NC
I own a Taurus Judge, and purchased it as a car gun/bed room SD gun/trail gun.
I like the versatility of being able, in one gun, to be able to choose from 410 shot, buckshot, and 45 Colt. I also liked the idea that, when employing shot/buckshot, the Judge was going to have a rather limited effective range. To me, that was a plus, not a minus.
Mine is a 4" Ultralite with a 2 1/2 in chamber. Fully loaded it is lighter than my Glock 26. It will at 10 feet put 000 buckshot (3 or 4 pellets, depending on if you load Winchester or Federal) clean through 4 inches of pressure treated pine. I don't know what that would translate to 'zactly in flesh and bone, but I'd suspect that it would be down right discouraging. At that same distance, it will put #4 shot through 1" of pine. Now, #4 shot wouldn't be much of a "stopper" with a center of mass shot ... but I wager it would make a real mess of somebody face, and again serve as a severe discouragement to continuing the attack. (tough to fight on when you are blind and don't have a nose!)
45 Colt is, well, 45 Colt. A known and well documented man stopper. You are not going to doing any trophy match shooting with the Judge, but it is for sure accurate enough for SD use. My first 5 rounds of 45 Colt were fired at steel plate targets (8") at 15 feet. 5 rounds, 5 plates. Good enough for me. (and 45 Colt shooting semi-wadcutters makes BIG holes!)
Is it the ideal SD weapon? No ... but then nothing you could carry would be.
Is it good for taking out the terrorist holding the human shield hostage 50 yards away? No ... that's why SWAT teams and snipers use rifles.
Is it a decent choice as a car gun/bed room SD gun/trail gun? Yes, I do believe it is. I'll keep mine, thank you.
I think a .45 Colt SAA would be a better defensive weapon if you practice with it so you can thumb the hammer when you draw, or else get a double action .45 Colt snubbie.
