dtac96

for a snake i would recomend you a .410 short shotgun or a pistol with ratshot becuase if the snake is already attacking you you have more chance to hit it with one of these.

Teach Deer

Since I have most of the handguns being discussed and live and hunt in snake prone areas, I have explored this topic.

My personal preference in a compact .38/.357 is the Ruger SP101 loaded with 125 grain SJHPs (357) for self-defense. Practice with .38 loads for familarity.

As to snake loads, I have primarily used the CCI loads and within reasonable range (less than 10 feet) are highly effective on snakes. The 9mm loads will not cycle my brother's Taurus PT-92 and the pattern is not great. The .45 loads will NOT cycle in my Colt Commander (though I did read a prior post that they will cycle in a Kimber). The pattern from a .45 is much better. .38 snake loads have usually performed well when fired through a longer barrel, such as 4-6 inches.

mauser06

hmm nchawkey has a good idea i shoulda thought of...

carry a 22 semi when in the snake woods...11rds of cci mini mags aughta have it dead..and can pull the trigger as fast as you can and still hit where your pointing...shoulda thought of it as i have a buckmark....

and a 22 pistol is GREAT to practice with..no recoil and cheap...and the buckmarks and ruger mk IIs are accurate buggers...

and new you can pick them up under 400$..i think...been a while..

so that would allow you a snake gun...wouldnt be completely useless if you happened to need it for self defense like snake rounds would be...and allows for cheap practice...i got thousands and thousands of rounds through the buckmark...cant afford to do that in the bigger pistols i own...

but, a shot load is likely just a primer?? and very little report?? i dont know...just my guess..10rds of a 22lr is gunna be a little loud...but, you can do it with 1 good shot and it wouldnt be hard to take aim and put one through its head..but if im scared enough of snakes to shoot em, im dumpin 10! lol

Howler

Not the case, the ones I have for my 45 auto certainly have some bark to them. Don't kick like a +p load, BUT certainly have more than just a primer pushing the shot.

Mojotex

I chose a 357 Mag. revolver for the primary purpose of using it for a "snake" gun. Mine happens to be a Ruger. While mine is not a compact, I do use it also concealed for personal protection. I know very little about hand guns, so I chose the revolver because it is a simple and reliable design.

salukipv1

I'm thinking a Taurus 605 blued in 38/357 5-shot, looks pretty ideal for what I had in mind, gonna have to go check them out in person though.

What's the real difference between blued and stainless in a handgun? I would think blued would be better for concealed carry, ie darker/less noticeable?

salukipv1

what do you think??

pnut

I would think that a blued barrel will eventually show holster wear if being used for CC. Stainless may be the way to go.