.45 LC question

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mcmurry

mcmurry

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L.A. Lower Arkansas
I am thinking about buying a Taurus Judge as a woods gun. I think the 410 will do for snakes, but was wondering how well the .45 Colt (LC) would do against a wild hog? There are some, though rare, black bears, but South Arkansas is over run with wild hogs, and the possibility of seeing one is very good. Just curious.
Thanks.
 
Because of the lack of rifling you will not find it accurate in the bullet side of the 410/45 combo. As far as good for pigs, it all depends on the bullet construction not the cartridge. I've seen pigs get up after being hit in the forehead at close range with .44 mag.
Soft bullets that break up on impact are not your friend when defending against pigs. Choose the right bullet for the job and you are good!
 
TIMC said:
Because of the lack of rifling you will not find it accurate in the bullet side of the 410/45 combo. As far as good for pigs, it all depends on the bullet construction not the cartridge. I've seen pigs get up after being hit in the forehead at close range with .44 mag.
Soft bullets that break up on impact are not your friend when defending against pigs. Choose the right bullet for the job and you are good!
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That is incorrect, the barrel is rifled. That is the only reason why it can be sold without being classified as a short barrel shotgun.

Almost any bullet in 45 Colt will stop a hog if you do your part. I would use a 250/255gr LSWC bullet.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
That is incorrect, the barrel is rifled. That is the only reason why it can be sold without being classified as a short barrel shotgun.

Almost any bullet in 45 Colt will stop a hog if you do your part. I would use a 250/255gr LSWC bullet.
Click to expand...

I was very correct sir, I did not say it does not have rifling, I said the lack of it which means, not enough!
 
Too much free bore for the LC, required to accommodate the .410 is another way of looking at it.
You might be served with .410 slugs.
 
Had one. Sold it. Got better patterns and penetration with shot with cci shot capsules for my 624, 625, and 45 Blackhawk. Taurus leads horribly with Colts, chamber throats are an average of .010" oversize. Solids in 44 special, 45 AR, or 45 Colt at 900 f/s or better will penetrate a deer side to side. Done it. Skip the gimmick gun and get a 44, 45 and load with 250 grain swcs. Waaaay better accuracy is a benefit.
 
That is incorrect, the barrel is rifled. That is the only reason why it can be sold without being classified as a short barrel shotgun.
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Just as a technical point, a Taurus Judge could never be considered a short barreled shotgun, because the legal definition of a shotgun says it must be designed or re-designed to be fired from the shoulder. Without a stock, a Judge is just a handgun.

Now, being a shot-shell firing handgun, if it had no rifling it would be considered an NFA-regulated "Any Other Weapon".

Since it has some rifling of a sort, it is simply considered a regular ("GCA-regulated") handgun.
 
Another vote for skipping the gimmick and getting a good 45 Colt or 44mag six gun. Shot capsules will be hell on snakes and a 250-260gr wadcutter is hell on everything else.
 
mcmurry said:
I am thinking about buying a Taurus Judge as a woods gun. I think the 410 will do for snakes, but was wondering how well the .45 Colt (LC) would do against a wild hog? There are some, though rare, black bears, but South Arkansas is over run with wild hogs, and the possibility of seeing one is very good. Just curious.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

The .45 Colt is a great cartridge, but... It is a great cartridge, if you have the right platform for launching at least a 250 grain hardcast semi-wadcutter, or a heavily constructed soft point bullet, and the Taurus Judge, just won't cut it. You need either a Taurus Raging Bull, or a Ruger Blackhawk/Redhawk in .45 Colt. It's not that the cartridge/bullet combination isn't up to it, but rather, your choice of firearm. While I'm a big fan of the .45 Colt in the S&W variety, 25 and 625, I wouldn't choose either of them for hog level rounds. I would choose something with some substantial meat in the frame and cylinder. To make the point of this valid, you don't use a pickup truck to haul 30 tons of freight. For a load that heavy, you use a Mack, Peterbilt, Kenworth, etc., to haul a heavy load. The Taurus Judge is more like a Chevy El Camino. The El Camino was fun to drive, and you could put groceries in the bed, but other than that, it wasn't a really useful vehicle. Besides, you can pick up a Raging Bull or either a Blackhawk or Redhawk for about the same money. That's just my $0.02 worth.
 
TIMC said:
I was very correct sir, I did not say it does not have rifling, I said the lack of it which means, not enough!
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I don't want to argue over words but when someone says it's lacking that means it is without. If you meant minimal rifling you should have said that because I'm sure most people who read that thought you meant it has no rifling, as I did.

You are correct the short rifling is not enough. It also runes the shot pattern.
 
It could mean missing but the definition leans more towards "inadequate or in short supply" but I think we are all on the same page, the judge is not that accurate shooting .45 Colt, at least this is what I found when I owned one for a short time.
 
I have a Judge and enjoy it, but I use it for shot shells or slugs, strictly .410. I don't carry it for any serious purpose. The problem I would have with confronting a hog is knowing which chamber contains the 45 Colt and which the shot shell. I would have to use a very disciplined strategy and mindset to be ready for whatever I encounter, something like first round shot shell with follow up 45 Colt, or cock twice to skip a leading 45 Colt...something like that.
 
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ArchAngelCD said:
I don't want to argue over words but when someone says it's lacking that means it is without. If you meant minimal rifling you should have said that because I'm sure most people who read that thought you meant it has no rifling, as I did.

You are correct the short rifling is not enough. It also runes the shot pattern.
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I took it the same way. That "lack of rifling" meant it was a smoothbore.
 
Ok, thanks y'all. I'm not used to seeing shotshells in .44/.45's other than the occasional Glaser and I haven't seen any of those locally in 30 years, and that was .357 mag. I would expect shot shells in larger calibers would be special order in my area.
 
CraigC said:
The cartridge is fine, the platform, not so much. You'll end up with a far more useful sixgun if you skip the .410 nonsense. Use .44 or .45 shotshells for snakes, if it's that much of a concern.
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Amen!

You can load a .45 Colt with either shot capsules, or use a pair of gas checks to contain the shot. You'll get something virtually equal to a .410 round without all that extra cylinder length.
 
I have, in the past, cut .410 shells to chamber length for my Ruger, loaded them with shot and roll crimped. Done the same with .444 shells for my super. Have even cut off .303 British, blown them out and shot loaded. All will beat the Judge. I guess my favorite combo, not fast to change from one to the other, is my 45/410 Contender. It will out pattern any gimmick gun or load you can put together. Problem is it doesn't do well with 45 Colts any warmer than stock.
 
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