Home made .22 rat shot

[csspecs 1,987]

Ok I hunt rats and other vermin in my back yard and sheds all the time. I love rat shot but man that stuff costs a lot for how much I use.

 

Anyway I started playing around with it and here is what I have. Killed two rats tonight with them.. I have a revolver that will resolve most of my loading problems due to the crimp... Any questions feel free to ask.

 

Federal bulk pack .22 ammo with the bullets pulled

Picture of tissue paper wads

Filled with shot

With a crimp

[acercanto 6]

Haha, that's awesome! Cheap, effective solution to a problem, what's not to like?

 

Acer

[turbo1889 1]

Another thing that works real well is those "roll your own" pill capsules they sell at the health food store for the granolas to use to put their herb concoctions together with. Can't remember exactly which size it is but one of them fits right in to 22 shells -- one end of the little capsules is longer then the other and slightly smaller in diameter, that's the end you use. Put a punched cereal box card board wad over the powder after you pull the bullet fill the capsule half with #9 or smaller shot slip the 22 shell over the top like a cap flip the whole thing over and then paint the seam with finger nail polish; ends up looking just like the ones in the store with the plastic bubble out the front of the shell that you can see the shot inside.

[patriot 7,197]

I wonder what the pressure is? Do you know the weight of the shot mass? How much did you reduce the case volume for powder by?

 

You should have the answers to all these questions before proceeding.

 

I know, I know. It's "just a .22" All the more reason to not be overly casual about pressure. I'd hate to start calling you lefty because you blew up your revolver.

[csspecs 1,987]

Pressure is a lot lower, it's not even close to cycling the action on my 10/22.

 

The weight is right around 20 grains.

 

I've worked my way up from a blank to this... So I feel ok doing it. If anything it's under powered by a lot.

 

 

Ok looks like the gelatin capsule size that would fit a .22 case would be a either a 4 or 3.. thats from a website that is selling them for 1000 for 20.00

Edited January 20, 2009 by csspecs

[csspecs 1,987]

Ok I ordered two sizes of gel caps so I'll tell you what size works when I have them in hand.

 

I am using super glue over a tissue paper wad to keep the shot in pace and it's working pretty good... At 10 feet I have 35 pellets on target using larger shot (I think I have about 35 pellets in each of these). This is better than a crimp and a bit faster.

 

Nail polish seems to affect the powder, so it may work for sealing the gel caps but not over tissue wads.

Edited January 22, 2009 by csspecs

[Bvamp 604]

I used to use wax to seal the end, as well as a powder wad. I would melt the wax and pour it onto aluminum foil to get it the right thickness, then wrap that around a block of wood, and press it over a few dozen shells with the bullets pulled, and push the wax down with a wood dowel that was nearly the size of the case mouth. in goes the dust shot, then cap it off with more wax. once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty quick, actually. I never counted how many pellets got in there though. It was enough to take butterflies and dragonflies out with. Rats I gave up on shot after i got all the smaller ones, and switched to 22 shorts. Little red light, a call to the neighbors, and a few hours around midnight, I would get quite a few with. Momma and her two studs all took multiple shots, and momma I actually had to chase down in the field and beat it to death with a shovel. If you have that many rats like we did with the damn chickens, you might find yourself doing this very thing eventually.

 

a solid wax load works great on your friends too if you like getting beat on when they realise that you didnt actually just shoot them for real. I dont suggest you try that one. I hear they hurt too LOL

 

try a 5 gallon bucket with a few inches of water in it, with a dowel or rod with peanut butter smeared on the middle of it. put a ramp for ratface to mosey up, and you got yerself a rat trap. Mice dont seem to fall for this trick for some reason, but I used it to erradicate the rest of the bad rat infestation that was caused by the chicken coup when I was a kid.

 

oh by the way, thanks for reminding me that I can target shoot indoors with wax 22 loads LOL bastard. and i dont even have a candle or crayon here to make a few with!