Need A Little Input The Judge By Taurus

[Zebraranger]

Need some input from my HighRoad friends out there. Anyone know anything about the Judge? I have run accross a Taurus, the Judge 4410 3" blued for sale for $450.00 with box and papers, Shot very little, maybe 25 rounds, in excellent condition. He's willing to go as low as $420. on it. As far as revolvers go, I have owned or own Colts, Rugers, & S&W's, I have never owned a Taurus and know very little about them, other than what I have read online. The negatives seem to out weigh the positives on Taurus. I havent really read any negatives on The Judge. Ever since the Judge came out I have been interested in this revolver that can shoot 45 colt or 410 shotshells. Is $420 in excellent condition a good price in anyones opinion? Also, any experience with them.
Thanks and everyone have a Merry Christmas.

 

[Ala Dan]

I can't keep any of the Taurus 'Judges" in stock; as I sold our last two on
Friday December 21st, 07. $420 for a used, blued version might be a tad
bit on the high side; as the 2x matte stainless guns I sold were NIB for
$419.88 @~! These guns must make excellent Christmas gifts, for
those persons on your list that are not prohibited from owning firearms~!

 

[Feanaro]

Not terribly useful items but Taurus ain't half bad.

 

[tsidorus]

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot41.htm

seems the idea of birdshot for defense isnt a great one...

 

[WC145]

My first bit of advise is to use the search feature because there are umpteen threads here on these guns. Second is don't listen to people that have not owned or shot one.

I have a blued 3" 4410, it is not a "Judge", Taurus hadn't named them yet so while it is the same gun it doesn't say Judge on it anywhere. I got it about 1 1/2 years ago in a gun show trade. It was slightly used (1 cyl through it) and the guy wanted $315 for it. I have found it to be a great shooting gun, plenty accurate and very fun (I've done alot of backyard skeet shooting with mine). I bought it for a "working out back" and nightstand gun and it fills both roles nicely. The .45colt has plenty of power for defensive use and while people continue to poopoo the .410 my feeling is that a round or two of #6's in the face should buy me the time to put three .45's center mass.

I think that $420 is high but I got a good deal on mine because they hadn't gotten popular yet.

 

[Colt46]

Why?

Not only ugly, but I really couldn't ever hope to come up with personal justification for getting one.

 

[Millwright]

Small shot from a rifled barrel tends to 'donut' a pattern. But you can get
.410 buck shot - and slugs, FTM, so that ain't a 'limitation' to the Judge.

Seems like a pretty nifty carry piece IMO. Must be some reason why so many jurists wanted one Taurus renamed it the "Judge", eh ? >MW

 

[Feanaro]

But you can get .410 buck shot - and slugs, FTM, so that ain't a 'limitation' to the Judge.

I doubt a .410 slug would get 1,200 FPS in a Judge, turning it into a somewhat faster .380. Even at 1,500 FPS, it wouldn't be a match for a regular .45LC load. As for the buckshot, when you can find it, you get three 000 buck pellets that pattern like hell. In a full length shotgun without rifling.

 

[tinygnat219]

Neat idea, still wondering what it would be used for. There are LOTS of better revolvers for self-defense. Also, used Taurus's shouldn't be selling near new Taurus prices. Haggle with the guy.

 

[highfive]

I have 2 taurus, they're not the judge. i have a model 85, and a taurus tracker 357 4" barrel and I never have had any problems with any of them. the tracker is the one that i actually carry the most. i only can speak on those 2, but like I said never had any problems my friend. Happy hunting

 

[Caipirinha]

I was at the range this weekend and a guy in the next lane was shooting one. The .410 shells really have some muzzle blast/flash. Even at 15 feet, it wasn't a given that all 3 buckshot would hit the target silhouette. They really disperse quickly.

 

[joneb]

I don't see myself getting one, but if I needed a snake gun I would consider it. I have a Taurus 85 ss that I bought in the early 90's, I have fired in excess of a thousand rounds through this gun with no FTF's it has been flawless.
A man makes the tool work, the tool should help the man work better not harder, the effectiveness of the tool is in the hands of the holder.

 

[Down South]

I have a Stainless 3” barrel Judge. I bought it for a tractor gun to shoot field rats with. It makes a good plain old outdoors carry revolver too. I have many handguns and have never considered carrying the Judge as a defense piece although I’m sure it would do the job loaded with .45’s.
I’ve tried various 410 shells including buckshot. I find that the pattern spreads rapidly and at best is a very short range gun with the 410 shells. I’ve only tried one brand / grain bullet in the .45. I’m not at all pleased with its ability shooting the .45’s. The bullets just don’t pattern well at 25 yards and hit POI several inches to the left. Now I’m sure that I could find a bullet that would perform better but I just haven’t been interested in looking. Like I said I bought the Judge for a tractor gun for rats or for beating around in the woods on my ATV or whatever. The longer barrel version of the Judge probably would do much better too.

For protection I carry an S&W 642. It slips into my front pants pocket and is easily carried / concealed. Or in the winter I sometimes carry one of my compact S&W .40’s. It sort of depends on where I’m planning on going as to which carry piece I have with me but you can bet I’ll have one on me all the time.

Getting back to the Judge. I personally think the Judge is a bit over rated by using bird shot for self defense. If I’m going to be close enough for bird shot to be effective on a BG then I’m plenty close enough to put a 38 slug out of my 642 where I want it. The Judge is a fine snake / rat gun and is a blast to play with. Now if you are using .45’s in the Judge then I think that you have a hell of a defensive weapon.
As far as it being a Taurus, it has never given me a problem and appears to be a well built revolver.

420 sounds a little steep for a used Judge. For that much, I'd throw in a few more bucks and buy new.

 

[tblt]

taurus junk

I would not buy another taurus REVOLVER there not made like a ruger or s@W REVOLVER,I have the taurus model 85 38 snubnose for carry with the hammer ground off.If I could do it over I would buy the S&W hammerless not the taurus. Buy a 9M.M. WITH a 15 + round clip and/or a riot shotgun for home defence.I like 9 mm because of the fast follow up shoots and more rounds over a 40 cal or a 45.I keep my 357 ruger loaded but its not my go to gun.I will grab my 15 shot cz p01 first loaded with federal hydrashock ammo or my shotgun with 00 buck.