I was able to shoot dove (7 1/2) loads out of my Judge just fine. When I tried to shoot buckshot, the emplt shells would get stuck in the cylinder and be very difficult to eject.
Hornady Critical Defense .410 and some people alternate a shotgun shell and a .45
The Judge makes a poor self defense weapon IMO. You'll see what I mean as soon as you shoot it. My FIL got one and that thing is a big, clumsy, hard to shoot weapon.