[caneman]

I live at the lake and while I expect to have snakes I've recently started seeing evidence of water moccasins or rattlesnakes. My biggest dog got nailed about ten days ago and it took till yesterday for her to look like she was getting over it.

It's bad enough with the dog but we got new neighbors moved in last weekend and their grandkids 4, 6 and 9 are going to be there many weekends. The grandparents for now are only there on weekends so they would have to be shooting while the kids are there.

Since I'll be shooting towards the house I think 410 will be the best ticket to avoid overspray. Range about 10 yards from the dock is well within distance for a 410.

[Blammer]

:up: a .22 even a 22Short will take care of snakes, but theres the RICOCHET problem shooting at a water target, shot is a safer bet = it sinks ;) BTW, 22shotshells are pretty much useless - unless you have a smoothbore. :)

[bluedlightning]

I would sugest a 20 gauge instead. Not much bigger then a .410 but ammo is easier to find, carries a bigger playload for quicker varmit kills, is more adaptal for other uses and is cheaper to buy ammo for. A good pump gun with a 18" to 20" tube would be just perfect.

[budroe]

The EAA snake charmer 410 is a nice little snake gun. Short barrel, half stock. I had one about 30 years ago. Not even sure where it is these days. Don't know if they're still made, but there's lots of used models for sale. I'm sure you can find one for under $100. I think I paid around $60 for mine - new.

I think a lot of people are buying the Taurus judge to handle this kind of work. I think the snake charmer would do a better job.

[Mike Weber]

I remember those Snake Charmer shotguns when they were US made I agree an excellent design for the task. I also agree that a 20 gauge would be an even better choice.

[deputy]

i keep a shovel in the back of the truck for the majority of my snake killin'..................

but for a gun, an ole' h&r or savage break over 410 ought to do the trick.

[KathleenElsie]

I have two 20g that we keep handy.

[budroe]

I liked that the snake charmer had the short thumb hole stock that allowed for easy one handed shooting. Did they make the snake charmer in 20 gauge?? If so, I may look for one on the used market.

[Mike Weber]

Actually when the original mfg was taken over and they started re introducing them I think they were being offered in both 20ga. and the original .410 bore. Saw an article in a gun magazine a few years ago talking about new production of these guns. A friend down in Arkansas had one of the originals that we carried as our boat gun while night fishing.

[Dwayne]

I know I am being a jerk. . .

But killing my pets. . . kind of like killing someone's cat or dog.

But I also do understand the other side of the coin. . .

[deputy]

have no problem with coach whips or bull snakes.......but rattlers' are a different matter!

[bluedlightning]

The main problem I have with snakes is they eat my eggs. Just can't have that.

[Seamaster]

Variety of loads in 20 ga. with steel shot, if one is shooting in the water, alot of places lead shot is banned.

[Vibe]

I know I am being a jerk. . .

But killing my pets. . . kind of like killing someone's cat or dog.

But I also do understand the other side of the coin. . .
Don't let your poisonous snakes roam free. :up:

[Dwayne]

Don't let your poisonous snakes roam free. :up:

<Chuckle>:D:D:D

[JJFlash]

You have cottonmouths in NE Indiana?? Yikes.

And Dwayne, if you're keeping poisonous snakes as pets, I sure as heck am not visiting you at your house!! I am a wimp when it comes to snakes. Spiders, alligators, and other assorted creepy-crawlers I can deal with, but snakes...shudder....

[budroe]

I only kill the snakes I see - all of the snakes I see.

I currently have an uneasy truce with the snakes on JimFox's property.

[Popeye]

Snakes have a job to do in the greater scheme of things. So long as they stay on their side of the fence I let them be. If they stray onto my side, and act aggressively, a spade works just fine.

[caneman]

I have a piled rock seawall (the only kind the DNR allows). Lots of cracks and holes for snakes to slither through. Also lots of surfaces for shot to ricochet from. If I'm on my 20 foot dock shooting toward the seawall it's 15 yards farther to the front porch. I figure a 410 with no larger than 7 1/2 and preferably 9 to keep impact energy down should something bounce that 15 yards. Twenty gauge would just make more shot to bounce toward the house.

Also, sorry Dwayne but I rate kids or even my wife and I higher on the food chain. I won't abide poisonous snakes on my beach if I can do something about it. Thirty years ago and twenty miles south of here I scooped a strange snake out from under a neighbors water tank. I called the DNR and when the agent showed up he said "Water Mocassin" and they traced it to a den in a nearby drainage ditch. I hadn't been aware they strayed north of Hwy 40. Dumb me.

My grandson was bitten by a Copperhead while running in a cross country race near Terra Haute and was incapitated for nearly three weeks. It was difficult to find anyone who even knew how to treat it and almost 6 hours to find anti-venin so it's not a common hazard in Indiana. Yes, we have rattlesnakes (Diamondbacks and the protected Massasaugua) to boot. Not common, but around.

Perhaps my contacts with poisonous snakes have been worse than most folks are blessed to have. I don't have any use for them.

[Mike Weber]

This might be just the ticket.
http://www.denverammo.com/LONG-GUNS/SINGLE-SHOT/0131105.html

[Popeye]

http://www.gunauction.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=10197831

[budroe]

Guys, the ones shown look just like the one I bought 30 years ago. Easy to carry and shoot with one hand. Recoil is negligible.

[Dwayne]

What you all need, is a NATURAL predator of the snake. . .something like this Predator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4rU-rFn6vY

[budroe]

Is that rabbit on drugs?? I'd rather tangle with a snake than that hopped up bunny!!!

[caneman]

They all look like great suggestions but I think I need to look for local - used since transfer fees and shipping runs prices up 45 - 50 dollars. I sometimes wish I lived where you folks seem to find such great buys.

Maybe I'll even find one of those suggestions while looking around.

[Dwayne]

Is that rabbit on drugs?? I'd rather tangle with a snake than that hopped up bunny!!!

<chuckle> I was laughing pretty hard when I saw that Video. . .

I never would have thought a rabbit would do that. I would have to agree with you. . .I think I am more scared of that Rabbit, than of the snake! :psycho::psycho::psycho: :D:D:D

[Tim Sullivan]

Shot a Diamondback yesterday with my Taurus Judge. 3" .410 mag, #4 shot. The more I shoot it, the more I like it. The Judge is as ugly as homemade sin, but it's effective! :)

[budroe]

When dealing with diamondbacks, effective is all that matters!!!

[Williamlayton]

I like .410 pumps----for all things I don't like.
Blessings

[Dr Dave]

Here's a link to 21 .410s sold by private partys in Indiana. There's a H&R single shot .410 for $100. There's an 8-round Mossberg 510 mini pump for $285. A black Poly Technologies single shot that has an adjustable M-16 stock and a heat shield for $150. A Rossi single shot .410 with a spare barrel in .22LR for $125. And yes, there's a snake charmer .410 for $100 will take trades. Good luck!

http://www.armslist.com/classifieds/search?location=indiana&category=shotguns&sellertype=1&tag=410-bore

[caneman]

Thanks Dr. Dave.My son lives much closer than I to Indy so I'll call him and see if he can run an errand for me. I'm also checking on a Savage four tenner insert for about 1/2 the price.

[Dr Dave]

I have a 28ga insert for my single shot 20ga and it works perfectly; ejects just like a 20 would too. I also have a .38/.357 insert but haven't shot it. It seems kinda weird - it's a 3" insert and you'd be using shotgun bead sights, the question being, why? But it was a gift and it's cool.

The 28ga insert is pretty awesome though, I just can't hit a darned thing with 28ga.

[caneman]

If I had the money I'd be buying a NEF with the intent of adding to it and having a 410 and 28ga barrels eventually. Not gonna happen though darnit.

[deputy]

I have a 28ga insert for my single shot 20ga and it works perfectly; ejects just like a 20 would too. I also have a .38/.357 insert but haven't shot it. It seems kinda weird - it's a 3" insert and you'd be using shotgun bead sights, the question being, why? But it was a gift and it's cool.

The 28ga insert is pretty awesome though, I just can't hit a darned thing with 28ga.


would be very interested in how that 38 insert works out........

as far as sights, i have been following an H&R board where many members drill and tap for optics the 20 ga pardner barrels. their work indicates the chamber area is thick enough for such but not for 12 ga.

[Dwayne]

I have a 28ga insert for my single shot 20ga and it works perfectly; ejects just like a 20 would too. I also have a .38/.357 insert but haven't shot it. It seems kinda weird - it's a 3" insert and you'd be using shotgun bead sights, the question being, why? But it was a gift and it's cool.

The 28ga insert is pretty awesome though, I just can't hit a darned thing with 28ga.

Let me tell you of a story. . .

I used to go hunting with my father. . .I would shoot this 410 single shot gun. . .. I would hunt and hunt. I would only hit 1 bird out of 20 or so.

We went to a skeet shoot (I was about 14). . .I used my 410, and probably shot 2 or 3 out of 10. . .and out of those 2 or 3, half of them were "nicks".

The next year (or year after, I can't remember). A shoot came up. . .First 10 rounds I shot my 410. . .like always. . .couldn't hit a thing.

Then I decided the heck with it. . .I was going to try a 12 gauge. I grabbed my dads 12 gauge and started shooting. That second round (which was the last round) I actually beat my father in blue Rock. . . I can't remember how many I hit, but it wasn't a perfect score, but extremely close. . .I am thinking either 8 or 9 out of 10. My father shot one less than I did.

He may have let me win (which to this day I doubt), but my ability to shoot with a shotgun went from nothing to something. I never touched a 410 again. . .that was probably close to 40 years now.

[Dr Dave]

deputy, I'll let you know how the 38/357 insert works next time I go to my brother-in-law's parent's land. Problem is, I'm a lousy shot at things that stand still. At clays with a 20ga, I'm really good. First time I shot it (I'd only shot about ten rounds through any shotgun before), I hit 45 out of 50. All easy going away shots, but I did have to launch them myself. I beat everyone at sporting clays, and I've only been eight or nine times.

They do make longer 38/357 inserts, 16" I believe, which should improve accuracy, but they're about $70, and my 3" cost $35. Kinda weird, but also kinda cool.

caneman, that Rossi single shot with a .410 barrel and a .22LR barrel for $125 obo looks kinda cool. Can't get a shotgun and a rifle for much less than $125. If you buy one barrel and later want another barrel, you have to pay to ship the gun back so the factory can match the new barrel, and pay an FFL to get it back...better to get them at the same time I say.

[budroe]

The .410 is ok for a up close snake gun; I wouldn't care to use one for anything else. My first shotgun was an old 12 gauge single barrel. Never felt the need to go smaller than a 20, but I used a Remington 870 .28 gauge one day and fell in love with it. I might take one home with me if I could find one.

[Williamlayton]

I got a .410 single shot for my 10th BD (I think it was my 10th) and birdhunted (doves) with it til I was near 21.
Good dove gun.
Blessings

[budroe]

Growing up I killed a lot of quail with a 410. It was the cost of the shells that got me to use it. I really should get a 20 gauge, just in case I get invited to another bird hunt later this year. Used a 12 last couple of times, but the 20 is easier to lug around for a couple hours.

[Barkley]

The best quail gun I ever shot was a Remmington 1100 in 28 gauge. Something about that little gun just worked.

[rice paddy daddy]

I like shotguns, got single shots, double barrels and pumps in 12 ga, 20 ga, and 410.
Around our little farm my 410's are true working guns. I even put a sling on my NEF single shot so I could carry it and tools at the same time.
My Stoeger Uplander SXS has double triggers so I keep #6 bird shot in one pipe, and Winchester 3" OOO buck in the other. I carry it when I go out at dusk to put the chickens up for the night, just in case some predator is cruising for a chicken dinner - with the two different size loads I'm prepared for anything from a possum to coon to fox to coyote.
And just because I like old Mossbergs, there's a 183KE bolt action repeater with C-Lect Choke.
I like 410's, as long as you respect their capabilities and limitations, they are good guns. I wouldn't go duck hunting with one, for example.

[ronwill]

While I don't condone the arbitrary killing of any animal, if it comes down to kids or a rattler, the rattler loses. The Taurus Judge may be what you're looking for. It not only shoots 410 gauge shot shells but 45 long colt also. Kind of a multi-purpose gun.

[gunfan]

This is where my Leniad comes in handy. It's light, packable and fires either round. Granted, it has limited applications. When it comes to snakes, it works extremely well.

Scott

[Tim Sullivan]

Shot this one this morning out near my front porch...

3" Taurus Judge with Winchester PDX1 Defender .410 load.

'Nuff said.

[gunfan]

The little Leniad pistols are cheap "insurance" when it comes to these "no legged" pests. Since they don't run in groups, a "one shot" response usually handles the problem.

Scott

[Gorin1911a1]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=303708857

I have a Super Comanche that works great for snakes and other pests...have had it for about 6-8 years and haven't had any problems with it.

[ZO6Vettever]

I live on a lake in Central Florida. The lake is about 5' low and I'm mowing a lot of what was "lake bottom". I carry my old H&R .22WMR loaded with snake shot. I haven't seen any moccasins yet but they seem like a good choice for killing snakes.