TX snake (Rattlers) Small Cal. suggestions and help

[Darkfrost]

Ok, so my grandmother lives out in West Texas in a dry, pretty arid area, and she has come across several small snakes, no rattlers, but several "Coatswhips" and we are both worried about her safety and her dog's safety when they go outside. She is retired, and single as her husband recently died of cancer, and she is currently alone, so noone would know if she got injured or bitten.

So basically, I am needing suggestions on ammo, handguns, or rifles in .22 or .223 caliber, hopefully not too noisy, light, accurate, and reliable.
I know it's alot to ask for in a gun, but I want something as close to as reliable as a Kalashnikov but not a bulky and "spray-and-pray" in use.

Here is what I need in Small Cal. :

[*]Light
[*]Accurate
[*]Dependable
[*]Easily available ammo
[*]Rat-shot/Snake shot is possible


Also, my Grandmother is not like most in terms of strength and use of guns, she grew up on almost nothing but ranches, and she can heft a good weight and shoot pretty accurate for her age. Then again, why not use a laser or red dot sight?

 

[kwo51]

If she would carry a small (4") 22 revolver with 22 rat shot in it ,she would be covered. A cane works well also. Here in florida most bites are from people cleaning up their yards and raking up pygmies .

 

[SilvrSRT10]

.38 spl with snake shot. Easy to carry and not too much kick and she doesn't have to be super accurate.

 

[kwo51]

I even got some snake shot for my 1911.

 

[Maxx2893]

.38 spl with snake shot. Easy to carry and not too much kick and she doesn't have to be super accurate.

This. Carry it in my GP100 when I'm at the ranch. I can say it works really well on the first hand. The recoil really isn't bad so I would go with that. If she truly can't handle that, then step down to rat shot in a 22 revolver.

I really like the CCI Shotshells (pictured above). If you look them up, use caution. There are a lot of bad reviews, almost all of them are from people having feeding issues in automatic pistols. No problems in revolvers. Plus, you can't get more reliable than a revolver, it's just going to work, every time.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Also, You could consider a .357 mag with a 4 to 6 inch barrel. She can still use the .38spl in it but the extra weight of the gun will help reduce felt recoil. The longer barrel (over a snub nose) will help with aim as well.

 

[oppo]

For snakes, a revolver with shot shells and the shorter the barrel, the better. Longer barrels throw much more of a donut pattern with a hole in the middle.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Then there's always the Taurus Judge with the .410 shot shell. But it has a kick.

 

[kwo51]

Why did Noah bring the snakes and bugs?

 

[Darkfrost]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am sending the suggestions to her right now, and I am pretty sure she will go with a .38 Revolver. My question is, since the shooting would be towards a patio, what are the chances of a ricochet?

 

[Concealed 27]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am sending the suggestions to her right now, and I am pretty sure she will go with a .38 Revolver. My question is, since the shooting would be towards a patio, what are the chances of a ricochet?

There's always that worry when shooting into concrete cause they can bounce off it. The number one thing is that she's comfortable with it......JMHO,
Concealed 27

 

[oppo]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am sending the suggestions to her right now, and I am pretty sure she will go with a .38 Revolver. My question is, since the shooting would be towards a patio, what are the chances of a ricochet?

If shooting toward a hard surface like concrete, pretty darned good.

 

[kwo51]

Back to the cane idea. A can of wasp spray might work also!

 

[SilvrSRT10]

You don't want to shooting anything at a hard surface. The chances are very good that it will ricochet. I'd be surprised if it didn't.