I'll get some flack over this, but I'm an old man, so take it easy. Try to keep in mind that with age comes a little wisdom. Very little in my case, but unless a man is going out snake "hunting," he does not need snake loads or a snake gun. I've got timber rattlers and copperheads galore in the mountains where I live, but I've never needed to shoot one to save me from getting bit. If you have time to draw your gun and shoot, you've got time to step back.
Not that you shouldn't kill the hateful things, but protection from a snake bite does not and never has come in the form of a firearm. If you see him, and he hasn't yet struck, you're okay in the sense that you can't shoot him quick enough to keep him from getting you. At least that's been my experience. I've killed them with sticks and rocks and guns, but I never had to do it to keep from getting bit.
As a side note, I was once bitten by a rattler while searching for bait in a small stream. He wasn't in the stream, but nearby, and he struck as I reached for a lizard. I was armed at the time, but that didn't save me.
With snakes, the trick is to not get bit. Do so by watching for them before you step. If you do get bit, it won't be by one that you saw before he saw you. Well, nearly so. You might see him an instant before, but not nearly soon enough to do anything about it.