How much FUN is the Taurus Judge?

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TennJed

Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2010
Messages
3,454
I have $375 in “toy“ money to spend from Christmas. The local Sportsman’s Wharehouse has the Taurus Judge Public Defender on sale for $369.

I am just looking for a fun plinking gun to shoot around the farm. Put a hurting on the stumps in the pond.
I love single action revolvers and reload for 45 colt already.
I have SD and CC covered (ruger sp101, kel tec p3at & p11).

Is $369 a good deal? So how much fun is the Judge? How bad is recoil (i figure it can not be worse than a full house 357 out of the sp101)? How expensive is 410 shot?

Basically is it accurate enough and is recoil tame enough for it to be a fun shooting gun.
 
.410 is more expensive than 12 or 20 gauge, especially if you decide to shoot the highly marketed rounds designed around the Judge.

fun is subjective, though. I was entertained for a cylinder of #4 buckshot, and then the novelty wore off.
 
TennJed-- Never had a Judge, but you can get CCI shot loads for your 45 (or load your own). I think you would be better off getting a 45 or 44 in double action to add to your collection. I've had problems with Taurus in the past, but if you really wanted a 45/410 revolver the Governor might be a better option.
 
For stumps and entertainment I recommend the ss comanche with the wadlock it out performs the Taurus and hs a 3" chamber.

My dad has owned a 4" and a public defender poly. If you are 81 and can't shoot get one.
 
I've fired the 3" chamber model with .410 slugs, 000 buckshot and .45LC and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's heavy and bulky, definitely not a concealed carry piece, but nice. It really puts a hurting on gallon jugs filled with ice.
 
Wharehouse has the Taurus Judge Public Defender on sale for $369. -and- Is $369 a good deal?
Click to expand...
Paid about $500 for mine (3" blued), prices have dropped considerably.

I am just looking for a fun plinking gun to shoot around the farm. Put a hurting on the stumps in the pond.
Click to expand...
I dispatched all the neighborhood pumpkins with mine and $50 worth of Jello.

So how much fun is the Judge?
Click to expand...
This gun reminds me of the "Sam and Max" series. I always get a kick out of shooting it. My other revolver is a .38 spl snubby. Always good to show the 10mm crowd that there is something a little bigger.

How bad is recoil?
Click to expand...
Not bad at all. The gun itself is pretty heavy and absorbs most of the recoil.

The shot shell loads have a tendancy to open up fairly early. A short barrel, rifled shotgun will do that. The .45LC isnt "tack-driver" accurate, but it hits where I point it.

I like mine, but it is more of a novelty than a serious gun. I have my XD for CCW, I have my 870 for HD, but the Judge seems to follow me to the fields quite often.
 
I'm not a fan of the Judge. I think it's too large and it's ugly too. As for fun plinking I feel the ammo is too expensive for plinking. I have shot several Judges because a few friends have bought them and all 3 have regretted doing so after a short while. Two have already sold them.

Hey, that's just my opinion, you make think it's a great toy...
 
I bought mine soon after they came out for my main home defense gun. It is easier to keep secure close to my bed than a shotgun with most of the benefits of a shotgun. I like the variety of rounds available for it and it is fun to shoot. The down-side is that it is not cheap to shoot. I suspect that part of the reason that .410 is not cheap is that it has never been a popular round, maybe if the Judge line of guns continues to gain in popularity the price will come down.......I'm not holding my breath.
 
weregunner said:
I love the 2nd hand anecdotes without backup of vital real details or facts.
Click to expand...
Is that post aimed at me? If so I don't know how I could give you details short of posting the buyers names and phone numbers so you can ask them yourself.

You know what I love? I love how some who post here add links to another forum in almost every post they make. I wonder if that member is a moderator at the Taurus forum? IMO it's just poor etiquette to always point people on this forum to another forum.
 
Hey. I can say , and I have, been around to the gun stores in the Metro Milwaukee area and southern Wisconsin.

I've shot the Judge a few times as a rental and seen the ones in the gun shops. All of those were in great shape,were selling like hotcakes, and were just fine. None had gone back as far as the gun store clerks or gun store owners were concerned.

Yet I have no way to prove it. Same goes for other " I have muchoo friends or been to multiple stores and all the guns of brand x all suck" that others post.

No verifiable details or facts.

Funny thing about that.

Since the majority of users are at the forum for that brand,make, and model it figures that the actual owners who congregate there in very large niumbers are going to have input for that model of gun.

I own a Springfield XD9. I went to the Springfield forum for that model gun to do research and get a feel for the gun beofre buying. It was only a part of the research I did at that forum and at other gun forums. I also closely inspected real examples of that gun,found out it fit my needs well and then purchased the gun.

I own Beretta products. I went to the Beretta forum for that research.

Same goes for the two Ruger forums for the Ruger P97 ,Ruger 95s, Ruger SR-9 and Ruger SR9c.

Same goes for the 2 SIG pistols I own. The SIG forum had plenty of good need to know data.

Gun specific forums are where a large number of people around the globe go to find things out. It's a resource for them to use to find the data and facts.

Let me get this straight. The actual owners of the guns experience,data, and facts at those forums means nothing and is null and void? Yet the "self annointed ones" who see all, and know all, because they say so, counts more and, is the only thing we are supposed to believe? Especially those who have no actual experience with the brand in question? No actual facts and data are to be believed?

Wow! That's as far out there as Pluto is to us.

So this has to do with posts like that. Not aimed at anyone in person.

But we're supposed to take posts like that at face value. The actual owners who have experience with them is another thing. And those need to have details and facts. Nothing ambiguous.
 
Last edited:
My bro-in-law is about 5'9" and 160 lb and he LOVES his judge. I am 6'4" and let's just say a LOT more than 160 lb...I found the recoil painful. It was not fun for me. Maybe I'm just a wuss, though. I'd sure go see if you can shoot one before you buy and see what you think.
 
I would not buy a judge for a fun plinking pistol, instead I would purchase a Browning Buckmark or a Ruger MKIII. Now this is fun plinking and shooting. Shoot 500 rounds of bulk 22lr for less than $20.
 
Two observations that might help you decide whether or not to buy a Judge:
I have small hands and was surprised to find the Judge easy and secure to handle thanks to their choice of grips.
To my surprise I found that 3" rounds of 000 shot from my 3" barreled Judge held a very tight pattern out to 20'. I expected about 24" but got about 12". At 10' the pattern was more like a freight train.
 
Depends on how much you think inaccuracy is fun. Below is a picture from Taurus's website showing group size at six feet.

I found the maximum range to be about ten yards with either shot or 45 Colt. Tried shooting 45 Colt ammo at 25 yards and could barely keep the rounds on a full size B27 silhouette target. Switched to a 9mm and all the rounds were in the 10 ring. Shot spreads really quickly and even at 10 yards you are lucky to have more than one pellet hit a soda can. Oh, and don't even think about shooting shot without wearing safety glasses, they ricochet everywhere.

As far as recoil goes it's not bad. A lot more with the shot shells than the 45 Colt ammo. The stock grips are pretty soft though.

39.jpg
 
I have one and have had it for about three years, don't shoot it much, so i guess you could say.........its not much fun.
 
5 rounds of first hand experience

I have only fired a cylinder full of buckshot out of a friend's Judge.

The Judge was fun for 5 rounds, but that was enough.

I am a vocal anti Taurus guy.

I dissuade my first time handgun buying friends from buying Taurus.

From what I've experienced, heard, read and observed, the Judge is a poor shotgun and it is a poor 45 Colt revolver. It is too small and weak for a sd shotgun and it is oversized for a 5 shot 45 Colt.

In my opinion it would be a good snake gun.

My dad thought they were really cool, but he knows very little about guns. Maybe folks like my dad are Taurus' demographic.

Oh yeah, I think S&W is even dumber than Taurus for making the Governor. It reminds me of the "all my friends are doing it" argument: "if all your friends are jumping off a bridge..." S&W jumped off the bridge with the Governor.
 
I'd personally look at a Governor instead, but I had fun with the Judge when I shot it at the range. LOADS more fun that I had with an 8-shot .22 (it felt like shooting an airgun, but with a hot backblast). Pulling the trigger once and seeing 3 holes appear in the target (I was using 3x00 2.5" shells) is quite a bit of fun.

56Hawk, if you're not shooting competition, I'd say that's more than accurate enough for social work inside normal HD/SD ranges. I'd also like to see the shot pattern of 000, but I know you just took it from their site. Like I said, though. Seeing 3-5 big holes appear is more fun than seeing one big hole appear. At least to me. Even if they're a few inches apart (not all over, obviously), it's still pretty fun.
 
Skribs said:
56Hawk, if you're not shooting competition, I'd say that's more than accurate enough for social work inside normal HD/SD ranges. I'd also like to see the shot pattern of 000, but I know you just took it from their site. Like I said, though. Seeing 3-5 big holes appear is more fun than seeing one big hole appear. At least to me. Even if they're a few inches apart (not all over, obviously), it's still pretty fun.
Click to expand...

I've only shot 45 Colt and bird shot. Buckshot and some of the specialty rounds might be a bit better. I posted that picture because it shows that even in Taurus's advertising it's not very accurate. I do however agree that its accuracy would be acceptable for self defense, but I think there are way better guns for that purpose. Anyway the question was if it was accurate enough to be fun, and I don't think so.
 
We've had fun with ours. It's accurate enough at 10 yards with 45 LC and the same is true with the .410. The .410 would be good for varmints etc... in my opinion.

I just feel it's not advertising or trying to be a high end revolver.
It also doesn't cost as much.

So I just look at it as another thing in my collection that goes boom and is also fun to shoot.
 
ms6852 said:
I would not buy a judge for a fun plinking pistol, instead I would purchase a Browning Buckmark or a Ruger MKIII. Now this is fun plinking and shooting. Shoot 500 rounds of bulk 22lr for less than $20.
Click to expand...
Good suggestion but I already have a Ruger MKIII, Ruger Single Six, Ruger 10/22, H&R 949, and a Colt 1911 in 22lr. I am not looking for another 22lr.

I also reload so that helps keep the cost down
 
BigSteve57 said:
So I just look at it as another thing in my collection that goes boom and is also fun to shoot.
Click to expand...

That about sums up what I am looking for. Something I don't have to add to the collection. A hand held scatter gun and it meets my under $400 price point
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Taurus Judge or Public defender. opinions??
2 3 4
Replies
84
Views
19K
anetsprungen
A
1
  • Locked
Taurus Judge vs. Thunder 5
Replies
10
Views
3K
TomJones
T
TTv2
I have some Taurus Judge questions
Replies
19
Views
511
drobs
drobs
C
  • Locked
Kel-Tec PMR-30 or Taurus Judge For Fun
Replies
20
Views
991
Sam1911
S
P
  • Locked
Taurus Judge - I'm surprised!
2
Replies
33
Views
4K
Hunt480
H
Back
Top