.45 Colt Out Of 2" barrel for Woods Gun

You are going to get lots of reponses telling you what a great idea the Judge/Governor is. Not from me. I wouldn't carry a 410 shotgun in bear country, nor a 45 ACP which shoots a 230 grain bullet at 850 fps from a 4-5 inch barrel. With a 2 inch barrel you might get about 700-750 fps. Good luck with that.

My woods/bear gun is a 4 inch 45 Colt Redhawk. It shoots a 325 grain bullet at 1275 fps. I consider that a minimum level of power for large dangerous animals. Neither the Taurus Judge nor the copy cat S&W Governor can shoot this load. Well, maybe one time.

Give S&W a call and ask them if the Governor can shoot 32K PSI loads in 45LC.

If you want a woods gun, look at the S&W 629 and the Ruger Redhawk with a 4 inch barrel. The 629 is lighter. The Redhawk shoots heavy bullets really well.

Have you ever heard the expression "Jack of all trades, Master of none"?

Don

I want to say Gun n Ammo got near 900 fps from the standard pressure Buffalo Bore full wadcutter load out of the Gov. Ought to be a pretty good penetrating load. Brown Bear penetrating? Dunno. Black maybe.
I'd feel pretty comfy with it in most of the lower 48.

What's a stout 45 Colt load? The problem with 45 Colt is that SAMMI pressures are 14K PSI which are safe in all 45 Colts but which is pretty weak for modern firearms. Most loads are either the 14K PSI loads or they jump to the 25K-30K PSI Ruger only loads. Add to that the short barrel which reduces velocity and you end up with something that is far from being stout. I wouldn't carry that in bear country.

If I'm in the woods but not in bear country, I carry a 4 inch 357 magnum.

I want to say Gun n Ammo got near 900 fps from the standard pressure Buffalo Bore full wadcutter load out of the Gov.

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That's a 225 grain bullet which BB advertises as Anti-Personnel. I wouldn't trust my life with that against a large bear.

If you think 900 fps and 225 grains is enough, why not just carry a 1911?

If the Governor is typical of S&W alloy frames, then a "stout" .45 Colt load would be out of the question. .45 Colt loads are typically under 21k CUP, or 21 PSI (no correlation here). A "stout" load would undoubtedly be well above that.

I think it would be fine for anything on two legs. But, you could probably do better.

I'd be more comfortable with a stout 180 - 200 grain .357 like the 200 gr. corbon load @ 1100 ft/s or the 180 grain Buffalo Bore load @ 1400 ft/s.

The ideal woods gun which I would one day like to own is the Ruger Alaskan in .454 casull. This would be my backup with the primary being a pump shotgun loaded with hot slugs But hey we have to work with what we own and can reasonably carry.

It got me thinking about how confident would you be carrying a stout .45 Colt load from a 2.75" barrelled revolver for a woods gun? Is this a viable option for bear country? The reason I ask is because I am attracted to the versatility of the revolver.

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You should only shoot standard pressure .45 Colt out of a Governor or Judge. .45 Colt is a low pressure cartridge that works best with slow burning powders. The shorter the barrel gets, the more sharply velocities drop - http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/45colt.html.
If you want versatility forget about .410 shot shells. Get a Ruger .45 Colt or .454 Casull revolver, and get the cylinder machined to run .45 ACP on moon clips.

I'm not a fan of those 410/45 Colt revolvers. They are heavy and I'm told they are not very accurate with .45 Colt ammo because of the extremely short length of the rifling. If you want a good .45 Colt for woods carry you might try looking for a S&W M625 Mountain Gun in .45 Colt. I feel it's a much better revolver and it has a 4" barrel which isn't much longer than the 410/45.

In my opinion the Judge/Governor is a fad gun with questionable effectiveness. If you wish to go with the .45 Colt, then I'd look at a Blackhawk and along with your SD/Bear loads you could carry snake shot rounds. A much more reliable weapon.

LD

Wonderful woods gun. Very versatile. The long cylinder adds to velocity on 45 colt and ACPs. 410 shells, although not recommended for personal defense against 2 legged predators, can be quite useful in the field. Moon clip in the pocket for a fast reload. If it floats your boat, get it, great quality gun. Shoots my 45 GAPs too.

That being said, I'm in Arkansas, and all we have is smallish black bears. If we had browns or anything bigger and dangerous, I'd have something more powerful.

The long cylinder adds to velocity on 45 colt and ACPs.

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?? Isn’t that "free bore"?

Yeah, the Governor - what a useless and pointless firearm. I bought the first one I saw - in early June. Love it. If I expect to see big bears locally, I can't pack anything... I'll be in Birmingham's zoo. Still, with proper .45 Colt loads, ie, <14kpsi, you can still top 800 fps with a 255gr LSWC - or a 250 gr Gold Dot JHP. Allow 21 kPSI - the .45 ACP SAAMI limit - and you should top 900 fps handily from that 2.75" barrel - enough for feral hogs, two and four legged alike.



It'll chamber & fire .45 Schofields, too... not that they just grow on trees. My rationale? It takes moonclipped .45 ACPs - a la my existing 625JM - and the 325NG I had considered. Also, like the 325NG, it has a SS barrel & cylinder; Al/Sc frame (A whole 1.8 oz heavier than the 325NG!); tritium Night Sight front/fixed rear; and black Melonite finish. Oh yeah... the Governor is $300+ cheaper! For a bedside/Zombie gun (I keep 240 moonclips loaded with 230gr FMJ ball ammo...), it's ideal. Okay, for me it's ideal. I watch AMC's 'The Walking Dead'... those zombies are in and around Atlanta - it's not that far...

Seriously... what revolvers do we really need? Yeah, we wouldn't have need for a lock box, much less a safe, if we stuck to that criteria for our purchases. Whatever 'floats your boat'!

Stainz

PS Before that first day of ownership was over, way back in June, I had found the S&W/DeSantis holster for the Governor on S&W's site and had one by week's end. The .500 Magnum Hogues fit fine - and aid in recoil management.

?? Isn’t that "free bore"?

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Sure, but a lot of pressure is still pushing.

I tested a friend's Judge with .45 LC cowboy loads (230 grain)against old books. They got ~270 pages penetration. For comparison a 115 grain +P 9mm HP went ~500 pages.
I'd go for something else.

If you calculate the velocity loss you are going to achieve with the .45 colt and .45 acp rounds, and then factor in the crazy notion of firing any kind of shot shells out of only two inches of barrel.... I would rather be carrying a 4 inch 9mm. At least I would have 15 rounds...

I am sure a .45 ACP class load will do in any coyote, cougar, hog, raccoon, possum, armadillo, etc.. in the lower 48 states. Might not do so hot on a brown bear or moose or elk, but if you are really worried about them, take a 12 gauge and slugs.

I use a 629-1 4 inch .44 magnum with 240s at 1000 fps. Fine and dandy for any critter I should come into contact with (and my GP100, 3 incher, will do fine with 158s at 1200 to!)

So for most use the 'Governor' will do.

Deaf

To be fair, the original poster specifically referenced the appropriateness of this firearm as defense against bears. For such a task, it would appear to be a poor choice.

there are no "stout" 45 long colt loads for that revolver. imop

murf