Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Thinking of getting a S&W Governor - experience?

I am seriously thinking about purchasing a stainless S&W Governor to use as a "snake" gun while in the field. Does anyone have experience with them? I love my other S&W revolvers, enough that I am willing to pay more for a Smith vs. a Taurus Judge. I am also a lefty, so any experience with holsters would be beneficial also. Thanks

I love mine. Had a Judge before the Governor came out. You couldn't give me another Judge. Galco makes a holster for the Gov.

I was handling a Governor at the store a few weeks ago. Felt like quality. I was tempted to buy it. What is it you like about it?

Smooth action, and the ability to shoot either 45 Colt & 45 acp in it also. And I like the fact that the Gov. has a front night sight. I use mine mine mainly for killing rattlesnakes at the Ranch, when I have to get out at night and open a gate. A Factory Skeet load of Remington # 9 shot kills them graveyard dead!

Are these a smoothbore?

No. They are rifled.

Yeah, but look at the rifling. It’s very shallow, has a very low twist rate, and lacks sharpness. I think they did it that way on purpose. It satisfies the legal requirement that it be rifled, while not overly interfering with a shot pattern.

I don't own one, but a buddy and I spent an afternoon shooting one. We took a few pics of results of the self-defense ammo:

Here is a pic of the box. The first test was done at 10 feet:


The tear in the 8-ring in the upper left is the where the wad went through:


Here's the same ammo at 25 feet:


And, finally at 50 feet:


We also tested (but failed to take pics of) some garden-variety .410 ammo. Unfortunately I can't remember what brand or what size shot. We were more interested in the size of the shot patterns. I tend to recall that the patterns were very consistent to the size of the self-defense ammo--just more pellets, obviously.

I don't know if this is of any use to you, but there it is...

Apparently, the tightest shot groups out of this gun are from 000 buck, and that due to the balls being lined up, back to back.

Yeah, this would be pretty devastating. Penetration on these is from 10 to 15 inches in ballistic gelatin.

It just seems to me that a .410 shot load for something at snake range would be pretty violent plus with that much cylinder it would weigh a lot more than any of your other handguns. Have you tried the CCI capsule shot loads out of say a .38 Special or larger? I never thought the .22 shot cartridges were worth having, but I've even read good reports about the .22 Magnum shot loads on snakes.

I always saw these as a gimmick. Too heavy and ineffective,inaccurate at any distance to be something I want to carry. I would much rather have a Performance Center Pro Series Model 60 for self defense,even against snakes.

I love mine. It's limited use, basically a bushhogging gun. Coupled with a hill people gear chest pack it can't be beat for killing rats and snakes while bushhogging.

I play around shooting 45 acp with it often and it's easy enough to keep them on 12x12 steel at 25 yards but I've never shot it for accuracy or with "real" 45 ammo.

I fail to see why a 4 inch 44 magnum plus shot shells would be inferior? They are a gimmick in my opinion.

I dont need a snake gun, but; if I did the 410 offers more variety of loads and shot weight than a 44. I also dont see the need for a tight pattern to shoot a snake that is only a few feet away. I would want to be assured that there was enough spread. Again, since I dont have this problem I am guessing.

The big advantage I see is the size and novelty of a 410 revolver - FUN FACTOR. I can see buying one just for fun. It helps to dream up some rational or excuse to carry it round.

I think S&W is missing a bet with the snub nose only configuration. I would like to see a 4 to 5 inch barrel and that barrel could be threaded for a choke tube. T/C had a good screw on design for their 410. I could perhaps dream up some possible use with a little more barrel and some choke. Taurus offers longer barrels. I dont want one that bad. Not to criticize Taurus, but for a marginal call like this, a useful configured S&W might tip the scales for me. If Taurus did a screw choke, that would make a difference.

I had the TC in .44 Magnum way back in the day, and it did have a screw in choke tube, but it also served to nullify the effect of the rifling, and was designed for that purpose mainly. I imagine the one for the 410 was also designed for that.

A 445 supermag Maybe thats a .444? Heck Now I cannot recall? Anyway they can be filled with 9-11 grains of unique and then tap a felt wad into the case above the powder to keep it against the primer. Fill remaining space with .7.5 or 9 shot. Cover over the top with a swipe of silicone bath calk. If I recall Correctly it's the same amount as a 410 shell after the first fire-forming shot from your cylinder. Of course this is for a 44 mag revolver the use of the .444 supermag shells to to increase the case length as much as possible. I have also used Krag brass and other .44 based shells. These 445 supermag are plug and play no trimming or cutting cases needed. It's an astonishing effective load, cannot imagine being hit with this as a home intruder. A head shot straight in the face would immobilize any human instantly without (unlikely) killing them. Although missing teeth and permanent blindness would be a very likely result. You would have 6 of these in the cylinder which is a pile of shot flying out of that gun! Even shooting somebody in the hand would rip the flesh apart!

This will be a very substantial and impressive load to 10-20 feet. I've killed grouse with it and plenty of smaller things. It will destroy an aluminum can with the amount of pellets hitting it. I won a Judge at a Pheasants Forever show. Shot a box of shells and sold it right after that. The Pattern was okay at exactly 5 feet, closer and it was one big lump of shot with the wad. further and the shot spun to the sides so that at 15 feet you might not even get a single hole in an 8.5-11 sheet of paper. My son shot a full cylinder at a pop can 20 feet away and never hit it once That gun is an epic fail of the firearms industry!

The Governor is an excellent gun. It shoots surprisingly well with 45 Colt. I seldom use mine with 45 ACP, but you have the capability and it comes with the needed moon and "third-moon" clips.

The Governor is surprisingly light for its size. It is compact enough to carry concealed in the winter or with bulky clothing. It's only drawback in this respect is its robust girth. It is only available in 2 1/2" chambering, so there's that.

I carry mine in the tractor all the time during the summer. Unfortunately I've never shot a snake with it because I've not seen very many the past few years. I've had the Governor since it came out. I've had three Judges and none worked, so I applaud your decision to go with the S&W.

Holsters are available from Galco, as was said. They are also made by DeSantis, who I think makes them for S&W themselves. I've got a custom-made one myself and would post a pic of it if PB hadn't done dirty deeds to those of us with accounts and my computer with the pics on it hadn't went south a month or so ago. I like my holster, but if I were to do it again I'd get a S&W if available locally and since it probably wouldn't be, I'd get a DeSantis, which probably would.

FWIW I don't think the version you are looking at is stainless. It is just a silver version of the original. Both are made of Scandium Alloy but do have stainless barrels.

The 44 Mag. shot shells simply don't hold as much as a 45 Colt, let alone a .410 which is superior in every respect. There is nothing wrong with a 629 loaded with shot...if you don't have a superior Governor loaded with real shotgun shells.

Some of the .410 shotgun shells are not for the faint-of-heart when lit off in a relatively light revolver. The .22 is hardly worthy of consideration and the .38 is simply vastly inferior in payload.