Just what I needed to protect the dogs. There is one problem. I’ve used these in autoloaders before, and they usually are so light that the gun fails to feed properly. Some guns handle them just fine, but I’ve never been lucky enough to own one.

So I needed a revolver. Unfortunately the only revolver I had at the time was a snub nosed K-frame.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like that gun. But the short barrel would mean that the shot pattern would be way too wide. Not only would it reduce the chances of putting enough shot into the snake to have an immediate effect, the pattern might be so wide that I would find a pellet or two going in to my leg.

Wait a minute! This sounds like a perfect excuse to buy yet another gun! Lucky me!

It is an EAA Windicator, chambered for the .357 Magnum cartridge. What is this EAA business? European American Armory, a company that imports arms in the United States from abroad. In this case, the revolver was made in Germany before ending up in Texas to help me kill snakes. Pretty neat, huh?

Why .357 Magnum instead of .38 Special? I like to standardize whenever possible, and so am focusing on .357 exclusively. That way all of my revolvers will be able to chamber the magnum cartridges, but I can also load and fire .38’s if I so choose.

I intend to carry this outside a lot, so opted for something in stainless steel. Makes for a shiny gun, I must admit.

I looked around and came across a holster that caught my eye.

A Ranch Series holster from The Holster Store. I have no complaints about the product, but be warned that the good people at the company really don’t like retaining straps to keep your gun from coming loose and going walk about. The manual that came with the holster rather sniffily suggested that I keep one hand on my gun to keep this from happening.

Hey, I like retaining straps! It hasn’t been unknown for me to be tossed around a bit at times, and I usually need both hands when that happens. But even though there isn’t anything to keep this particular gun in the holster but gravity and some friction, the holster suits the very narrow role I have for the firearm. I need to be armed as I wander around the shack and the yard, ready to protect. This way I can carry enough extra ammo for a reload without the bother of ammunition pouches and speed loaders. Should I decide to carry the revolver for defense in the wider world, I’ll just transfer the gun to a more elaborate rig.

So there you go. Snakes beware, or be prepared to get a faceful of teeny tiny pellets! Larger predators should also be on their toes, if they have any, as there will be enough JHP loaded next to the shot shells to take care of them.