speaking of guns....

[Big_Charlie]

Quote:
Don't for a moment thing that a shotgun doesn't need skill to shoot. Even with a shotgun with a cylinder or improved cylinder bore (basically, no choke down of the end of the barrel), your pattern at 25 yards is still only a few inches across. You need to shoot it at some cardboard or something where you can see the shot pattern. You'll be amazed at how tight it generally is. Short of slugs, you're not going to get long range out of it, which is one of the bonuses too. Choose your shell wisely as well. #4 buckshot in a 2 3/4" shell is a good compromise between pellet size/lethality of both two and four legged predators and safety. If you shoot an interior wall of a house, you generally won't penetrate both sides of the wall with #4 while larger shot usually will.

Personally, I would avoid less-than-lethal solutions. Leave those to police riot squads. When dealing with angry critters, a less than lethal solution (except for trapping) is just as likely to make them mad - kinda' like shooting a guy on PCP with a beanbag gun. Dispatch the critter quickly and humanely and dispose of the remains before the game warden finds out. Just my take...

Big Charlie

 

[nautical_bouy]

One thing about using rock salt is it weighs much less than lead shot, a popular 12 ga trap load is 1 1/8 oz. of shot with 19 grains of Red dot or Unique powder, you would have to weigh out 1 1/8 oz of rock salt and find a wad that held it all.

I don't like the salt at all,,,
for one, if it's a two legged pest, you re-engineered a killing load when commercial non-lethals are avalible, possible big trouble with the courts.
second due to it's shape and weight the salt doesn't fly well at all.

When we were kids, paint ball guns were expensive, so we used only a primer, wad and a piece of wet toilet paper, they flew straight and hurt like heck at 100 feet.
We had many welts from them.

 

[Timmo]

I guess I have a story to add here. A while back, my mom (who lives alone on 4 rural acres) decided she'd had it with armadillos tearing up her yard and wanted a shotgun, so I got her a youth model 20 gauge pump.

My mom hadn't really had any experience with firearms of any type, but I figured I could show her how to shoot it. No problem right? Wrong. She couldn't hit anything with it, and even 20 Ga. recoil was a bit much for her small frame. It wasn't that she was afraid of it, she just couldn't aim -- with no sights on standard shotguns, a person has to shoot enough to learn where the shot will go. You kind of have to have a feel for it, you shoot a shotgun instictively, not aimed.

So the next time I went to visit, I took a Marlin Camp 45 for her. It's a small autoloader that fires regular everyday .45 ACP pistol rounds. It has sights, is short and handy, and because it's a rifle firing pistol rounds, there's almost no recoil. She hit a soda can I'd tossed in the back yard (maybe 60 feet away) on the first shot, and after several shots she said the slight recoil didn't bother her at all.

I'd highly recommend a carbine type of rifle that fires pistol rounds for your situation. They have more knock-down power than a .22, far less recoil than a 12 or 20 gauge, they have sights (a huge plus over a shotgun for a beginner), and they are so easy to shoot. Also, they will handle the 2-legged predators just as well (if not better) than their pistol-framed counterparts.

The only problem is, they don't make many of them anymore. Marlin used to make one in .45 and one in 9mm. Either would be great for you, if you can find one.

Here's a page at GunBroker where a Camp 9 is up for auction, just to show you what they look like:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=103165948

Have fun and good luck!

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Did you learn this accidentally or on purpose?