Anyone have a Taurus Judge ??

yotekiller47

yotekiller47

Member
Anyone have a Taurus Judge? If so, what are your comments on it. Looking for something to carry for snakes and want one. Comments welcome. Thanks
 
My mother-in-law went and bought one of those S&W "Governors"...I think it's about the same thing. I don't know about a Taurus, never owned any of them, but if it's anything like that S&W you'd be better off with a stick as far as snakes go. It manages to detonate about half the shells you put in it. She sent it back to S&W and they returned it with a little note that said they couldn't find anything wrong. We sent it back with the weak hit shells {in a different box} and they again said, "cant find anything wrong"....the fact is though that even when it does work and go bang it is still about slap useless. You'd seriously be better off to shoot a tablespoon full of aquarium gravel out of a wrist rocket!!!!
 
When I worked at the gun shop, we sold a few of them. One guy bought one for Bear protection, so he said. Good luck with that!! But they do make ammo for it that has copper plates and buckshot in it. Might be OK for home use. IDK much about them, just sold a few.
 
GC, Why are you calling it a boat anchor? Does it not shoot bird shot good enough to kill a snake. I doubt very seriously I would ever use the buckshot or 45 colt. For personal protection I'll use my Glocks. Used the CCI shot capsules and was not impressed with it.
 
Originally Posted By: Yotes2CallYes
Carry one in truck for same reason
Good for what they are
Trigger not the best, but accurate
How do they do on a snake? Used CCI shot capsules and was not impressed.
 
I would think they would be fine on snakes. We sold a lot of different ammo for the Judge.Lots of choices in 410. It wasn't cheap but 410 ammo is probably more expensive than all the others.
 
Originally Posted By: yotekiller47Originally Posted By: Yotes2CallYes
Carry one in truck for same reason
Good for what they are
Trigger not the best, but accurate
How do they do on a snake? Used CCI shot capsules and was not impressed.

9 shot tears them up good... shot this one 20 feet and under and it flat out works
Never had any miss fires or problems
Pull the trigger and it's always worked
But like I said, it's got a rough trigger compared to a S&W
 
Originally Posted By: Yotes2CallOriginally Posted By: yotekiller47Originally Posted By: Yotes2CallYes
Carry one in truck for same reason
Good for what they are
Trigger not the best, but accurate
How do they do on a snake? Used CCI shot capsules and was not impressed.

9 shot tears them up good... shot this one 20 feet and under and it flat out works
Never had any miss fires or problems
Pull the trigger and it's always worked
But like I said, it's got a rough trigger compared to a S&W What length of barrel do you use?
 
Had a friend who had one. Can't remember all the details, but he had issues with it. He ordered it from Taurus. When he would fire it, the brass would end up sticking out the front of the cylinder, and the gun would jam. He sent it back to Taurus. They never even tested it with the ammo it was supposed to use, and sent it back, saying nothing was wrong with it. He got rid of it.
 
Originally Posted By: Yotes2Call3" and have shot a buddies 6.5"

SS models.

Held a polymer model, never shot it
Grips are to small on them in my opinion Which barrel length do you recommend? Leaning towards a 3" barrel but would consider a 6.5" The polymer model holds no appeal to me. My hands are way too big for the grip. Don't like the way it feels either. Where I hunt there are a lot of Rattlers and Copperheads.
 
Originally Posted By: yotekiller47GC, Why are you calling it a boat anchor? Does it not shoot bird shot good enough to kill a snake. I doubt very seriously I would ever use the buckshot or 45 colt. For personal protection I'll use my Glocks. Used the CCI shot capsules and was not impressed with it.


Taurus had a tremendous amount of QC troubles with these. Maybe they have it sorted out by now... maybe. The gun itself does nothing well. It's large, bulky and ungainly, doesn't pattern well with shot loads, isn't accurate with handgun loads, is very low velocity with both types which severely limits penetration and effectiveness. In general it isn't really good at anything it's touted for. The marketing has over hyped and exaggerated the thing to the point of ridiculousness. If snakes while hunting is the trouble I'd get a small or mid-size .38/.357 (S&W or Ruger) and use the CCI shot loads which are as effective at defensive snake repelling ranges as the Judge, and do so at 1/3 the bulk with the added bonus of actually being capable of doing CCW duty if you needed. I usually pack my old 4" J-frame Smith & Wesson M63 .22 LR and smack any overly aggressive viper in the noggin with a 38 gr. high velocity hollow point. Done deal, no muss no fuss. If I want more, a K-frame Smith M15 .38 with a couple CCI shot loads with some 158 gr. +P SWC-HP brothers in the cylinder go for a hike. Never had any complaints for an awful lot of miles through the timber ridges and creek bottoms of the Ozarks.
 
A buddy ha one, he really likes it and has never mentioned any issues with it....Hickok45 has a review on it, he shoots various types of ammo through it at baking sheets up to metal HVAC ductwork.

Here Kitty Kitty
 
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At one time wasn't it illegal to kill snakes in Tennessee? It might be still actually.

To answer the original question a Taurus Judge isn't really all that great for killin snakes. The pattern is too wide and you might only put a few holes in a snake and make it mad. I shot one with a Judge my buddy had. Its head was fully intact even after being shot from about 2 feet away. If I were to get one I'd shoot .45lc out of it but that's about it. The .410 is way too expensive for the poor performance out of it. The Judge won't do anything a cheap .22 revolver can't do.

On the same note it's pretty easy to walk around a snake too though.
 
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Shot through a rifled barrel doesnt shoot patterns, it shoots donuts. Every test ive seen shows the safest place for a snake to be is directly in front of the barrel.

The judge is a marketing gimmic, not a real solution to a problem.

I would like a circuit judge as a wall hanger, I've always thought revolver rifles were neat looking and there are few options. But for SD get a good pistol, for snakes get something else. Don't get 1 thing that does 2 things poorly.
 
I have one and bought it back when I lived in Texas specifically for dispatching rattle snakes when out in the country. Works great for that and I took out a number of rattle snakes with it using .410 8 shot.
Now, I carry it in my ATV but rarely ever shoot it. Mine is the ultralight stainless steel model with a 3 inch barrel.
 


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