Best Judge Pistol - Bob Campbell takes a look at this unique revolver that has quickly become iconic. CONTINUE READING

Weapons are reactive tools. They are worn on the face in response to a threat. They can be kept at home to deal with a threat in the house. When we have a warning, it is often better to use a rifle or shotgun.

Best Judge Pistol

Best Judge Pistol

Then the weapon is the weapon of opportunity. While pistols are not the most powerful firearms, they are the ones we are most likely to have on hand when a firearm is needed to save our lives. I spent several months evaluating the Taurus Judge and formed a positive opinion of the revolver for the special purpose.

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The Judge is a 5 shot revolver that uses both the .410 case and the .45 Colt cartridge. That means real flexibility. For the same reason, the design limits the turret's accuracy and range. As a pure short-distance home defender, Judge Taurus has made a name for himself.

There's a strong argument that getting on target fast and getting a hit - any hit - very quickly is key. This is true. I've learned that slowing down and getting a center hit is better than a quick miss. That doesn't mean a quick punch isn't possible; it just takes practice.

The Arbiter fills this need by offering an impact payload. The .410 bore isn't powerful, but with the right load - and this is key - it offers a viable defensive option. Surprisingly, my review shows that the Taurus Judge can also be useful for close range predator control. My test piece is perhaps the most common Judge (there are several variants), a steel frame revolver with a 3.0" barrel.

The revolver is light enough, handles better than its bulky looks might suggest, and offers good hit probability for those who practice. Fit, coverage and smoothness are good. The revolver has a red optical sight. This scope offers a good aiming point and helps to find the target quickly.

Taurus Judge Public Defender, Revolver, .410 Bore/.45 Colt, 2\

A short-barreled, smoothbore pistol firing a shotgun shell is illegal, the .410 and .45 Colt are close enough that Taurus could design and manufacture a revolver chambered for both the .410 and .45 Colt cartridges is designed. There are grooves, but they're pretty shallow.

Like all double-action revolvers, the Judge is easy to use. Open the cylinder, load the chambers and pull the trigger to fire. No slide to rack and no safety to operate. The concept is to allow the shooter to get a quick hit with many shots. Although each individual round doesn't carry much energy, the action of loads hitting multiple projectiles in an instant offers excellent potential for injury.

You may have seen ill-conceived videos and hype of a bull judge being shot at a target and the target being riddled with hits. Birdshot is a small shot grade designed to humanely kill a bird in a few hits. It is by no means useful for personal protection. Like shooting a big gun, birdshot is good for practice but not for personal defense. A 7 to 9 shot charge of Birdshot carries hundreds of tiny pellets that form a pattern.

Best Judge Pistol

In the typical personal protection range, this model is between 18 and 32 inches. That's 7 yards, beyond that the birdshot is useless. Worse, the small shot only penetrates a few centimeters. A criminal wearing a thick winter jacket may not get hurt at all. At about 15 feet, the Federal 4 machine gun load carrying the #3 machine gun holds a contiguous pattern less than three inches. This is a preferred load for those using the .410 load for personal defense.

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The federal load is advertised with around 750 fps, but actually clocks in at over 800 fps in the judge. The total payload is 292 grains. Winchester offers a PDX load with a total payload of over 300 grains, with three flat discs and a BB shot load. With this load, the pattern is often quite large (up to 16 inches by 15 feet) with the disks hitting the center of the target.

The Hornady .410 Defense load features a .41 caliber bullet followed by two round bullets. The slug usually moves directly with the target point, with the bullets spreading out around the center. It is important to aim the shot at a paper target to determine how the shot will spread out 5 to 10 yards.

In my opinion, 7 yards is the outer range for these charges, although the Hornady slug might be a bit more useful with its FTX design. Downline, buckshot, and special charges are useful for home defense and short-range defense against predators. Penetration tests in jugs of water and wet newspaper show that these loads cause a serious wound.

The bullet can penetrate a 6-inch gallon jug and some shots reach the second jug, but very few. Federal's 2 ½ inch shell with 4 OOO bullets penetrates over 24 inches, which can be equivalent to 18 inches in gelatin. That's excellent.

Review: Taurus Judge

Loading the Winchester PDX reveals a much larger pattern. However, the three drives in the PDX offer a 3×4 pattern at 15 feet. The much larger model consists of 12 BBs. The Hornady FTX slug penetrates 15 inches from this turret, with the two round bullets forming a group totaling 3 to 5 inches at 15 feet.

These heavy loads should produce devastating results at 15ft to maybe 21ft, the magic mid-range of 7m. In truth, it's more likely to be about a room or bedroom. The judge has to aim, but the pattern has spread far enough to help hit 10-15 feet. This weapon is not useful for shots beyond 21 feet.

Another option is to load the judge with .45 Colt ammunition. To comply with federal laws regarding handguns and cartridges, the Judge is a .45 Colt revolver with the option to fire .410 shells. The barrel is drawn. The long jump of the .45 Colt bullet from chamber to muzzle appears to limit both velocity and accuracy. In some cases this is true. However, my recent testing shows that this loss is not always what we would like it to be.

Best Judge Pistol

The Judge is quite powerful for the heaviest loads, including handloading solid cast SWC bullets. It depends on how much recoil tolerance you have. A good choice for personal defense is Hornady Critical Defense. This 185 grain bullet has a solid reputation for expansion and penetration. The speed is 891 fps from the 3 inch Taurus Judge barrel. The recoil is modest. This charge hits the target point. At 15 yards, five shots fired from a solid firing bench created a 3-inch group. This is pretty accurate for personal protection.

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Another choice worth considering is the Winchester PDX 225-grain JHP. This load packs a powerful punch at 780 fps. This bullet weight offers plenty of momentum. The .45 Colt is among the few pistols that perform well without expanding the bullet. This was proven in the Old West and in many engagements since.

A good choice is the Winchester 255 grain lead bullet. This bullet comes out from the judge at 770 fps. (And 778 fps from a 4 ¾ inch pistol for comparison.) Penetration is about 18 inches, perfect for personal defense, but recoil is light. It's also a fairly accurate load with a 3-inch group at 15 yards. If the Judge owner expects a long-range shot, the .45 Colt offers proven damage potential without heavy recoil.

The Judge is a specialized pistol. By no means is this a general purpose weapon. But what it does, it does well. Worth exploring Judge. More than a decade after its introduction, the legendary Taurus Judge® revolver series is still unsurpassed. Today it is available in more than a dozen models. This is the original five shot game that can take both the 45 Colt and the 410 shotshell.

Taurus Judge 45 Colt / 410 GA Matte Black Oxide 3.00" Ribber Grip® UPC 7-25327-60211-8 Part number 2-441031T

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Best Judge Pistol

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Judge Public Defender 45 Colt / 410 GA Matte Black Oxide 2" UPC 7-25327-60708-3 Item #. 2-441031TC

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