we used to take out pigeons in a barn with them. One shot

by Catoosa, Monday, May 02, 2016, 10:39 (3066 days ago) @ stonewalrus

Rifling makes a big difference in how tightly those things pattern. I shot them mostly through an old Winchester pump with fairly worn rifling, and they were quite effective. Other .22s with better bores didn't do so well.

I think the mini-trap guns had smooth bores.

Years ago when I worked in rattler/copperhead country, I carried an old Iver Johnson .38 with cut-down CCI .38 shot caps full of #8 shot, loaded over a couple grains of Bullseye in .38 S&W brass. That old gun had a bore that was almost completely shot out - you could see where the rifling had once been, but that was about all, and it had probably been at least .360 or larger to start with. The .358 shot caps likely did not spin at all going down the barrel, and it would tear a snake all to pieces at close encounter ranges.

I've always wondered how the CCI .44 caliber shot capsules would do fired through a .45 bore. Anybody ever tried it?