taurus judge?

nightwatchman

nightwatchman

New member
im leaning toward purchasing a taurus judge to use to carry at night when im running dogs and rabbit hunting in the fall. can any of you pistol guys tell me anything about them as far as reliability and any problems that have arose in them since they came out. also, whats the going prices on them. im interested in the short version in stainless.
 
Built like an iron brick with weight to match. I have a buddy who brings one out when he comes to shoot pds...for the snakes. Its a handfull to shoot too.
 
I heard off a guy that took and had a .410 choke systems put in one so it had better range for real hunting purposes.Other than that I have heard that the gun is either inaccurate(with the .45 colt ammo) or has a spread about as big as a barn door at 15 yards because of the rifling.
 
A buddy of mine had the hots for one since they came out. I seen him at a gun show a couple of weeks ago and he seemed to back off from his desire for one. Not sure if it was the gun itself or for financial reasons or feedback from others. I'll be seeing him tomorrow and I'll ask him what the deal is on it. Dave
 
the only bad thing i heard was from my local gun shop they had one returned (model with the fluted cyl.) a guy bought it to rabbit hunt went hunting, shot some rabbits, left it in his truck over night (around zero degrees that night maybe a little under) shot it the next day and the cylinder exploded/split into several large pieces and many small ones! this was supposed to have happened with factory loaded 410 shot shells. they sent it back to taurus and gave him a new gun i have yet to hear what taurus had to say , but i was looking to buy one myself until that now im not so sure
 
I would totaly skip all that. The 45 is not accurate because its so far to the barrel from the chamber.

Get a Thompson Center 410/45 and don't even bother with the 45. can probably just keep some slugs in your pocket when you have birdshot loaded. Plus you can buy all sorts of barrels.
 
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ive got a thompson center with the 410/45lc barrel. i dont mind it but im looking for something alittle smaller and handier to handle.
i have two friends that have them but ive not shot them yet or seen how they pattern. i appreciate all the info on the pistol. the exploding cylinder would not settle well with me either.
 
I've seen lots of uneducated folks buying them out the local gun store like hotcakes for the wow feature.

If you look around, even some of the gun magazines had a hard time putting a positive spin on them, and the magazines are full of hype. I wouldn't waste the money on one. Get a gun that does one thing well, not two things poorly.
 
Originally Posted By: MACHINIST...Other than that I have heard that the gun is either inaccurate(with the .45 colt ammo) or has a spread about as big as a barn door at 15 yards because of the rifling.

Spot on. This has to be the most overrated, over hyped, and best marketed gun by the maker that has ever hit the shelves. P.T. Barnum said it best... A sucker is born every minute.
 
i did have a bfr for a while in 410/45 it shot very well in both 45 and 410 but it lost all the cool factor after i lugged it around for a few days while hunting. very well made gun functioned flawlessly but man that thing was heavy! and there was no hiding it if you got it out of sight anyone could tell you were carrying from the lopsided limp you walked with!
 
This is becoming my standard 'judge' answer.

It's a toy and a marketing ploy /end story.

It's a poor answer in search of a question.

It does everything badly and nothing well.

It's less accurate by design than a standard .45lc pistol. It's less powerful using .410 than the rifle it's intending to replace. It lacks penetration with any .410 slug or buck load.

For $100, it's fun to own. For serious money there's a whole lot better out there. Pretty much any large bore revolver will have a snake load for it. It's not a new concept. Neat thing is you'll be able to find .44mag snake loads for less than .410 shot shells. They'll work just as well for close range pest work as anything else, just as poorly for anything of a longer range or larger animal. And the ability to shoot either underpowered and poorly performing buck, or underpowered and poorly performing slugs isn't really a selling point to anyone who spends some time with firearms.

All things being equal, pick up a .44 mag or some other large bore pistol and you'll be better off.

/end standard answer

To be honest when I very first laid eyes on one, picked it up, moved it around my immediate thought was "Why in the [beeep] would anyone pay money for this?" Then I gave quite a bit of thought to the entire design and what it appeared it could do and my 2nd thought was, "Why in the [beeep] would anyone pay money for this?"

Now the only thought I have of them is "Why in the [beeep] do people keep paying money for this?" Dig a shallow grave and bury the thing IMO
smile.gif
 
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I have one, and have mixed feelings about it. Take this with the fact Ive only shot one box of 45, 2 box of shot and a few boxes of slugs and a box or 2 of buck.

the 45 seems to shoot ok decent enough for defense purposes, simply put if he is far enough away that im going to miss, I can run away. dangerous game is a different situation and wouldnt trust it so much.

the slugs, for some reason they are crazy accurate out of mine. very confident with them.

buck shot was ok, not great but for defense its better than nothing, ie I wouldnt want to be on the business end

shot, very short range, good for snakes ( one reason why I got it, that and its hard for me to turn down a .410) rabbits, would have to be pretty close. used 4,6,9 shot.

Overall Id say its a pretty fun gun to shoot, its a niche gun. If I sell it, I wont weep a tear since I dont have a real use for it anymore, but for now itll go out to plinkin range for a little bit of fun.

Id definately shoot your buddies before you buy, it may not be what you want, another thing, alot of the negative feedback is from folks that dont own them, because they see no "useful purpose" for them, as well as most of the possitive stuff is marketing (as a defense handgun), the truth is somewhere in the middle.

I got mine because it looked fun and found a reason for it, not to stop carjackers. up to you to decide a "useful purpose"

good luck
Dave
 
My Brother bought me a 45/410 Derringer paid $400.00 for it. I shot it twice and sold it. Totally worthless. I would have traded it even for a 38sp derringer but had no takers.
 
Originally Posted By: crazylikeafoxIt was designed for personal defense, close range combat and it does that well. It is not practical for much else.

Many would disagree about The Judge working well for personal defense and close range combat. In the eye of many it is actually a poor choice with many much better options available.
 
Have not been around the judge, but I did own a Bond arms 410/45 derringer. The gun was really well made, but it was totally useless as a gun. Even the comments about being for snakes were false as the spread was so severe the pattern opened enough to completely miss a snake at 5 to ten feet. It was nearly impossible to kill a rabbit with it. The other thing that nobody mentions is that it is unbelievably loud. I where plugs when target shooting and usually carry some, but there are still times when I end up shooting without plugs. I can guarantee I am not going to ask an attacker to wait a second while I put in my plugs. I tried shooting a couple snakes while riding. Trying to stop, get off, put plugs in, and shoot the snake 3-5 times didn't work. Then I am sure it hurt the horses ears as they pawed, winnied, and tried scratching their ears with their front hooves the rest of the day. They sound like a good idea, but in reality they don't work. A 357 or 44 with special or shotshell loads makes way more sense. Just my 2 cents.
 


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