We visited relatives this weekend and one of my inlaws had a Taurus Judge. We were shooting a variety of ammo through it, including a box of 410 slugs. The power up close seemed pretty devastating (to cans and cardboard anyway), but you could see where they dropped off quickly by the little dust clouds they quickly made out in the pasture.

Anyways, anybody know anything about this, done it before, etc.? Is shooting slugs through that little pistol a good idea for self defense, or would standard 45 Long Colt be better? Just curious.

Winchester makes a personal defense .410 round that is pretty nasty.

With the cost of 410 I think I'd stick with 45LC for my solid projectile. That is if the slugs are anywhere near the price of shot.

I personally wouldn't trust that gun with a birdshot, much less a slug.

I don't have any real supporting arguments; it's just my (irrational) opinion.

Seven we tried the Winchester defensive round too. It made an interesting pattern, with the three large projectiles patterning randomly with every shot, but still within a 5 inch circle. It was kind of neat to fire several rounds into cardboard and inspect the patterns. Sometimes they made a straight line, sometimes a triangle.

I *really* want to shoot a Judge, just to see what's it like. I would probably never own one, but I find the design fascinating.

One man's experiment, results and opinion:

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot53.htm

I dont understand that gun at all. At least not how it is applied. If it is going to be used for personal defense it must be used with 45lc. 45lc is a devastating round. there is not a 410 shell made that is truly effective for that SD out of a pistol barrel.

If someone came after me and thats all I had, they would eat 45lc.

The Winchester PDX-1 load in .410 out of the Judge is a kick-ass load. People who dismiss the Judge haven't seen this load in action.

I have a bunch of guns at my house in a variety of calibers. The Judge was a gift to me and it sat in my safe for the first four years or so that I had it, until I discovered PDX-1. Now it's my nightstand gun.

The Box of Truth URL referenced above is badly dated and does not take into account the specialty .410 personal defense rounds that have been developed in the past year or two.

You would not want to be shot with PDX-1 coming out of a Judge.

I have three rounds of PDX-1 in .410 followed by two rounds in .45 LC. That gun is an ass-kicker and people who would disagree are doing so out of prejudice and ignorance.

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The Box of Truth URL referenced above is badly dated and does not take into account the specialty .410 personal defense rounds that have been developed in the past year or two.

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1. Can it penetrate 12 inches of Gelatin? 10?

2. Can it penetrate a car door?

3. Can it break bone at 50 feet?

As it relates to the OP, no, slugs are not a good idea out of the judge. Either use the .45 LC as mentioned or shoot one of the specialty .410 loads like PDX-1 or the Federal 000-buck personal defense load.

You will get superior performance from the .45 colt round than you would from a .410 slug. Winchester makes PDX-1 in .45 colt if you prefer that load.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXHzFntUAp4

Skubalon, he tests the PDX-1 in the link above.

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1. Can it penetrate 12 inches of Gelatin? 10?

2. Can it penetrate a car door?

3. Can it break bone at 50 feet?

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1. Yes.

2. Dunno. I've never been attacked by a car door in my bedroom.

3. Dunno. I wouldn't be using a .410 out of a revolver at a distance of 50 feet. At a distance of 15 feet it would blow a big hole in something.

It's a close-range gun. Close-range. As in close. If you are looking for a longer-range personal defense weapon, this is a poor choice. Bad. Really bad.

But in a nightstand or in a glove box? Ass-kicker.

Just finished watching it. It clearly can be very lethal but shows limitations as well. I certainly would not want to be shot with one. But would still rather have a 45lc, especially outside of very confined quarters.

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But in a nightstand or in a glove box? Ass-kicker.

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Fair enough.

Thanks KY - glad to see the BOT guys do a further test on this. I hadn't seen that update.

Just aim for the face, you will be fine.

Nothing can survive a judge to the face.

Nothing.

After shooting my FIL's judge, I concur that I wouldn't want to be shot by one. It's a fine weapon, but I would like to shoot the S&W governor since it also shoots 45acp and has six shots. The 5 shot judge is still deceptively large.

One thing to add... The YouTube videos ice seen for the judge were done in a carjacking situation. Excellent glovebox gun.

Light weight, single action, no worries of accidental discharge. Devastating at close range.

Just get the raging judge and shoot 454 out of it

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Just aim for the face, you will be fine.

Nothing can survive a judge to the face.

Nothing.

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There's a bad pr0n joke here somewhere.

why would you grab that big heavy POS with few shots when you could at least get a full size handgun (in .45 if you prefer) with twice as many rounds? I just don't see the purpose of that gun other than a novelty.