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The Taurus Judge

7K views 43 replies 29 participants last post by  P95Carry 
#1 ·
I'm starting to see magazine articles on Taurus' Judge (Model 44) revolver that chambers 5 rounds of .45 ACP, .45 Long Colt or .410 shotgun shells. It's cylinders are overly long to contain the shells, so the short barrel model has funny proportions. Since the barrel is mildly rifled, the 18" federal limit for smooth bore shotgun barrels does not apply.

I think this firearm is too bulky for easy concealment, and I doubt that many holster makers support it, but it seems like a good car gun or home defense weapon. A handgun sized shotgun has the advantage of better weapon retention (compared with a long gun), easier to use in conjunction with use of a flashlight and/or cell phone and less worry about over penetration of partition walls. I would load the first two chambers with No. 4 shot to shock the BG, then follow up with 3 .45's that will only be used if the BG still has fight in him.

Have any of you fired this gun? You must have to use a star clip to retain the .45 cartridges in the chambers. Doesn't this get in the way of loading the .410 shells, or do they have to be loaded first?
 
#3 ·
dr_cmg has one and wrote it up a while back.

He may well drop by and add his 2c plus a link to his thread. You may however find that by doing a search on ''judge'' with him selected as post originator.
 
#7 ·
I was wrong about the .45 ACP. I thought I got that from the August addition of American Rifleman, but I went back and checked; it's .45 Colt and .410, no .45 ACP.

Thanks for the video link; that's eye opening. I'll have to put one on my Chanukah list.
 
#8 ·
The videos all seem to show small shot dispersing in a wide pattern.

It seems to me that while this will be messy, it is not going to achieve the penetration needed for quick stopping of the threat.

Matt
 
#10 ·
It seems to me that while this will be messy, it is not going to achieve the penetration needed for quick stopping of the threat.
Depends a lot on what kind of shot you use. I see some people advocating loading the Judge with birdshot, which isn't a good stopper in any gun. If you load it with 00 or 000 buck, on the other hand, it's going to get good penetration and do some serious damage.
 
#13 · (Edited)
jofrdo:

I've got one and have shot it (and shoot it whenever I get the chance), and it is a H-O-O-T, period. I heartily and highly recommend it.

I've read on other boards where people poo-poo The Judge as too bulky to carry, too ungainly to handle, too odd-looking to make you a chick magnet, too-this or too-that, and how everything you can do with one could be done more effectively with something else.

Big Woop. All those comments have been made (as far as I can tell) by people who haven't actually SHOT The Judge.

You shoot it, you love it.

It would be a great car or room defense weapon. I have mine by the bed or on my desktop, loaded with 000. I've patterned it, and inside 7yards, it'll put three .380 or .32 ACP-equivalent buckshot pellets inside a canteloupe-sized circle, every time. And it allows you to put 15 of'em in such a circle really, really fast.

With birdshot at very close ranges (up to 5 yards, probably a little longer), you don't miss. Anything.

It'll be a good rabbit gun (loaded with No. 4's) for up-close and personal cottontail encounters next winter.

And its performance on snakes......I'll have to leave that to your imagination, aside from saying that it gets the job done (which is something of an understatement).

I shot a two-inch group with it with .45LC's at 15 yards, too.

It conceals great inside a large smartcarry (under overalls), but would be kind of awkward to carry concealed in most any other sort of rig or clothing setup.

Dude, I'd get one while the getting's good (and it doesn't look like the getting is going to get much gooder)- - just for fun if nothing else.
 
#25 ·
Absolutely agreed. The Judge is a great gun, and I'm glad I got mine when they were $349! I'm about to gift The Judge to my brother-in-law, who fell in love with it the first time he shot it...since then, it is all he talks about. I'm going to make him a very happy guy this week!

Hopefully, I'll be able to find a replacement someday, but for now, I'm stoked to give this one to a great guy. He's 6'8", and can probably conceal a Sidewinder, but this will do nicely as a CCW
 
#14 ·
I keep a .357 sp101 for a truck gun and my friend liked the idea so he went to a gunshop and brought back a .............Judge. Anyway, he really likes it and the two times I've fired it have made me consider getting one. I have only shot 00 buck through it and I don't think any carjacker wants any part of that. The two major shops around here both stock them and say they are getting quite popular with the local farmers and ranchers.
 
#15 ·
I shot one on Saturday. Fella at the range was teaching his teenage son to shoot with one.

He let me shoot a cylinder of .410 birdshot. At five yards, the pattern was about 3 feet in diameter.

The ejector required hammering against a wood block to dump the spent hulls.

Can't say that I left the experience wanting one.

YMMV one hell of a lot.

Bill
 
#16 ·
I have one and it is my wife's house gun. It is loaded with 3 .410 000 Buck rounds followed by 2 .45 Colt JHP rounds. Taurus is beginning to offer one that will accept a 3" .410 round. Mine only accepts 2 1/2" rounds. I have found some 00 Buck and some #6, but little else in .410. I would like to find #4 Buck, but so far have only seen it in the 3" version. The gun is amazingly accurate with the .45 Colt rounds. The .410 is great for 15' or less.

Here are some links to my threads about the Judge.
House Gun / more range info added

New K&D Leather for Taurus Judge

K&D Western Style Crossdraw Holster for Judge w/new photos at post 11
 
#17 · (Edited)
as far as penetration of the .410 round.

well.... i read here not long ago that a man shot his son in law for breaking in there house. lets just say that his daughter is a widow.

also i have shot large animals with a .410 000 buck, and the just fell in there tracks.

think again, and wear a tie when facing the judge. i am about feed up with reading about penetration. this is becoming obserd. if you shoot a living thing (within reason, and excluding extra large game animals, or african wildlife) in the right place with anything. air rifle, .22, .17, .45, 9mm, .32, 30-06, pencil and rubber band (mythbusters), wadded up paper folded into a cross bow with pencil (mythbusters) it will render that living thing lifeless.

sorry to be so forward, but geezzzz.....
 
#18 ·
Seems like a fun gun to have, If I ever fall into a pile of cash I'd like to get one. Have to give Taurus some credit for being innovative and coming out w/it..
 
#19 ·
I like mine..
1. more accurate with 45 colt than one would expect
2. kicks harder with the 410.
3. i shot a quail on the wing with it! (after several misses)
4. quality, fit/finish is okay, but below SW
5. hiviz type sight works well
6. comes in a minimal cardborad box with zero accesories besides the manual.
7. has an internal lock
hope this helps.
God Bless
 
#20 ·
I used to work nights and wanted my wife to have options at her disposal in case a problem arose. I bought her Mossy Cruiser in .410 (came with pistol grip, but I swapped it out for an adjustable shoulder stock).She is petite and couldn't handle my 12gauge Mossy very well at the time. I prefer a 12 but would have no problem trusting the 410 if it were all I had.With the correct ammo of course.
 
#21 ·
I think we do need to think about penetration. The shot pellets are not going to exit this gun's short barrel with anything close to the speed that they'd have coming out of the longer barrel of a conventional shotgun. I'll be watching for magazine articles that show geletin penetration, chronograph speeds, etc.
 
#23 ·
well look for the article here about the self defense shooting that used the judge. guy shot a man and it went through and through.

i am sorry, but you just can't tell me that a powder gun shooting large pellets (not talking about bird shot) will not do damage deep enough to stop a person. that is just ridiculous.
 
#24 ·
Large pellets, sure. I don't think anyone is contesting that.

But, for example, in the PDTV sequence they were using birdshot.

Properly loaded, I suspect the judge would be quite effective.

Matt
 
#26 ·
Scot:

You are a generous spirit and I commend you for it. I'll give away a few of my guns, too, to the proper people at appropriate times. Having been the recipient of such gifts before, I can appreciate the joy they bring- both by donor and recipient.
 
#37 ·
Thanks for the kind words, but the brother-in-law is a spectacular human being. He's a contractor in high-demand that does work after hours for Habitat for Humanity. That translates to quality construction with NO price tag attached. He even built a house on his own property for his two employees (two brothers, they're VERY poor LEGAL immigrants and couldn't have made a run at a savings without Brandon helping them).

Of anyone I know, this guy deserves a bit of a pat on the back. Even when the wife and I were just starting out, he never treated me like the guy that was trying to bang his baby sister. :redface: Guilty as charged, tho...
 
#30 ·
Am I the only one looking at this as a solution looking for a problem?
 
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