Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Taurus Judge

If you gentlemen do not mind, could you tell me if this would be a good, or bad, gun/pistol for a woman to own for protection ? (A family friend is selling his)

Home protection or carry? Probably a poor choice for either. Put some pistols in your hand and shoot them if you can. S&W j frame for carry or shotgun for home

Not for carrying imo if you used 45lc loads itd be great for around the house but 410 loads are not what the adds make them to be. Theres better guns out there for you imo.

Any gun is better than no gun when the chips are down and, for someone who is a novice to shooting, a revolver is always a better first choice than an automatic pistol.

Without going into the merits of the Taurus Judge, I would suggest that a .38 caliber revolver with either a 2-inch or 4-inch barrel would probably be a better initial choice for self-protection for either a man or a woman, rather than the Judge.

Undoubtedly others will suggest the superiority of auto-loaders, and many will sing the praises of the various models of Glock pistols. Without wishing to suggest that any of these pistols are technically inferior, I would point out that in a defensive situation the weakest part of any hand gun is the ammunition. That said, if a round fails to fire in a revolver one merely has to pull the trigger to bring the next round into battery. With an automatic one must spend precious seconds clearing the defective round from the chamber by hand. In this regard revolvers are more "fumble free" than auto loaders and when precious seconds count, they can be counted upon to fire faster.

In the real world ammunition will rarely fail, just as in the real world one will rarely be called upon to defend their life with a hand gun. However both events do occur, and should they simultaneously occur in a life and death situation, the revolver offers an immediate "second chance" advantage that is superior to the auto loader.

It would certainly work OK for home defense with the 45 Colt ammunition, but it would be all but worthless for carry. As others have said, there are a lot of better choices out there.

The Judge is a very, very polarizing handgun. Generally speaking they are either well liked or hated and the haters are usually those with a combination of a lot of handgun experience in general and little to no Judge experience in particular. I have quite a bit handgun experience starting out probably about 1978 or so when I got my first handgun. I do like the Judge though and have owned one for several months.

The first thing is, does it fit you? The Judge generally comes with some fair-sized grips. They aren't pretty but are very serviceable and probably will fit. My hands aren't big but they fit me. Of course you could always get some aftermarket grips that were thinner and/or smaller. The second issue would be recoil. The Judge will not recoil a great deal with standard 45 Colt loads and even less with Cowboy Action Shooting type loads. Unfortunately IMO, these loads are not very good for self-defense. The saltier the load the better for self-defense, up to a point. The best 45 Colt self-defense loads (probably the Hornady Critical Defense) will recoil healthily.

http://www.hornady.com/store/45-Colt-185-GR-FTX-Critical-Defense/

As was mentioned, the Judge is generally not thought of as a concealment piece. However IME ladies have a huge advantage over men in that they routinely carry purses. The Judge in most of its incarnations, isn't that big and could easily be carried in a purse. For a revolver, especially one of its size, it is still not as hard to conceal as many guns. It is surprisingly flat, for one thing and flatness is a big trait in concealability and even more so in the comfort thereof.

If you're going to shoot 410's in it, these are probably the best bet.

http://www.winchester.com/Products/shotshell-ammunition/supreme-elite/pdx1410/Pages/S410PDX1.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvNP78hBwcs&feature=related

I've got about five boxes but haven't tested them personally yet. I've relied on Federal Handgun-specific rounds usually, unless I'm thinking I'll encounter a snake. IMO the Judge is the best snake shooter there is for a handgun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq-eLHltlpE&feature=related

For snakes I use any 7 1/2" birdshot.

In summary, I feel like the Judge makes an excellent self protection handgun for static locations, such as a nightstand, if loaded with the best 45 Colt self-protection loads and possibly alternating with the best 410 self-protection loads. It is also excellent for use around a farm or ranch where concealment is not a factor. In the concealment venue, it is way down the list on a true concealment gun unless you have something like a purse to put it in.

These comments are all based on my own personal Judge, a standard three inch barreled stainless model with the long, three inch chambers.

http://www.taurususa.com/video-theJudge.cfm

http://www.taurususa.com/product-de...er&toggle=tr&breadcrumbseries=41

Here is an interesting variant. Another thing I am somewhat controversial on is my penchant for lights on weapons. I think that unless you are going to use a weird high carry for your flashlight, a light right on your weapon makes a lot of sense. There are certainly cogent arguments against it, but that is my thought. The rail gives you that option.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=270773459

My Judge cost me about $500 all told with taxes and everything because I bought it brand-new from my local dealer. I could have shaded his price by about $50 but would have ate the money in gas driving to where I could do that. You don't see a lot of Judges for sale used. You still should pay less for a used one though. If it is blued, deduct say $50 and if it is a 2 1/2" chamber deduct another $25. I would want to get it for no more than $350 if it was configured in such a way and no more than $400 if it was mine. These figures are for a gun that appears unfired. Lower them substantially for much apparent wear.

See my PM to you Lynn.....

A couple of other quick thoughts...awhile back, a Sheriff in South Carolina made some comments about the Judge that were widely distributed. It went something like, "they got this one called the Judge and you don't even got to be accurate with it, just close," or some such. I had his words as my sig-line for awhile. Though they sound good and I thought they are cute, you actually always have to be accurate. Some people can be accurate hip-shooting, but most have to aim conventionally. Hip-shooting isn't not aiming but a different type of aim. Even if you are point blank you have to get the gun in his gut or someplace, so not aiming is a disservice. Even with buckshot, you need to aim the gun.

I liken the Judge to an enduro motorcycle -- on and offroad capable. It can do both, but neither well. JMHO.

The Judge does not offer enough terminal performance to be a viable self defense weapon, unless one uses the 45 Colt round and then there are much better options in that chambering

Agree with CY. It's too big for concealed carry. That being said, I have a blued one with 3" chambers. It sets on my nite stand, and is loaded with 3" winchester 410s, in 000 buck.

I personally like the gun. YMMV.


maddog

If I thought I might be needing to kill snakes on a daily basis, I would want a Judge. Otherwise, I wouldn't consider it. Too many better options.

shot for snakes is such a poor idea.
at snake range (<15'> I can cut any serpent in half with any handgun.
Even a .22lr.

The Judge is one of those ideas better in design than in practice.
Take her to a good, rental, shooting range and let her pick what feels best for her.
Then shoot a box through it before making your desicion.

3 pellets in the load (if memory serves) and that load from a shotgun is about 1200 FPS, but from the pistol it is 600 FPS or less. Penetration is dismal as well as terminal performance.
It is a close range snake gun and nothing more

What do you think was recommended? But for the record I disagree.

Before you make your decision on buying it, and I think it should be predicated on intended usage, ask all the guys who are against it whether they've shot one let alone owned one.

Once again, guesswork trumping experience. Incredible.

Miss Lynn hangs around here a lot so I assume she is acquainted with handguns and prolly already has a couple. Again, I assumed she is buying this as a favor or because it may be a good deal. Or other reasons. The Judge is the best snake shooter there is in a short gun. I can't see how it would be at any disadvantage over any other short gun as a home defense weapon. There are better options for most concealed carry. There it is.

jwp, haven't chrono'd the load, but the win. 3" is a 5 pellet load[.36 cal.], not a 3 pellet load like the 2 1/2". I also suspect the velocity is slightly higher than 600 fps.

To each his own. I like the Judge. Does it fit Miss Lynn's needs? Only she can determine that.


maddog

Never saw any real use for one of those revolvers. They are not good in the shotgun role, and they are poor as a .45 revolver.

Neither fish nor fowl, as they used to say.

Male or female doesn't matter - go with a handgun you can hit with. As for the Judge, I think there are better choices for a primary (everyday carry) handgun. The role of a handgun can be varied enough that for some situations the Judge has a niche.