Taurus Judge. May Be The Best Survival Gun Yet.

The Taurus Judge



With the capability to use the 45 Long Colt and 410 Gauge Shot Shell, the Taurus Judge may be the perfect survival weapon.

Rabbit
Squirrel
Deer
Personal Protection

5 shot revolver, light, fairly heavy recoil but manageable...

I will post a video soon of how it shoots..

Currently I LOVE this revolver..

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis


Explanation: S&F!

THIS!!! ^^^^^

Personal Disclosure: I have posted about the Taurus Judge previously in other survival threads and I'm glad its getting a great showing in capable hands in its own thread now!

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Real sweet shooter as well...

It did not have even near the felt recoil I thought it would have and amazingly accurate at 25 meters...

Semper

The only problem I see is ammunition.
It's relatively hard to find 45 long colt ammo now, let alone a shtf situation.
It would be a great gun as long as ammo is readily available...
Having .410 versatility is nice too.
But again, how much ammo are you going to have?
I always try to think about the easiest ammo to find when considering a shtf gun.


But until then, the best survival gun is:
Anything you have ammo for.

Other than that, slingshot or other rudimentary weapons would make it farther.


Good thread semper.

reply to post by semperfortis


Until it breaks!!! I know from experience. The Judge was my first handgun, I was won over by the wow factor.

I put about 100 rounds through it, and then the Cylnder Stop Spring flew out whilst shooting.
Luckily I noticed the cylinder was not properly aligned.

If I would have shot the Judge when the cylinder was not aligned with the
barrel, there would have been catastrophic failure and possible injury or death.

Needless to say Taurus has a wonderful warranty and fixed everything for free ( it took 3 months). I now own a more reliable Springfield XD.

I feel you should have three weapons instead of relying on one do it all weapon.Simply for mechanical failure and different situational responses needed.Pistol,shotgun,rifle.

reply to post by havok


Ahhhh

The beauty of Reloading...

I have the availability of massive amounts of ammo...

reply to post by emaildogs


I will certainly keep that in mind as I shoot this more and more

Thank you!!!!

I respectfully disagree.

As a “Snake Gun” this choice is excellent, however the use as a survival weapon it is very limited.

The .410 shotgun shell is not powerful enough to use as personal protection, and combined with a short barrel the “spread” on the shot pattern is to large to make a kill shot on a small mammal unless you are very, very close.

Using the .45 caliber shell this weapon would be deadly for humans, but now you are required to be somewhat of a good marksman at distance. Plus shoot a rabbit with a .45 at close range and you will blow half of the meat away.

Even though this is a very wicked looking gun the best option for this weapon is for protection from snakes when working in the field.

Stick with a 12 gauge short barreled pump for a survival weapon. Even when loaded with #6 shot it will cut a man in half at close range. A .410 will not even knock you off your feet even if you pressed it to someone’s leg. I should know, I was shot in the thigh from about 12 inches away with a .410, #6 shot, didn’t even stagger me. The shot only penetrated just below the surface of the skin. I was lucky in which part of the body I was hit, a major organ area it could have been deadly at such a close range, but more than 10 feet away the .410 is not powerful enough to take down a human.

Where a 12 gauge with the proper load will take down a bear.

reply to post by semperfortis


I know someone who agrees with you and that would be my father. He is a firearms collector and currently has 2 of these. This is his firearm of choice for the same reasons you mention. He also likes the intimidation factor. As he said to me when he purchased his first one "You see this thing coming at you down a dim hallway in the middle of the night it would make a smart person turn tail and run. The thing looks like a drug runners weapon". LOL

Personally I cannot wait to get my hands on the shotgun version of this, the Tarus/Rossi Circuit Judge 410/45. From what I've heard from people lucky enough to get some time with this one its a real nice thing to have as well.

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


Ha! I was just going to pop in and praise the multi-ammo concept but suggest the Circuit Judge as a carbine to be a better "survival" tool than the Judge.

Though, ammo is a concern. At least around here the shelves arent exactly overflowing with .45LC though .410 shells are abundant.

I'm still a little apprehensive about the long-term fit and lock up of the cylinder on these things. For some reason they just seem looser than other revolvers Ive handled.

I have a Taurus 455 revolver in .45ACP uses five shot moon clips.
Methinks the moon clips for the Taurus 455 will fit the Judge (5 shot).
Iff you can use .45ACP your ammo availability issues disappear.
Unfortunately it's not going to have stellar accuracy at distance using the short .45 round in that long cylinder - but it's a great savings on your target ammo. Just a thought.

ganjoa

reply to post by ganjoa


Unless the Judge is designed to accept .45ACP it wouldnt be possible/advisable to attempt to fire an ACP in gun chambered for LC.

S&W has a Judge knock-off that claims to be chambered for .410, .45LC and .45ACP.

www.smith-wesson.com...

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn


That circuit judge looks really cool
Rossi are pretty inexpensive guns too so the price shouldn't be more than 5 or $600 I should think.
The fore end stock is removable too if it's like their other guns.
Thanks for sharing that.


Semper - My issue with the judge would be accuracy. Let me see some patterns using 45lc and perhaps you could change my mind.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


buy them both

the governor shoots all 3 calibers.

shtf backups are necessities.





that would bring some pain

Now that is a cool for sure.

25 meters? if it didn't come from you I would have said BS and had to try it myself.

Going to the try one out this week. I love the 4/10 and 45 long combo. And I like the Taurus make as well.

I can't wait to try one.

Originally posted by semperfortis
reply to post by OmegaLogos

 

Real sweet shooter as well...

It did not have even near the felt recoil I thought it would have and amazingly accurate at 25 meters...

Semper

reply to post by Realtruth


Come on down...

We can shoot all day...

I have never handled the Judge, so I can't talk about it's quality, but I've had many pieces from Taurus and have never been let down.

The ammunition issue is the one that worries me the most. As others have said .45 long colt and .410 shells aren't really that common or abundant.

For guns if TSHTF I'd want something in 9mm, 45acp, 22lr, 7.62x39, 5.56, 308, .30-06, or 12ga. Which is why I have a 9mm, 12ga, .22, 7.62x39 (and x54r Mosin FTW heh, .44, 38, 10mm too )

Even reloading doesn't assure you will have ammo. Where are you going to get more primers? Powder? Shells will wear out eventually. Are you going to keep hundreds of pounds of lead billet sitting around?

The size and weight of reloading equipment and supplies for a given number of rounds isn't anymore compact or lighter than the equivalent number of complete rounds. The only thing you are saving weight and size on is the shells, which is canceled out by needing various presses, dies, smelting equipment, etc.

I just don't see reloading as a big advantage for a SHTF situation unless you can manufacture your own quality powder. I have equipment to reload .38 special and .44 as well as tons of once fired brass, primers, and powder, but I do it because it's a lot cheaper than buying a few hundred rounds of .38 special and .44 every time I go shooting. It takes up more space and is heavier than keeping a stockpile of a few thousand rounds of .38 or .44 would be though. I do however have a decent stockpile of 9mm, 7.62, 12ga and a few stragglers for a SHTF situation.

If you are going to be in a large commune or clan with the ability to manufacture your own powder reloading would be great, but if not carrying around a press, die, smelting pot, various boxes of primers, shells, and powder isn't going to be as good as straight up ammo would be.

One thing I didn't think about until right now, is that if you do have to scavenge for ammo after TSHTF, I would bet other people would take actual ammo long before taking reloading supplies. So the chance of finding some powder or primers might actually be greater than finding complete ammo.

reply to post by brokedown


I'm not a huge fan of the Judge myself... but given real word stats on what really happens in a gun fight
www.abovetopsecret.com...
the Judge and weapons of it's like might be the best choice for fast very close range combat.... for 90% of the shooters out there.

Now remember, as I said I'm not a huge fan... but lets face facts... not many of us have the time or money to devote to hours and hours practice... by that I mean ISPC shooting not just punching paper targets....

So given those factors for your normal person... Yeah the Judge would be pretty high on my take a long look at list... For your average Joe.... yet for someone with my background and training... I see it as more a cool niche gun, but one I'd have to pass on...


Just so you know
when it comes to revolvers... I have this serious love affair going on with my Dan Wesson
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/244edabef248.jpg[/atsimg]

For those of you wanting to learn how to load shoot shells
Here's a How Too for 44 mag shoot shells

It doesn't matter what you carry if you are pointing it the wrong way. If people like you, who profess defense while pushing aggression actually pushed for some type of personal plasma shield technology, we wouldn't have the problems with violence that people like you live for.