09 February 2011

The Taurus Judge

I think Taurus's marketing approach to the Judge is unethical. As a self-defense gun, it's just plain silly. The .45 Colt is NOT a particularly good stopper achieving only 75-80% one-shot stops. There are a number of calibers that get into the mid-90's so it certainly is not as good as several other easily obtainable and easier to carry caliber/guns. It is also not particularly accurate out of the Judge. It's accurate enough for defense but any of my Glocks will shoot circles around it. The .410 is adequate with 000 buck but is still nothing special.
It is heavy, bulky and difficult to conceal. I cannot, for the life of me, understand the fascination with this gun. It fills no niche in life and is bordering on totally useless except as a novelty.
If one had to justify it's existence, it would be as a trail gun. It would be useful against snakes and a decent grouse or bunny gun with the .410. A stiff-loaded .45 would be OK for bear and other toothy things at tent distances but in the Judge it is not really accurate enough for hunting except at fairly close range.

Taurus, like Springfield, has done their job well with all the misleading magazine ads.

Cope Reynolds (Desertscout) www.southwestshootingauthority.com
Listen to Cope live at www.thewatchmen.fm Mon thru Fri, 10am to noon Mountain time!
Podcast: www.theshootingbench.net (soon to change)

Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends.
GLOCKS are what you show your enemies!

1 comment:

  1. Hey Cope, first off I do not own a Judge revolver. When I first saw them at a gun show the sheer size of it first spoke to me as wow, a dirty harry kind of gun. Something large caliber that will put a big hole in something. For the novice like myself the length of the cylinder suggests this thing is a cannon but as you say, the type of ammunition the gun is built for is not of the best choices. I agree that it is marketing plus price range. People think protection with their wallets.

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