto revolver.
Left: A pattern made by Duke’s
.44 Special shotshell handloads
using #12 shot. Duke likes the
smaller shot and dense pattern.
Below: A pattern made by cci .38
Special shotshells from approximately
10 feet. the bigger bores throw
more shot.
“ snAke- LoVers And
greenies MAY ABhor MY
kiLLing of rAttLers.
i AM neither. ”
Believe them — a wooden mallet was
needed to get the cylinder open.
Except One Thing
My only complaint about CCI factory
handgun shotshells is strictly
opinion. I think for the most part the big
bore ones use shot too large for the purpose.
For .22s and 9mm they use #12
and #11 shot respectively. Then they go
to #9 for everything else. Over a quarter
century back I landed a single bag of
#12 shot and used it exclusively for my
snake loads. It works wonderfully for
our prairie rattlers and they don’t even
squiggle after blowing a cloud of #12
into them. Admittedly, however, it may
be too small for some of those monster
size rattlers found in warmer climates.
In fact the rattler that prompted this
article was larger than we normally see
around here. I didn’t feel over-gunned
with the CCI .44 Spl/Mag rounds with
#9 shot, although it did squiggle around
a bit after being shot. They have never
done that when hit with #12 shot.
Snake- lovers and greenies may
abhor my killing of rattlers. I am neither.
Some well-intentioned souls have
even suggested I relocate them. First,
many people get snake-bit by trying to
handle the things. That will never be my
fate. And second, this area is populated
enough that moving a rattler will just
make it someone else’s problem.
For the continued safety of my
wife, myself, our livestock and our
treasured pets I shoot every rattlesnake
encountered around here, all the while
leaving harmless reptiles to go on their
way. CCI shotshells and Speer plastic
shot capsules allow me to do that in
what I consider the safest
possible manner.
*
For more info: www.americanhandgunner.
com/cci-ammunition, (866) 286-7436
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 53