I got to have an intimate look at Taurus Judge earlier. I've shot it a few times in the past, one .410 here and there, at the range when I did my CCW, and another time when I bought a gun and got a free range pass. I spent the better half of the last hour shooting it, maybe ~75 rounds. And about 10 rounds of .45LC.
At first I loved the gun, thought it was awesome and wanted one. But now, I think I'll pass. The .410 shell is worthless for almost anything other than shooting at grasshoppers. It don't pattern worth a shit, even the expensive rounds that Federal sells labeled "Made for the JUDGE" and some various buckshot, slugs, and some other rounds we found in my buddies truck. At ~10 yards the pattern is so loose it's just like throwing a handful of sand at somebody. We used a dusty old piece of plywood we found at the farm to shoot at, and get some patterning done. It didn't even penetrate the plywood, just left some dents. The .45LC rounds blew right through it, and the tree we propped it up on. But .45LC is WAY too expensive to just shoot with for fun.
Aside from performance, the gun it's self if very well build, the "gripper" grips felt funny, but did their part on dampening recoil...I think. We had an old SA revolver there too also chambered for the .45LC and it was a night and day difference in recoil. It shot exactly where we aimed it(out to about 25 yards.) The .410 kicked harder than the .45LC too....
It's a fun gun, and very unique. Until I get a chance to shoot the Magnum version with some meaner .410 rounds, I think I'll pass on it...or at least move it to the bottom of my "want" list.
At first I loved the gun, thought it was awesome and wanted one. But now, I think I'll pass. The .410 shell is worthless for almost anything other than shooting at grasshoppers. It don't pattern worth a shit, even the expensive rounds that Federal sells labeled "Made for the JUDGE" and some various buckshot, slugs, and some other rounds we found in my buddies truck. At ~10 yards the pattern is so loose it's just like throwing a handful of sand at somebody. We used a dusty old piece of plywood we found at the farm to shoot at, and get some patterning done. It didn't even penetrate the plywood, just left some dents. The .45LC rounds blew right through it, and the tree we propped it up on. But .45LC is WAY too expensive to just shoot with for fun.
Aside from performance, the gun it's self if very well build, the "gripper" grips felt funny, but did their part on dampening recoil...I think. We had an old SA revolver there too also chambered for the .45LC and it was a night and day difference in recoil. It shot exactly where we aimed it(out to about 25 yards.) The .410 kicked harder than the .45LC too....
It's a fun gun, and very unique. Until I get a chance to shoot the Magnum version with some meaner .410 rounds, I think I'll pass on it...or at least move it to the bottom of my "want" list.