Making 44Mag snakeshot

[bigbossman]

I will be going hunting soon, in a place that may have a pretty good population of rattlesnakes. I went to Sportsman's Warehouse to buy some snake-shot - all they had was .45 Colt, and it was $20 for a box of 20. I decided to try making my own, since I had everything on-hand to do it save the capsules.

Turns out, it was pretty easy and works great. I built up 10 rounds and took them to the local range to test. It did a pretty good number on a can set at 3 -4 yards, so success! I'm now going into production.

I did have to buy a hollow punch set from Harbor Freight for $9.99 to get a 7/16" punch for the over powder and shot cards, but other than that it was a simple affair. A .7cc Lee dipper of a fairly fast powder, over-powder card punched from a target face, #8 shot filled to just below the rim, and an over-shot card punched from a ice cream sandwich box. The top wad is held in place by running the completed round through a .44Mag seating die set to roll crimp. The 7/16" punch creates a card that is just a bit bigger than the I.D. of the case, but can be thumb seated and then fully seated by the back end of a pencil or other tool.

The powder weighs in at about 8gr, and the shot load is about 150gr.

[edgerly779]

Slick. I use shot capsules

[bigbossman]

Slick. I use shot capsules

I would have, but that involves shipping and extra time waiting for them to arrive. I wanted to do it NOW.

[sealocan]

I was always under impressed with those little commercially made .22 rimfire shot shells because of their low power and penetration but now we're talking!

With the power and capacity of the 44.!

Nice work and thank you for sharing it with us.

[bigbossman]

I was always under impressed with those little commercially made .22 rimfire shot shells because of their low power and penetration but now we're talking!

With the power and capacity of the 44.!

Nice work and thank you for sharing it with us.

Don't discount the .22 shot shells. I hunted rats in my friends outdoor aviary one night. It killed rats dead. Big rats.

[bigbossman]

OK - process improvement!!!

I reload for .410 shotgun, and got to thinking..... a .410 wad might be just the ticket. Sure enough, a trimmed .410 wad fits snugly into the case over the powder. That eliminates the need for an over-powder card. It does decrease the shot load somewhat, but it sure works slick. I now have to test the efficacy of this variation, to make sure the wad doesn't get stuck or do something funny.

[Tripplet918]

How fun. Thanks for sharing.

[FF90]

OK - process improvement!!!

I reload for .410 shotgun, and got to thinking..... a .410 wad might be just the ticket. Sure enough, a trimmed .410 wad fits snugly into the case over the powder. That eliminates the need for an over-powder card. It does decrease the shot load somewhat, but it sure works slick. I now have to test the efficacy of this variation, to make sure the wad doesn't get stuck or do something funny.

Don't hold me to this, been a long time, but I think for 45ACP shotshells, a .410 wad is used with a .44 or .45 gas check inverted, crimped on top to seal the load, and maybe a drop of melted paraffin on the top wad to seal it ??

Think that the paraffin would hold his paper top wad in place better that a crimp alone would

[bigbossman]

Don't hold me to this, been a long time, but I think for 45ACP shotshells, a .410 wad is used with a .44 or .45 gas check inverted, crimped on top to seal the load, and maybe a drop of melted paraffin on the top wad to seal it ??

Think that the paraffin would hold his paper top wad in place better that a crimp alone would

That sounds like it would work, too. Don't have any gas checks on-hand, though. I do have paraffin, so maybe I'll add a drop to the top of each.

Here's a question - just loading the shot into the case gave me a decent pattern. Will adding the .410 wad give me a donut pattern, as a result of the wad engaging the rifling?

[bohoki]

neato so do you make it a compressed load and over crimp them?

i was thinkin of making some shotshells putting a pinch of shot in a sandwich baggie then twist it and put a piece of twist tie to hold it then load it twist tie down hmm maybe put a wad card in there with the shot

[TAS]

I like the idea of making your own snake shot, especially without the capsules. I think the capsules are just too fragile.

I had my .44 loaded once with a mix of both snake shot and regular magnum rounds. After firing a regular round, the recoil shattered one of the capsules in the cylinder and dang near locked up the revolvers from the shot going all over the place. It certainly made a mess.

[PoorRichRichard]

Very cool. I’m going to have to try this when I start loading .38 and .357.

[NapalmCheese]

Don't hold me to this, been a long time, but I think for 45ACP shotshells, a .410 wad is used with a .44 or .45 gas check inverted, crimped on top to seal the load, and maybe a drop of melted paraffin on the top wad to seal it ??

Think that the paraffin would hold his paper top wad in place better that a crimp alone would

I reload brass shotshells, and they are loaded pretty much the same way Bigbossman is loading his .44 snake shells. The difference being I don't crimp my shotshells at all (though historically they were often crimped). Instead, I just pour in enough Elmer's glue to cover the entire overshot card and flow up the side of the brass. I imagine the same would work for these, and you don't have to mess with melted wax. On another historical note, brass shells were often sealed and 'waterproofed' with water glass (sodium silicate).

[bigbossman]

neato so do you make it a compressed load and over crimp them?

I just tamped the powder down with the card over the powder, filled it with shot, and then covered/crimped it. No real compression, just making sure that everything it tight with no air gaps.

[sofbak]

Not to whiz in your shotshell wheaties but, are you loading lead shot?
Lead loaded ammo could het you in a fix in more than one south west state.