Reloading Shot Shells for 9mm

[A-R]

In other words, you're going to be outgunned by a Mozambican spitting cobra :)

This^^^

I have used "snake" shot in several calibres. 44 Mag is quite effective on rats at close range. Anything in a smaller calibre is much less effective, simply because of the small amount of shot you can fit in.

To load it in a 9mm, you would have to find empty shot capsules first. Not sure if you can find 9mm empty medicinal capsules, but they will be too weak anyway. The 38/357 capsules were available some time ago, but they don't work in a 9mm. Their wadcutter-like shape is the biggest obstacle to getting them chambered.

There must be a few 9mm CCI shotshells sitting on a rural dealer's shelf somewhere. If you find any, be prepared for a price surprise. 12 guage bird shot costs much less.

When loaded in the shot capsules, like CCI does in most calibres, the capsule and shot will spin due to the barrel's rifling. This spin will result in the shot patterning in a donut shape, with little or no holes in the centre. This donut spreads rapidly, and reaches a diameter of 1m at around 3 - 4m. this kind of pattern severely limits the effective range. Somewhere under 2m it may still be effective. Mind you, that's from a 44 Mag load. Quite useless in my opinion. To get a better pattern, you need to load the shot without a capsule. Then only the outer pellets contact the rifling and spread out, but the inner area of the pattern is much denser and quite useable out to about 4 - 5m. PMP once loaded such a shot cartridge in a 38Spl case.

Since the factory snake shot loads will not likely cycle any semi-auto pistol, they are not very useable in pistol calibres. Revolvers are a different matter and the 38 and 44 shot loads were much more available. They are easy to load shot loads for, since their case capacities allow you to load without a capsule. They will also cycle without issues, so at least you don't reduce it to single shot. If you really have a need for snake shot loads, a revolver may be a viable option.

And please get a better method to handle your snakes?

[Andre in Alberton]

I found some 38spl CCI shoshells i think it was at the Blou Meul. Shot 2 on the range. The pattern disperses so it wont be all that effective unless at very close range. Either tread softly or carry a shotgun.

[Greekboi95]

I was given some CCI 9mm shot shells years ago. I still have two left, the rest I shot out (not at snakes), they cycled, sluggishly, in a Star BM and a Glock 43 and on target performance was pretty pathetic. In my humble opinion you will be wasting your time loading shotshells for a 9mm.

I have used CCI shotshells in 9mm, .38spl and .45 acp, only the latter was reasonably effective.

Hi TStone, I have come to the point where I've realised it's a waste of time after reading all the comments and testing out some the other day that I got from a friend. This was merely for a fun reloading experiment but don't think it's worth my time and effort. Thanks for the response.

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[Greekboi95]

This^^^

I have used "snake" shot in several calibres. 44 Mag is quite effective on rats at close range. Anything in a smaller calibre is much less effective, simply because of the small amount of shot you can fit in.

To load it in a 9mm, you would have to find empty shot capsules first. Not sure if you can find 9mm empty medicinal capsules, but they will be too weak anyway. The 38/357 capsules were available some time ago, but they don't work in a 9mm. Their wadcutter-like shape is the biggest obstacle to getting them chambered.

There must be a few 9mm CCI shotshells sitting on a rural dealer's shelf somewhere. If you find any, be prepared for a price surprise. 12 guage bird shot costs much less.

When loaded in the shot capsules, like CCI does in most calibres, the capsule and shot will spin due to the barrel's rifling. This spin will result in the shot patterning in a donut shape, with little or no holes in the centre. This donut spreads rapidly, and reaches a diameter of 1m at around 3 - 4m. this kind of pattern severely limits the effective range. Somewhere under 2m it may still be effective. Mind you, that's from a 44 Mag load. Quite useless in my opinion. To get a better pattern, you need to load the shot without a capsule. Then only the outer pellets contact the rifling and spread out, but the inner area of the pattern is much denser and quite useable out to about 4 - 5m. PMP once loaded such a shot cartridge in a 38Spl case.

Since the factory snake shot loads will not likely cycle any semi-auto pistol, they are not very useable in pistol calibres. Revolvers are a different matter and the 38 and 44 shot loads were much more available. They are easy to load shot loads for, since their case capacities allow you to load without a capsule. They will also cycle without issues, so at least you don't reduce it to single shot. If you really have a need for snake shot loads, a revolver may be a viable option.

And please get a better method to handle your snakes?

Hi AR, agree with you fully, a few of the capsules just ended up breaking when cycling in the firearm (we tried on a CZ75 and a friends Browning I think it was). It ended up being more frustrating than anything else because of the fact that all the pellets were all over the place and we had to keep cleaning the gun and inspecting it for all pellets before attempting again.

Again, this was not intended for snakes but more as a new factor into my reloading but I will probably end up not doing it as it doesn't seem viable enough to do so. Thanks for your time.

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