Originally Posted by ColeYounger
Originally Posted by FreeMe
BTW - I'm not just dissing the Judge here. I have the same dislike for the mega S$W revolvers - including the X-frames. I find them all to be....peculiar.
Have you ever shot anything bigger than a hot 45 Colt? I have, but it had been awhile and I've never shot a .454. It sounds like you just don't like the bigger revolvers, both in scale and power. I can relate.

.Basically my thoughts on handgun hunting are that just about any handgun save for stuff like the Bison 45-70's or Contenders in rifle calibers, are way inferior to even "marginal" calibers like the 30-30. That said, I believe it was Maj. Douglass Wesson that took all that game, the biggest in the world such as Polar Bears, with a .357. So a .44 Mag. or hot 45 Colt would probably work for anything you wanted to hunt, which in my case would just be hog-size or so. But, a .454 would be mo-betta.
The .454 out of this gun is pretty vicious and I haven't even looked up different factory loads, but I'm guessing Buffalo Bore or others put out some much heavier or harder-hitting ones than these 300's I've got. This gun may only be 3" but it is a BIG, massive piece. 45 Colt Cowboy loads are like .38 Special target loads in an Officer's Model Colt.

Anyway, I know I can concentrate better and shoot this thing much better if I practice a bit. I haven't decided if I want to though. If I was going to Alaska after bear with a rifle, this might make a great backup, but I have no plans to do that.

I like some things about it and don't like others. Shooting a regular Judge afterwards is...nothing. I don't know, maybe it would be good to keep it around just to shoot once in awhile for comparison so the .44 Mag. and hot 45 Colt's feel wimpy.

I think I've put in three sessions with it in .454 and with the other two it really got me in the wrist, elbow and shoulder, especially that night and the next day. I'm not sore today though.


How is a 454 "mo-betta"?? I have shot shot a lot of game with a 45 Colt in fact my longest kills are with the 45 Colt and a Ruger Bisley

In fact I took this Caribou with a Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt shooting a 310 grain LFN @ 1240 FPS. I killed this one at approximately 150 yards

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My longest take with a revolver was altered 218 yards and that was a hog also shot with a Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt. The load was a 325 grain LFN @ 1375 FPS. Both kills were immediate


I strongly dissagree with this statement of yours as well "Basically my thoughts on handgun hunting are that just about any handgun save for stuff like the Bison 45-70's or Contenders in rifle calibers, are way inferior to even "marginal" calibers like the 30-30".
A big bore revolver properly loaded is a hell of a hammer on game. In fact if I had only 1 shot to stop a charging Grizz at bad breath distance I would rather have 1 of my big bores revolvers than my 338.

Yes I have used one on VERY LARGE GAME and speak from experience and not conjecture

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I got banned on another web site for a debate that happened on this site. That's a first