45 / 410 Defense Loads?

First choice would be 45 Colt with a quality bullet. Second choice would be 410 Buckshot of at least #00 size or larger. 410 slugs would be a distant third, though most don't achieve enough velocity from a short barrel revolver to be effective for two-legged defense. Brenneke slugs would be first choice of 410 slugs.

For the bond arms and judge /gov after a lot of study I'm sold on the federal 410 hand gun rounds.

Up to 10 yards I think those guns were made for a round like that. More grains on target than the big 45 colts.

If it's keeping you up at night load 3 of those 410 fed handgun buckshot rounds and 3 (if the gov) of the hornady is sig v crown 45 colt rounds similar in power to a good 40 cal load.

I think in a smaller home all shots under ten yards a 410 revolver with fed buckshot is pretty good.

If using 410 defense shells, stay away from the Hornady Triple Defense loads with the 41 caliber slug. I've seen quite a few tests where the slug tumbles badly when shout out of a 45/410 revolver. I can also tel you that they do not pattern worth a darn when shot in a Mossberg Shockwave with a 14" barrel or a Mossberg 500 with 18" barrel (both barrels are cylinder bore). Hornady does not recommend shooting the Triple Defense loads through a full choke.

I have had best luck with 000 buckshot loads out of the 45/410 revolvers and my cylinder bore Shockwave and 500. 00 buckshot works better in my 24" full choke barrel. My second choice for defensive 410 shells for revolvers would be the Winchester PDX1 shells. I tested a bunch of different types of loads with my Shockwave to see if anything did better than 000 buckshot and nothing could beat it.

If your gun will shoot 45 or 410 why not fire 3 or 4 buck shot projectiles?

If I was carrying the gun, I would feel a lot better with .45 Colt because, unless you're a plain clothes officer in Kentucky serving a warrant, every pellet that comes out of your gun is on you and if one misses the bad guy and hits someone or something else, it's on you. Where .410 I feel works beet for .410 handguns is inside homes, buildings, etc. Much shorter distances thus the spread is not crazy.

I have to agree after testing that the shot spread even with buckshot is pretty big out of a revolver. Even at 10 yards the pattern opens up quite a bit. Plus you have the rifling in the short barrel effecting the pattern also. That being said, I would use buckshot over the specialty loads like the Hornady Triple Defense or the Winchester PDX1 shells. Buckshot does better out of every length of barrel from the short revolver barrels to the 14" Shockwave barrels to 18" and above standard shotgun barrels.

The hybrid .45 Colt/.410 chambers and barrels are a compromise between what is best for both types of ammo. I have a friend who swears by (not swears at) his Judge revolver as a good defensive weapon to carry riding a tractor or fence mending his farm land. I bought a .45 Colt/.410 "survival" carbine for my wife as a office defense weapon. It is a niche combo and actually fits a niche need pretty good.

Currently tho' my preference would be to have a .45 Colt (chamber size) revolver with either standard .45 Colt (aka .45 Long Colt) for big target defense or CCI .45 Colt shotshells for small target defense. But. I am more likely to face four footed or slithery threats.

This will go it's usual course. So if you want to denounce the concept, please pass on it. We get it. Start with the premise of the OP and answer that question on the ammo.

If you want to see analyses of the worthiness of the concept, search - there are plenty of threads here.

I handload .45 LC for my Cobray SxS pistol. .410's often make it pop open when fired.

WisBorn said:

Thank you, as mentioned I'm looking for recommendations.

I just bought a Bond Arms Rowdy and will use it for close range shotgunning for snakes and the like. If I want to carry it for defense is why I posted the question.

I have received some great responses!
Thank you.

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My personal opinion here. I would stick to either 45 Colt rounds or 410 buckshot for self defense and carry it loaded with #4 or #6 shot for snakes and other small varmints.

I have a Judge that shoots five 3" magnum 410 shells. The 00 shells equal 30 .32 caliber balls that can all be fired off in a few seconds. Inside a house, at close range, that is a heck of a "belly gun".

It shoots 45 colt about as well as any snubby would. That would be an effective load, but something like a CA Bulldog would offer the same performance in a much smaller package.

Well, ever try shooting a snake with a .380? There's one.

I don't carry mine, it's stashed conveniently where I can grab it quick should I need to. that and it was $20.......

Well, I cleaned out a response where someone can't read the proscriptions for the thread and then some replies to the person who couldn't read the proscriptions for the thread.

Is staying on topic that hard?

5 pellets of either 00 or 000 buckshot out of a 3" 410 shell is nothing to sneeze at for sure. I haven't tested my 3" 000 buckshot loads at 25 yards with a revolver. I can tell you that load will penetrate the thick rubber backing that the Mo Dept. of Conservation uses for target backing at 25 yards out of my Shockwave and 500. If you are interested in my results I have two threads in the shotgun section where I tested my 500 and Shockwave with photos of targets. Yes they will be different than using a revolver but will still give you an idea of how 410 buckshot shells do.

entropy said:

I handload .45 LC for my Cobray SxS pistol. .410's often make it pop open when fired.

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I've always thought those Cobray's were cool. Why do you think it pops open at times when firing a .410 round? Aren't 45LC's just a powerful?

It's old and worn. I handload them down so they don't pop it
open.

Your post in the thread 45 / 410 Defense Loads? was deleted. Reason: Did you read my instructions for the thread?
9:33 PM Mark unread
I received this in my alerts and I don't know why. Where are the instructions? Who deleted the post.? I don't want to step out of line or offend anyone, but I'd like some clarification here.

1.

This will go it's usual course. So if you want to denounce the concept, please pass on it. We get it. Start with the premise of the OP and answer that question on the ammo.

If you want to see analyses of the worthiness of the concept, search - there are plenty of threads here.

Click to expand...

That's what I said.

2. If you disagree with a decision, it is protocol to PM the Staff member who deleted your message. Complaining in the open forum is not what we want.

Tallball said:

I have a Judge that shoots five 3" magnum 410 shells. The 00 shells equal 30 .32 caliber balls that can all be fired off in a few seconds. Inside a house, at close range, that is a heck of a "belly gun".

It shoots 45 colt about as well as any snubby would. That would be an effective load, but something like a CA Bulldog would offer the same performance in a much smaller package.

Click to expand...

The Taurus Public Defender is significantly smaller than the 3" .410 Judge, yet only an inch longer than the .45 Colt Bulldog. For IWB or OWB, that extra inch is nothing, it's only pocket carry where it would make a difference, but I wouldn't want to pocket carry an XL frame Charter, in fact I doubt I even could.

So, all this talk about how a "real" .45 Colt snub revolver would be smaller and whatever else... the fact is for the size of what any snub .45 Colt revolver is or could be, the Public Defender is not that much larger in size to the point it's encumbering the person carrying it.

The standard Judge revolvers however, I would agree and I do not them, especially the 3" models because they add all that size and weight for 1 extra pellet of 000 buck or an extra .3 oz of shot that's going to end up getting spun like crazy anyway.

Federal 000 Buck handgun load and I used to stagger loads with Winchester PDX1 45 Colt , in my Poly PD I used to carry ..

I'd probably stick to 45 Colt or a buckshot load. 410 slugs are remarkably under powered and something like 80ish grains in weight.

I always thought that if I had a judge, I would load two .410 #4 shot, followed by three .45colt.

I have a S&W Governor and if I had to pick one of those two, Id probably go with the 45 Colt.

I havent shot anything but paper with the buck loads, but I keep hearing they dont perform real well in tests.

Accuracy and "spread" wise, they shoot OK, and at 10 yards, the spread isnt much, maybe slightly larger than your fist, in a vertical string (at least out of my gun).

255 grain 45 Colt shoots well too, and with less recoil.

This was shot at 10 yards with Federal 000 Buck. The load to the head and to the side of the head
were shot at around 10 yards. The load just below the collar was shot at around 5 yards.



This was 10 yards with Federal #4 shot.



This was a couple of cylinders full of 45Colt (head) and 45acp (wrist). The Governor will also shoot 45acp in moon clips. For me, if I had the choice of the three, its what I would choose for a "people" load. It shoots the best out of my gun, and is quickly reloaded.