Lee Martin
Hunter
Sometimes it takes more than a trap.
These guys do a good job on the dirty rats and I leave 'em alone whenever possible.
Noticed a trap missing from a 4'x8' work table. Then, shutting off the shop fan, heard a thrash where artwork wrapped in plastic meets the wall. Figured a rat got a leg caught in the trap then dragged the trap off the table. Now tangled in visquine between art and wall. Better kill it before it chews off its leg and escapes. Load Les Baer 1911 with CCI .45 ACP shotshell. Considering damage potential, switch Les Baer for K-22 stoked with CCI ratshot. Poking muzzle into folds of plastic. Intermittent thrashing invisible through folds of visquine indicate a rat very much alive. Muzzle of K-22 paws at the plastic, exposing a hind quarter and the lower torso of a bull rat. Cannot see forward portion. BLAM----take out left femoral artery. Range: about 2 inches. The struggle for life quickly fades. Reach a Channelock plier, pinch a fold of skin, extract rat.
The trap had crimped not a leg, rather the bail struck immediately aft the rat's skull----without cutting off the airway! Head clamped, the rat had dragged the trap across table, only to plunge into a maze of plastic wrap. For whatever reason, this rat lacked the football kyoons of of the next rat to pay for crowding the muzzle of the K-22.
Barrel fouling from one round of CCI .22LR ratshot.
K-22 chamber fouled by ratshot.
Bronze brush for .22 rifle is best for twisting through revolver chambers. Rifle length precludes use as proper bore brush in revolver.
Parker Hale makes the best jag. Cotton flannel remains superior patch material.
Lead particles infect cotton flannel patch run through bore of K-22; appear to be shot from CCI shotshell. Bore had not been cleaned since passage of 500 to 700 rounds of .22 Long Rifle solids and hollow points
Five rounds fired over trunnion rest from 100 yards-----after one round of CCI ratshot.
A bit of wind drift.
CCI ratshot, so limited, yet handy for putting the crimp on a lousy rat at muzzle distance.
Dog alerted to a rat in studio. Handloader grabs K-22. Rat navigates behind art on shelf. Stalk the vermin, exposing leaned panels one by one. Suddenly, shadow of ears on the wall, like Mickey Mouse with mule deer ears. Muzzle extends, finger poised for double action. Rat makes a run for it BLAM leaps off shelf BLAM, hits the floor sick. Young Fang pounces, crunching rat ribs. Pattern on sheetrock approximates 2 feet from muzzle winged rat as it went airborne. Dents from shot capsule.
CCI 22 shotshell chroographed on Dr. Kenneth Oehler's Model 35P. Cardboard hung from light diffuser of stop screen, velocity 1452 fps. Screen spacing 2 feet, muzzle 1' in front of start screen. Thus, pattern on cardboard made 3' from muzzle. One yard may represent outer limit for .22 ratshot fired from revolver. The sixgun supplies multiple shots without the feeding woes of an auto, a practical advantage as the rat takes flight.
These guys do a good job on the dirty rats and I leave 'em alone whenever possible.
Noticed a trap missing from a 4'x8' work table. Then, shutting off the shop fan, heard a thrash where artwork wrapped in plastic meets the wall. Figured a rat got a leg caught in the trap then dragged the trap off the table. Now tangled in visquine between art and wall. Better kill it before it chews off its leg and escapes. Load Les Baer 1911 with CCI .45 ACP shotshell. Considering damage potential, switch Les Baer for K-22 stoked with CCI ratshot. Poking muzzle into folds of plastic. Intermittent thrashing invisible through folds of visquine indicate a rat very much alive. Muzzle of K-22 paws at the plastic, exposing a hind quarter and the lower torso of a bull rat. Cannot see forward portion. BLAM----take out left femoral artery. Range: about 2 inches. The struggle for life quickly fades. Reach a Channelock plier, pinch a fold of skin, extract rat.
The trap had crimped not a leg, rather the bail struck immediately aft the rat's skull----without cutting off the airway! Head clamped, the rat had dragged the trap across table, only to plunge into a maze of plastic wrap. For whatever reason, this rat lacked the football kyoons of of the next rat to pay for crowding the muzzle of the K-22.
Barrel fouling from one round of CCI .22LR ratshot.
K-22 chamber fouled by ratshot.
Bronze brush for .22 rifle is best for twisting through revolver chambers. Rifle length precludes use as proper bore brush in revolver.
Parker Hale makes the best jag. Cotton flannel remains superior patch material.
Lead particles infect cotton flannel patch run through bore of K-22; appear to be shot from CCI shotshell. Bore had not been cleaned since passage of 500 to 700 rounds of .22 Long Rifle solids and hollow points
Five rounds fired over trunnion rest from 100 yards-----after one round of CCI ratshot.
A bit of wind drift.
CCI ratshot, so limited, yet handy for putting the crimp on a lousy rat at muzzle distance.
Dog alerted to a rat in studio. Handloader grabs K-22. Rat navigates behind art on shelf. Stalk the vermin, exposing leaned panels one by one. Suddenly, shadow of ears on the wall, like Mickey Mouse with mule deer ears. Muzzle extends, finger poised for double action. Rat makes a run for it BLAM leaps off shelf BLAM, hits the floor sick. Young Fang pounces, crunching rat ribs. Pattern on sheetrock approximates 2 feet from muzzle winged rat as it went airborne. Dents from shot capsule.
CCI 22 shotshell chroographed on Dr. Kenneth Oehler's Model 35P. Cardboard hung from light diffuser of stop screen, velocity 1452 fps. Screen spacing 2 feet, muzzle 1' in front of start screen. Thus, pattern on cardboard made 3' from muzzle. One yard may represent outer limit for .22 ratshot fired from revolver. The sixgun supplies multiple shots without the feeding woes of an auto, a practical advantage as the rat takes flight.
