Rat shot, snake shot, bird shot, What ever you wish to call it. How well does it work and what potential uses does it have? So I picked up a few boxes and found out. It is sold as “pest control”. To use it as a “pest control” solution seems a bit extreme. There are certainly cheaper more effective ways to deal with rats and snakes. And who is going to wander around with a gun loaded with these rounds?

Lets look at reliability. The ammo comes with a warning that they may not work reliably in all firearms. This is where it is important to test them with the firearm you intend to use them with. The construction and light weight may not have enough pressure to cycle your firearm. Another issue with the .40 cal is that the spent casing is considerably longer than the spent casing from a typical round. So the ejection port on you firearm may be to small causing the casing to get jammed on the way out. This may leave you with a “single shot”.

Some people will use these rounds as a first shot in their self-defense gun hoping to get the first hit and follow up with a more traditional defense round while the assailant is “stunned”. After testing these rounds for myself, I have come to the conclusion that this is a bad idea. My testing showed me that the reliability is questionable and the pattern gets pretty sparse even at relatively close range. Combining those two factors results in little effect to the assailant, and you potentially standing there with a jammed gun. All tactical advantage you may have had is lost. Plus you assailant is REALLY  looking for some payback. Bad guys are bad guys. Most likely they have been shot at or even shot before. To say that they would retreat because they “broke a nail”…. That’s not going to happen.

Not being the best option for pest control or self-defense, what is it good for? The best answer I can come up with is, squirrels. During any situation that you may have to live off the land for longer than expected, it may be a good last resort answer. This is all predicated on having the knowledge of when and where to find them as well as getting in close range. It can be done. I’ve never done it because its not really ethical in my opinion, outside a survival situation. But I’m sure it could be done. Most people that get lost in the woods are found in three days. Of course someone has to know you missed your check-in when you were suppose to let them know your out safely, and notify authorities that you may be missing. People can survive three weeks without food, so the need to do this is kind of sketchy. That would be a judgment call for anyone in that situation, and having the gun and rounds to accomplish it prior to entering the woods.

A bug-out situation may be the only real use for it. This would give you the ability to have real self-defense rounds and the ability to take game with a single handgun. It was an interesting experiment none the less. Video is posted below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe here and on youtube. Thanks.