dude! look at the 4:51 minute mark there is a fly on the paper plate and you NAILED it!

On my grandparents farm we called this "Rat Shot". Thats what we used it for and it never failed. I had no fantasy of taking ducks out of the air with it.

I grew up on a ranch in Runnels Co., Texas. When I was a young man, working in the pastures, I asked my father for a handgun to protect myself from rattlesnakes, which were abundant. He gave me a Colt Official Police .38 Special revolver. We had a well set up reloading operation at home, for both metallic cartridges and shotshells. I made up some . 38 handloads with #9 shot using a chamfered case to cut wads from the thin cardboard that came in shirts. I was using Red Dot powder, a card wad, #9 shot and another card wad to seal the case and a slight roll crimp. We didn't have the benefit of these "shot capsules" at the time. Suffice to say, they were miserable failures at killing snakes beyond 5-6 feet, though they worked well _within_ 5 feet. I eventually gave up on the .38 revolver for snake protection and switched to a S&W .22 LR Model 34 Kit Gun. I used regular 40 gr. lead bullets. I could head shoot a snake at a greater distance with .22 LR loads than I could with .38 shot loads. Later, when these shot capsules became available for handloading, I tried them again. I tried both .38 and .44 caliber capsules in .38 Special and .44 Special cases. Again, similar results...within the range they were _reliably_ effective at killing snakes, a .22 LR bullet was just as effective. Nothing ever replaced the .22 revolver for snake protection for me. FWIW, when my father passed away, I inherited a lot of his guns, but my older sister got the Official Police. A few years ago, my older sister passed away and her husband gave me the old Colt revolver. It is still in my safe and I even fired a few shots out of it today when I went to the range.

They work real well! I used to keep my Stainless .357 Ruger Security Six loaded with them on my boat. They would really do a number on a Cotton-Mouth or a Rattler.

The stuff is intended for small pests at close range and it is effective for that. It has never been intended for hunting or self defense. And the guys talking about shooting rattlesnakes are spot on. At 5 or 6 feet it will flat out knock the hell of of a buzztail.

We used them for rats under corn cribs and barn pigeons without damaging the buildings. Good for squirrels at close range, too. The stuff caused less damage to the metal roof and siding than the pellet rifles and BB guns we used to use.

Again. These are designed as "Snake shot" from a revolver. I've killed 40+ rattlesnakes over almost as many years out of a Ruger 3 screw. One shot one kill.

CCI clearly states that it's intended for "close-range pests" (but does not define close range) and that it is not intended to cycle semi-autos. I found a couple of 3rd party retailers that mentioned "up to 15 ft". CCI says nothing about a smooth bore barrel but, judging by the 5ish inch pattern you got here, 15 feet could spread out to about 24"+/-. With that kind of spread and 159 pellets/shot (#12: 2,385/oz × 1/15oz per shell), you'd have about 2" between each of the 0.05" lead balls. Your 3" lemon *might* have caught 4-5 of them and at a much slower velocity than the 1,000f/s at the muzzle. Another site said, regarding #12 in general, "... good for snakes and rats...a range of about 6-10 feet". So, is it useless? Not entirely, but (following CCI's recommendations) I would not use it for self-defense, unless I foresaw the likelihood of being jumped by a salad. IF you load it into a smooth bore bolt or lever action AND you set your expectations correctly (rats, NOT elk!), you'll probably be very satisfied with it. If you continue to judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree, it will always disappoint you. - paraphrased from Albert Einstein

The experts! 😂😂😂😂 I don’t know why but out of all the videos you have ever made this one cracks me up the most. And the fly on the plate, classic!

Things used within their purpose are a useful tool.

I had a H&R 22/22WMR. My wife was shooting 22LR through it. She did not notice that a round went halfway down the barrel, and fired another round and bulged the barrel. I had shot the cci shots through it before and after. The shot beforehand produced a ring pattern and a full pattern after.

As one person mentioned farmers often use this to kill rats in grain bins. The #12 rat shot and low power/quick energy dissipation make it perfect for firing in either wooden grain bins in a storage shed or barn or steel/aluminum Butler buildings that store grain. The distances are usually under 3 yards and I have never had a .22 LR ricochet with enough force to even make a mark on hand or arm, however I always wore protective glasses when shoot in steel buildings and wells. There was the other excellent use for these little shotshells. Our old han dug wells that were rock lined. Snakes LOVED to hole up in them in the winter. A Colt Woodsman .22 semi auto was great but had to manually eject part of the time because there is not enough recoil to cycle the semi-auto - an old Sears (High Standard) 8 or 9 shot revolver or a Taurus 94 was perfect for taking out rattle snakes & copperheads and other non venomous but aggressive snakes before you had to go down in the well to replace the sucker leathers or make other repairs. A lot easier to use a hand gun in the well as you could hold flashlight with the other hand. I never relied on one shot to take out a poisonous rattler or copperhead, I made sure the head of each and every one was well perforated before climbing down that ladder.

Looks to me like the ammo performs just about perfectly for its intended purpose. When I lived in town, I used to use these in 22lr in a little revolver. They worked great for snakes...super effective, wouldn’t damage surrounding objects and weren’t loud enough to have my idiot neighbors calling the cops. Now that I live in the country, I carry a 410 shotgun in the truck which allows me to stay a little farther away which is nice since I don’t move quite as fast as I used to. For the right application though, these little shot shells are awesome. People that criticize them just don’t understand what they’re intended for.

Hey, you gotta know that this stuff is not intended for long distance use, or sporting game, it is not a substitute for a shotgun. Years ago, I was at my brothers home when he discovered a mouse eating from his dogs food bowl. He calmly reached for a nearby 6 inch revolver which was loaded with shotshell, (although to be fair, I believe it was a .38 cal.), and from a distance of about eight ft., dispatched said rodent with one shot. Instant kill, with no collateral damage at all. That's really more of its intended purpose, to my way of thinking anyway. Don't expect more from it than it's designed for. Just sayin'.

In its small window of usefulness, it is capable of pest control with minimal energy to do background damage. It is hard to shoot pests near buildings with projectiles that can ricochet or have enough energy to penetrate walls such as .22lr or bigger. I use these in .357 and its got plenty of mustard for small animals

Love all the stories of people using these!

I have an old .22 Magnum revolver. I used to keep it loaded with hollow points, but after getting a new modern semi-automatic handgun it seemed a waste of time to keep self defense ammo in the revolver. I live rurally and sometimes the dogs find a snake or critter and I have to search for ammo for the appropriate gun to use on them. Now I just leave the old revolver loaded with shotshells for when the dogs alert on something. The shotshells have worked great so far on everything from snakes to opossums and I no longer have to choose which gun to use and start rummaging thru ammo. Repurposing the old revolver has worked perfectly.

When your out frog giggin at night with a headlamp on and snakes are in the water these are the best to have in your sidearm

A certain Granddaddy I knew as a child (I was the child, not him!😄 And I won’t say whose granddaddy he was; wouldn’t want to sully his name and memory.) had a henhouse. He and his wife did pretty well, all things considered. In fact, they did so well that some of the neighbors seemed a bit envious. After about 3 of his hens came up MIA, he ran out of patience and good will. He had an idea who the culprit was, so he decided he’d be there to greet him at the henhouse for his next late night visit. So he took an old canvas camp chair and set it up. Now, if memory serves, it was an old 10 gauge dbl barrel black powder “county sweeper” he took with him. Of course, not wanting to tear the poor chap in half, Mr Granddaddy opened up a couple of shells (they were paper back then) and replaced the shot with dried blackeye peas and rock salt🤣. When asked if he was concerned that those “loads” were too light to even reach the target, he just smiled and said he was gonna be right behind the door. Well, to make a long story short, Mr Granddaddy’s suspicions about the culprit were right, and it was probably a month before that guy could sit down again. And he probably never wanted to see another chicken for the rest of his life!😄 True story - as far as I know.

Cool test! I wouldn't want to get hit with this stuff. Thanks for the video.

I've spent a lot of time in the swamps of Florida, and occasionally a moccasin would get overly aggressive, or I'd run across a rattler up by the house. I've shot them with dozens of different cartridges, and will say the 22 Mag CCI shotshells from a revolver- mine had a 5 1/2" barrel- was the absolute best stopper I've used. 4 yards was probably the longest shot, and at that range I'd get dozens of hits on the central nervous system.

Growing up in the East TN mountains with my brother, we used .22 shot shells to take out rats around the chicken coop at night...they did the job!🔫🐀💀🤠👍

I love these shells.. I carry my 22 pistol everywhere I go on my farm cause I get varmints all the time trying to get at my animals.. Its really not practical to carry a shotgun all the time, especially when you are doing chores.. These little shot shells are great for rascals on the run.. especially if you dont want to put holes in your barn. I do carry regular rounds as well but my pistol is always loaded with these

Love your show bro. As usual great content

Overall I'm impressed with CCI and their R&D on manufacturing .22lr/.22mag shot shells (among other caliber). Sure it's got limitations, and is for a niche group yet that is exactly why I've got so much respect for companies to put so much work and effort into stuff like this. Now, if I can get them to make the shotshells with salt instead of lead we can season our rodents while we hunt them.

Absolutely love your commentary!! The subject has been on my mind for decades. The way you put this video together was superb, and especially cool you changed your mind at the end.

Awesome my brother love it

Hoo-Tee, yer pistola is printing! Or screaming I'M HERE!!

Umm lived in the desert all my life and as a kid all the way till my adult hood we used those 22 shots for rattle snake and it works perfectly.

I'm one of those smartasses who commented in the last video that the shot shells are for close range, so it's totally awesome that you came back to do another test. One more reason why this is the most entertaining shooting channel on YT.

That was pretty impressive!

I started to use these for barn pest control in the UK (yes I know you all think no one has guns in the UK) after the 9mm Flobert rounds started to get a bit pricey. Generally use a 410 for outside work or plain old .22 pellet or LR. I found they work well, are reasonably quiet and don't cause damage to buildings

When I lived in MO I carried a small 22lr revolver loaded with shot shells in my tackle bag for copperheads and water moccasins. All my shots were under 6 feet and one shot was always enough.

Rat shot was designed to shoot mice and rats inside a house and or barn with out really damaging you interior (not saying it won't). The original rat shots just held mustard seeds (22lr). For what they were intended for they worked pretty good.

Great stuff thanks Hoot

The video was well assembled; particularly the slow motion shots and the reverse replays. Have you inspected your barrel? Was there any detectable damage to the rifling? Was there any very small amounts of lead clinging to the rifling that were difficult to clean out? Bill

is good for getting rid of pigeons in the shed got to get em at night with a spot light they don't fly away and the shot doesn't put holes in your shed it does bounce around a bit though

I've found these rounds quite useful when dealing with rodents in attics, I don't have to worry about putting holes in walls or roofing.

I've used .22 and 38spl .357mag shot shells for a lot of snakes throughout the years. That's about all it's good for.. I always carried a few of these in 38spl or 357 mag when I used to carry a Smith &Wesson 686 in the mountains for snakes.

Nice job never shot or used any of those. Well seeing that I will have to invest in some. Thankyou

The 22 LR shotshell, loaded in a revolver, is perfect for Rat hunting in the house! Had a little problem, after Hurricane Laura, with a couple of rats that came in while house was under repair. These shotshells work great on big rats at 3 ft for sure!

I always heard it was called "Snake shot". Nice to see how effective it can be from 3-6' or maybe even 7-8'.

Nice video! Thank you

I don’t think I ever used this for any practical application but I remember going with my grandfather with my little 22 and a pocket full of those as a kid every year at the holidays and shooting some holly out of the holly tree up the street, fond memories, I still have one of them from when I was little sitting on the top shelf of my gun safe

That was worth doing again! You may have opened up a whole new shooting sport! The CCI page does say to use at short range so you are on the right track here with your veggie hunts! I was going to ask if the pellets created exit wounds but it looks like they didn't go all the way through. Great video!

Very specific tool for a very specific application, not for most normal uses.. Thank you for showing what these can do. Great for close shooting of pests without harming yourself or buildings close by. Otherwise useless, but when you need one, they are great.

The 9mm CCI big shot is outstanding on big eastern diamondbacks. I've used the little .22 and .22 mags, had decent results outta the mags.

That was a savage pepper, definitely more power than I'd expect

Thank you for doing another video on these. It's good that you have the passion and open mindedness to take another look at these. When I was a kid, we lived out in the woods and would go swimming in a creek. Dad would come with us with one of his .22LR rifles for snakes. Occasionally he would need it. And with just a .22LR shot shell, as long as he was out of reach of the snake and no further, it worked just fine. The .22 mag shot shell of course works better.

I love these. I use the Long Rifle version. I find the WMR tends to spread out too fast. The pattern seems to blow apart out of a rifled barrel of carbine length as well. The Long rifle cartridge holds together better, especially out of a 5.5 inch Single Six barrel. At 10 feet it is about an 8-10 inch spread, with a 60/40 point of impact. Took out another rat 2 days ago. Measured 16 inches nose to tail. That makes about 8 so far this year. Right around 15 foot shot. Any further than that and it just stings them.

Mine are doing there intended job beautifully. And great for teaching mechanics of handling a firearm.

Love the all American 22. I have one in 22lr Man with the right scope you can drive nails. I carry the shotshells in my ruger wrangler. Work great for cottonmouth sneaky snakes. I also have them in 357/38 Last year i was fishing and a huge cottonmouth came out of high grass were i was sitting in my lawn chair and i pulled my taurus 605 out loaded with cci shotshells and literaly blew the snakes head off. They most deffently have a place in my tacklebox

If in area of venomous snakes carry my 6" Dan Wesson 22 with 3 shots helps a 3 hollow points never needed the house. The 357 and 44 are much more impressive..Glad you changed your mind on them for close work. They serve a small niche well. Even impressed me in today's video with the damage

As a kid I loved quick drawing my Ruger Single-Six loaded with .22 Mag CCI Shot Shells on Cotton Mouth Water Moccasins. If you walk the banks of Cotton Mouth infested waters at night with a headlight, they will often poke their little heads out of the water for a better look. If you then face them to put your light on them they pop open their cottony white mouths - the signal to draw. The results were always satisfying as we didn’t like them much anyway and the water showed your shot pattern. Scant worry of ricochet with the shot shells aswaged

I keep a magazine loaded up with shot cartridges in my .40sw carry gun when I'm out in the pasture near the creek. Copperheads are plentiful around here. It is very effective at 2 to 3 yds. About an 8 inch pattern.

Used these rounds in a Ruger 22 convertible 6 to practice quick draw and shoot in the barn at sparrows and flickers. Great sport with no holes in the roof from the inside out.

Remember when Charlie Chase's son tried to burglarize a house and got shot in the face with that stuff? Of course he lived, but his face was pretty bloody. Looked like it hurt.

Everyone I know who uses these, swear by them for rattlesnakes. I haven't tried them yet, but I can say the .38 shot shells work really awesome on snakes.

I haven’t ever shot any in .22mag, but I have a little experience with the shot shell in .22lr. I know that my grandfather used a .22lr pistol with shot shell for rattlesnakes in south Texas. He said you had to be pretty close for it to be effective, but he did kill at least one of them with that pistol and shot shell with a single shot.

I live in south Louisiana and chicken snakes are bad along with a lot of others and i keep my little north american and my little heritage rough rider loaded with them i use federal with the crimpped end , in case you didnt know they are loaded with number 12 bird shot that why they dont go very far great for a golf car pistol shot ! love your video !

These were originally advertised as "Snake Shot". I have been using them for years for snakes and birds. They work great for the purposes named. Only problem today is the price for a box of 50. They have gone crazy on price.

My primary home defense gun for 30 years has been a 4 inch 357 mag with rat shot in cylinders 1 and 2. I've always figured that 2 quick rounds at 5 or 6 feet would slow an intruder down enough for a head shot if necessary. Just my opinion.

I have used that for decades when I’m fishing in the swamp in my jon boat. It comes in very handy from my old .22 single action pistol when a cottonmouth tries to get in the boat with me.

Great video

Years ago I saw a comparison of a 12 ga, smooth bore vs. rifled. There was a lot of spread with the rifled barrel.

Ammo tests in 2019- thousands of rounds Ammo tests in 2021- we have 4 rounds of .22 to test

Not what you want to hear but....a great comparison would between a rifled barrel & a smooth bore of the same length! You are appreciated!

Run these through a 9mm 365. works well inside of 3 yards. Only drawback seems to be occasional feed issues (I think due to the feed ramp/cap material interface). Informative content as always,

Every round has its place period

I would Never use shot shell in a Rifle. The rifling creates a tremendous spiral effect, use a short barrel pistol.!!!!!!

This guy is really good

Very well done video

For a supposedly (other so-called evaluators) worthless round of ammo, I've killed scores of both snakes and rats with it out of my Ruger single action revolvers in both 22mag, and 44 mag. from 10ft give or take. At those ranges spread is only about 3 inches out of those pistols.

You need to bye federal .22 cal long rifle bird shot 25 grain No. 12 lead shot . It works 50 times better than the blue pill top type .

It’s great for snake shot in close quarters. Saved my tail a few times when hunting in brush. My second shot was always a hollow point though.they are really limited for your handgun only

I've used these in my .38 Smith snub model 60. Close range snake killer!! Best in hand guns on the trail...

Dang score one for the internet experts haha. I died a little inside tho when you said I don’t think I needed to buy another gun..... always need another gun haha 😆

As many others have said, it is a very close range load and most often used out of a revolver. Side arm shotshells are a personal defense weapon against small things brought to us by Mother Nature. While I own a .22 WMR revolver, my normal around the farm, hunting and fishing carry is a Ruger 101 in .38. The first 2 rounds are shotshells and the other 3 are cast handloads. When shooting shotshell loads, the idea is to be as close as you can be to the target without putting yourself in danger. While I’m sure there are some here that could easily pop a snake’s head from 10 feet with a solid round, I’m not one and so the wider pattern of a shotshell is definitely appreciated.

On the Rattlesnake Hill Ranch, in rural Northern California, these shells are quite effect in dispatching the Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes that frequent our 16 acres. We typically carry these in calibers .22lr, 38spl/357mag for the variety of revolvers we carry on the property. Mama says, "A dead snake is a good snake."

I subscribed because the content is good and you sound like Dewey Cox. Walk hard my guy.

I still agree with your criticisms for general use, but they do seem to have a very specific use case. I don't even think rabbits or birds would be the best targets for it, or at least not better than a pellet gun. Snakes though, that's perfect.

When I taught each of my kids to shoot I lived in Arizona and had a grapefruit tree in the yard. I'd go out to the desert with a couple of grapefruit and shoot it with a CCI Stinger .22LR. It put a little hole in the front and blasted the back of it to shreds. It really sent the message home that even a "little" .22 could do some serious damage and to treat it with respect.

Good stuff

If only I could have a backyard like this!

.22 shot shells are really best used out of a long barreled (5-6 inch) revolver on snakes or rats at no more than 3 yards. Any further and it's time for a .410 gauge.

I’ll still stick to some real ammo vs something that is questionable. Anytime you have to pull a gun out, there’s no dicking around.

It takes a big man to he coulda been wrong! Great job Who-tee!

Growing up in Arizona, the 38 version came in handy more than once for the nippy kind of snakes.

I agree the garden gun is better. There were Remington smoothbores with a Rutledge bore that worked well, and they seem to work better in a revolver if you use a gun with a rifled barrel

When I was a boy I always had a Colt 22 loaded with CCI mini mags bird shot. It would kill snakes within 6-8 feet without fear.

Good video!

Your first shot, on the pepper there was a horse fly that just landed on the paper plate. You obliterated the pepper and got the fly also, good video!

While not intended for long range, at short range this round can KEEL.

That was pretty cool, with surprising results

Excellent!

I use these out of a Marlin Garden Gun which is a smooth bored 22Mag. The shot cartridges were excellent for shooting rats in the hog pen out to 15 yards. They never failed to kill rats.

I've used the 22lr version to shoot rats in the hay shed. Gets the job done without putting holes in things. They are very expensive over here, about $13 a packet.

Now I'm wondering about the smooth bore thing. To improve a lil on that gun a tiny choke might compensate, if such a lil one exists.

I have a Marlin 39A Golden Mountie .22 LR that has been loaded with nothing but bird shot for decades. I have run a couple hundred rounds thru it. The Winchester without the shot capsule was about 30% more effective. We used it for huge flocks of sparrows that would roost up in the barn rafters, 20 ft up and at either end of the barn. starlings, carpenter bees, and rats. I certainly made those shots at way more than 3 yards. Probably 35 feet was about the effective limit, but several longer shots were sometimes effective, but believe it or not, I got 2 starlings and a sparrow on the wing! Only tried it 4 times, so a 75% rate ain't bad. However, It was ONLY useable out of that Marlin. I always attributed that to the fact that it has "Micro-groove" shallow rifling, thus not spinning the shot very well. It shot better dirty, so we didn't clean the bore very often. It sometimes wouldn't break the shot capsules. I think the shot capsule debris affects the pattern. They didn't pattern nearly as well as the crimped case style. It had a good pattern out to about 25-30 feet. Also, often, velocity isn't your friend for holding tight patterns .22 win mag may be too hot.

Good video Thx !