Taurus Judge - Opinions?

[DragonMind]

I don't currently carry a gun due to limited practice time. Recently I was directed to look at the Taurus Judge (http://www.taurusjudge.net/). A 5-shot revolver chambered in 410 shotgun packing 00 buck sure sounds like a great close quarters piece that wouldn't require quite as much range time to maintain proficiency. What do you guys think?

[jwinch2]

I'm not a fan. I don't see a reason to turn a short barreled revolver into something even less accurate. There are other reasons to consider as well...

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot41.htm

[David Craik]

Thanks for that link, Jason; I was interested in the Judge as well, being a big fan of Taurus (at least more recent ones than the crunchy revolvers they made in the late 70's).

Think I'll stick to my .357. :wink2:

[Cliff Hargrave]

I have to say I have only held one and never shot one.

First, it's BIG. You could carry a full sized, more conventional handgun easier.

If someone wanted to carry a .45LC, I would be more inclined to recommend a S&W mod 25.

So that leaves the .410 shotshells as the gimmick. As an anti-snake weapon it gets a big thumbs up. For people, it is up to debate. The bird shot will probably not be very effective beyond a few yards unless you shoot them in the face. Buckshot will be real effective, but you are losing a lot of accuracy, range, and penetration power. .410 buck is three pellets. I am sure pumping five shots, 15 pellets, into someone would stop them, but it's only in the situation where everything was perfect: close range, no cover, and no other persons that could be hit (hostages etc.).

So in my opinion, for what it's worth, the Judge is very effective in limited circumstances. I personally would rather have a weapon that was not near as effective, but useful in a broader range of circumstances.

But then again, I carry a 1911 which covers them all :)

[starkjudo]

What's the opinion of the Taurus brand in general?

[jwinch2]

Rob,

My understanding is that their revolvers have been viewed pretty well over the last couple of decades but not their semi-autos. However, it is also my understanding that in the last couple of years, they have made some great strides in their semi-autos as well.

Personally, I have shot a few different Taurus revolvers here and there but have not had enough trigger time to really give you a detailed report or provide any insight on durability/reliability issues.

[David Craik]

I have had a Model 669 and a PT-92 for nearly twenty years. They both have always functioned flawlessly - even with crappy unjacketed RNL reloads, and the revolver is (for me) the most accurate handgun I own. Apart from replacing the grips - Hogue for the 9mm and Pachmayr for the wheelgun, I've never modified or replaced anything on them. I didn't like the clubby grips on the 669 and the smooth panels on the PT-92. Also hated the garish gold little Taurus badge on them. It was the same hue of gold as one would expect from 25-cent vending machine jewelry.

They both are very well made and have been fired many times. The trigger pull is good for out-of-the box handguns of their respective types.

I felt the 669 was superior to it's S&W equivalent as it has a pinned coil mainspring instead of a leaf sitting in a notch. The PT-92..well, it's basically a Beretta Brigadier. Think it was even made using old Beretta tooling. DA autos aren't my favorite, but I've never had any trouble out of it.

Early Taurus guns had some pretty rough internal tooling, on the hand for example, slide rails, and the part of the ejector rod that resides within the cylinder. Kind of like early Rossis. These issues have long since been resolved though.

Incidentally..I swapped the barrel out of my M9 for the one in the PT-92 when I qual'ed one year because the issue one was wore out. Shot Expert, so I guess it works! :D

I wish I could offer an opinion on some of their more recent models (beyond that I hate the red part on the grip of the Raging Bull and kind of hate guns with inscribed 'names' down the barrel in general), but I guess a testimonial of sorts resides in that that the reason I don't know much about the new ones is because my old ones still work so well. :)

I'd definately buy from Taurus again.

[Nick L.]

I personally like Taurus handguns, without going into detail I will say that I own a few, have shot others and believe they have a very good quality to price ratio. If you do any single action shooting, their cowboy revolvers are great. A 410 revolver sounds scary. I would just stick to the sawed of double barrel, I mean if it weren't illegal that is.:o

Which brings up another question, how can you have a shotgun load in a weapon with that short of a barrel?

[TonyU]

Which brings up another question, how can you have a shotgun load in a weapon with that short of a barrel?

Loophole. It's a pistol not a shotgun. The sawed off part only applies to shotguns which are also shoulder fired weapons.

[David Craik]

I never knew that; I always assumed that it had something to do with it being able to be considered a .45 LC. Just like you can buy snakeshot for pretty much any handgun caliber.

[nismophreek]

I've got a 685 which is a stubby .357 with a ported barrel. I love that thing. I was shooting clay targets off the ground, off hand at about 75 yds. with it. No, I'm not lying, have no reason to. The ported barrel makes that thing VERY easy to control, even with full bore 157 gr. loads in it.

[Cliff Hargrave]

Taurus makes a good product. I have been considering getting one of their new 1911s as a knock around gun. They are tricked out from the factory and cost around $500-$600. Almost all other 1911s run $800 to infinity.

http://www.taurususa.com/images/imagesMain/1911SS-1.jpg

[Nick L.]

Loophole. It's a pistol not a shotgun. The sawed off part only applies to shotguns which are also shoulder fired weapons.

So does that law or loophole apply to sawed off shotguns that have been outfitted with a pistol grip only and no butt stock? I am pretty sure I know what the answer will be.........:(

[TonyU]

So does that law or loophole apply to sawed off shotguns that have been outfitted with a pistol grip only and no butt stock? I am pretty sure I know what the answer will be.........:(
Nope.
........

[David Craik]

You may be able to pay a $200 NFA transfer tax if you want to make a legal 'sawed-off'...I'm not entirely sure how this works though.

[jwinch2]

You may be able to pay a $200 NFA transfer tax if you want to make a legal 'sawed-off'...I'm not entirely sure how this works though.

How to legally build a short barreled shotgun (http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=80131&sid=e74e4e2dce19209854a6a9407679fdd6)

[David Craik]

Good reading..wow, a lot of hoops to jump through just to have a scattergun that patterns like crap. :D

[Nick L.]

I'm going with this pistol grip version.

[David Craik]

I wonder what purpose the bead sight serves? :laugh:

[jwinch2]

Agreed and most of the hoops are beyond a waste of time. As if criminals are going to bother with that kind of red tape. The same thing goes for short barreled rifles.

[David Craik]

Yeah, like most gun laws - pretty silly. I wonder what would prevent a manufacturer from producing a .775 'double-barrelled pistol' that has no stock and no means of attaching a stock....:up:

[jwinch2]

I wonder what would prevent a manufacturer from producing a .775 'double-barrelled pistol' that has no stock and no means of attaching a stock....:up:

The fact that people's wrists would be broken on the first shot? :eek:

[David Craik]

No, it would be the same length as a SBS or 'lupara' (allowing a two-hand grip); just made with a rifled barrel, front and rear sights, and marketed as a big-@ss pistol. :D

A pistol that just happens to accept a 12 ga shell...one could even make black powder cartridges for it for the sake of legitimacy so it would be similar to the old 'Howdah' pistol. Recoil would be stout, but not impossible.

And if you have slugs in there, how is it logically a shotgun? ;)

Sorry, thinking up ways to circumvent flawed regulations is a hobby of mine..just a mental exercise in defiance and blurring arbitrary categories.. :laugh:

[jjaje]

Yeah, the Judge is big. Original models could only load the shorter 2.5 inch .410 shotshells, but now I believe they make a model for the 3 inch shot shells now.

The only benefit it may have over a regular revolver in .45 colt is with small shot and short ranges, like for snakes. Although there are small shot capsules for most revolvers, I suspect the .410 will do a better job.

If you are interested in the buckshot loads in a .410, there are people that hand load multiple projectiles (http://www.castpics.net/memberarticles/Round%20Ball%20Loads...Final%20edit.htm) into one case and get probably better results. I've seen people use multiple lightweight wadcutter rounds with interesting results.

Although I admit I would not mind having one in my "collection" if I had a bunch of extra money.

[David Craik]

If they make fletchette or strung-buck shells in .410 like I have for my 12 ga guns it might be one hell of a weapon. Good luck defending it's use in court though.