Taurus PT-22 Semi Auto Pistol .22 LR
I'm looking for recommendations for a .22 pistol to be used primarily to take out small to medium size poisonous snakes, and possibly on rare occasions, to kill small varmints. Many years ago, my Dad had a .22 pistol that he used fine birdshot in to kill copperheads and the like, and that is my main application, too. Unfortunately, apparently my Dad long ago disposed of the gun, or else I might not be "looking".
For convenience sake, on hikes in to fishing spots and the like, a somewhat compact pistol is desirable, but, at the same time, enough barrel length to have SOME accuracy is desirable. I'd also like to keep the loudness of the report down to typical .22 SPL's. I've tried a .38 revolver, and that baby is pretty loud. (No, I don't want to try to add a silencer!)
A secondary usage of the gun would be for my wife to learn to shoot with, and in a couple years, my daughter. I'll actually start both my wife and daughter off with a BB / pellet (air) pistol, but I think my daughter is a couple years away from a "real gun", while my wife can graduate to such after a day or so with the airgun, I am sure. (Obviously, we'd use conventional rounds, not birdshot, for target practice!)
A 3rd, even lesser usage, could conceivably be personal defense, for my wife, though obviously even the highest power .22 rounds do not have a lot of stopping power. OTOH, a .22 was almost enough to kill Pres. Reagan and James Brady, I remember well...
Cost is a big factor, as I've had to take a leave from work to help care for my Dad, and my income was modest to begin with.
I believe the ammo my Dad used was something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh0jCg8Ymuo
Now, as I researched this a little, I learned that one of the reasons .22 shotshells are typically not much good over a few feet away from the target is that the rifling in modern .22 firearms puts strong spin on the individual shot "pellets", leading to a strongly curved path for most. A smoothbore barrel is said by those who've used one with .22 shotshells to give a much tighter pattern, but apparently, no modern .22 pistols are made with smoothbore barrels? Further, on a couple of the the gunowners forums I read that this is due to gun laws enacted to prohibit sawed off shotguns -- though how someone could think a .22 smoothbore pistol with shotshells is in the same league as even a .410 ga. sawed off shotgun is beyond me...
However, on a couple forums there seemed to be discussion that smaller gauge firearms would be exempt from the short barrel length + smoothbore ban if a short section of the barrel was rifled, but I am not sure that any pistol is in fact made this way?
So far as I can tell, the Bond Arms "SnakeSlayer" series all have rifled barrels, and they are WAY out of my price range anyway.
http://bondarms.com/bond-arms-handguns/snake-slayer/
There is going to be a local gun show near, this weekend, so I suppose a good question is "what might I look for? (Brand and model #?)
One other thought: I suspect a .22 revolver will be cheapest, and will be more reliable using .22 shotshells. On the other hand, I don't care to carry around a loaded revolver, and being able to slap a magazine into the pistol quickly might be useful. Our local copperheads seem to be getting more agressive and unafraid to swim right up to people. I think they are learning. (Some states have laws making it illegal to kill a poisonous snake even if it is aggressive! **Expletive deleted** that!) Cottonmouths are rarer, here, but have an even nastier reputation. Rattlesnakes are even rarer here, usually stay out of areas humans frequent, usually give warning, and are less aggressive.
I am looking at a "Puma" Single Action Revolver, Model 1873. (see Rural King flyer, 11/1614 - 11/26/14, page 10.) I've never heard of this brand, but at $130 + tax, I could actually afford it.
http://www.ruralking.com/weekly-ad
Any thoughts? Suggestions are welcome. If anyone prefers to PM rather than answer publicly, I'll try to keep a closer eye on my PM's for a while.
Thanks!
P.S. I am not "anti snake", and in fact had many a pet (non-poisonous) snake as a boy. But, no way will I tolerate a poisonous snake that behaves aggressively or is in an area that kids frequent.
.410 shotgun? Up close, 4ft spray of .5 BB.
Forget the .22 and go for the Judge. Especially if you are dealing with poisonous snakes. Fires a 410 shotgun shell cartridge, and is the very definition of a snake gun.
If it were me, my 12ga would come to hand instantly.
Brother and wife are not gun owners and I am not about to try and get them into pistol shooting enough to reliably hit anything.
My advice when i see them will likely be a 20ga shotgun, as anyone can sight down a barrel even at close range.
Taurus PT-22 Semi Auto Pistol .22 LR
The classic answer to the need for snake gun is something that can fire .45 Long Colt and .410 shotshells (miniature shotgun shells). You load with the former for big snakes and the latter for smaller ones. Look into the Taurus Judge.
Colt Diamondback .22 LR
*This may not fit your definition of small.
A five foot shovel will do the job. Turn it around an strike in front of the snake. The snake will strike the shovel. Pick up and cut the snake. Remove the head and place it in a hole. Cover the hole.
The 'aggression' you think you see is actually only fear-induced defensive posturing.
They sincerely would rather not bite you.
You scare *them* silly and they just want to be left alone long enough to run away from you.
I checked NV and found these two which would work for what you want.
FS The Ruger Mark III, 22LR
Price: $ 275
Ruger Mark III Target With Bull Barrel + 1
Price: $ 329
A cheap .22 revolver that will fire .22 long rifle cartridges and some .22 rat shot loads, if rat shot is available or backorder is okay. Otherwise, if you’re wanting to keep things quiet, a garden hoe will work well. A garden hoe can also work as a walking stick, somewhat.
Here in Florida, I use a Ruger SP101 revolver with 38 shotshells. Very compact and very reliable. Much easier to carry in your pocket than a 12 guage. A little pricy though.
You could try to hit it with .22LR bullets, but you need to have a full box of rounds and some time; chances are that the snake won't be cooperating with your plans, and will escape under your house, or into some other most inconvenient spot that you can imagine. Not only many of your shots will miss the snake altogether; those that don't miss will not kill it right away.
If you can afford to fire a shotgun at the location, that's exactly what you may want to do - as long as you are safe from a ricochet. (This is something you have to always be aware of, shooting at such distances and against irregular, poorly absorbing backstops.) If you cannot use a shotgun where you are (such as around your home in a city,) then use a shovel or some other sufficiently long tool. If the snake has to be dealt with when you are in the field, then probably the easiest is to walk around it, since you are wearing snake-proof boots.
A .22LR pistol is a good training tool; you may want to get one just for fun, while you can. Semi-autos are trouble because .22 has not that much energy to cycle the mechanism; .22LR semi-autos are very choosy. Ruger Mark III, for example, won't work with any subsonic ammo. A revolver is a far more reliable tool, especially for a target shooter or a hunter who don't need to reload within a second.
You can take it with you to the field, but I doubt very much that you (or most other people) can hit a varmint with it. Varmints are not stupid, they won't let you come close - and with a pistol a common person can only hope to hit a large target at 25 yards. NRA's basic pistol test requires to hit a 9" circle that is 15 feet away. Imagine a varmint that gives you a 9" target area... it would be called a deer :-) Most varmints are far smaller, and consequently their vitals present a smaller area even at the optimal angle. A ground squirrel, for example, has to be hit within just 1". (There is ammo that is not so choosy, but not in .22LR.) Foxes and coyotes probably could be hit in a 3" circle, unless you want them to suffer for a few days and then die anyway. It is difficult to guarantee such accuracy with a pistol. People do hunt with a pistol, but they use a telescopic sight that makes it much easier not just to aim the weapon, but simply to see the target. In the field most small varmints cannot be easily seen - not only they are small, they are also have protective coloring, and they are hiding. A typical shooting distance against a rodent like a ground squirrel varies from 50 to 200 yards; longer if you are using .223 and the atmosphere is stable. If you want to hunt with a pistol, you need a pretty good one, and you probably need to ask questions on specialized forums.
Walther p-22 is a good choice.
Lol
Trust me
You know more about .22 caliber LR than 97% of folks here
Id be leery if somewhere snakes are a real threat relying on .22
I’d carry a little .410...
They make that in several revolvers now and floating pin box style too I think..
However small...that’s as impractical as .22 unless you’re a steady crack shot
Charter Arms I think used to make a survivor .410 in a two part little rifle gun that would store in the stock
It may have had an under barrel .22LR as well
This is memory from 30 years ago.....
Anyhow...you can buy a Stevens or JC Higgins single or side by side for less than 100 bucks used and saw down to 18 inches legally........shorten shoulder stock too....won’t be cumbersome
I spent 17 years off and on in serious tropical bush (yes...double entendre me please) and personally I carried a nice revolver in .357 or .38...latter easier ammo.....38 is everywhere
But that was for personal security....our staff usually had SLR...(Brit FN-LAR..think Dogs of War or Wild Geese or the ubiquitous in South America G3)
But for reptile threats...a fine machete...any will do....18-24”....wood handle
Martindale is top notch and found all over Africa...English made
Ontario is maybe world’s best....US made...heavy blade..chop chop
Tramantino....the only choice in Brazil....and a damn good one
I’m a Mississippi boy....I think seriously there are more cottonmouths and fat rattlers in Dixie than there are Bushmasters and Two Steps or Puff Adders in the tropics of both old and new world
I ran over a Bushie in Belize once between Belize City on Orange Walk by the old Mennonite air strip on the escarpment and we had a serious coral snake issue after flooding in Pedro Segunda (mines) in NE Brasil...pitiful it was...children died....usually leaving their hammock at nite to tinkle...we had to fly in antidote from Miami...Sao Paulo was out
Anyhow...God bless and rant over
You might find you a good general small snake gun, but what happens if you have to shoot something big like an anaconda?......
Why do you want to kill small snakes? There’s hardly any meat on the small ones. Besides, this time of year you need a small deer gun.