Taurus Judge For The Wife to use??

[JediKnight]

So my wife and I have been discussing getting her a home defense gun for about a year now. She doesn't like my semi-autos so we've been looking at different revolvers. We've pretty much been set on the Ruger SP101 so she could use .38 specials or 357's whatever she felt more comfortable shooting. Last weekend we went shooting and I had her practice with my 9mm glock and she was making about 4 foot groups at maybe 10 yards. I'm wondering if maybe I ought to get her a taurus judge. Would the spread from that be adequate to compensate for her shooting ability at all. I want to use straight buckshot either 000 or 0000. What kind of groups could I expect at 3-5 yards. I'm guessing it will be almost insignificant. She likes the sp101 a lot more. If I'm not going to get any spread from the judge at these ranges I'd prbably just go with the ruger.

 

[nelson133]

A short barreled .410 with rifling ill definitely give you a spread, some people call these bagel shooters because of the pattern. That does not translate into an effective self defense weapon though. Hitting a bad guy with one buckshot pellet somewhere is not something I would want anyone I cared about to depend on.
Let her find a pistol that fits her and get her a little professional training and she should be able to hit what she needs to just fine. Remember to let her pick out what she wants, you just pay for it.

 

[MyGreenGuns]

I would keep looking. I own a Judge, but I think of it more as a range toy.

The grouping does spread a bit with shotshell. That is not a suitable fix for poor shooting however.

I tried some PDX rounds with the coinshot and the coins tend to group closely. Although I had a few of them fail to fire, so I dont trust the rounds for self defense.

 

[theicemanmpls]

If you love your wife, please don't buy her a Taurus. Despite what you see in the movies, short barreled shot guns which the Judge sort of is, don't spray the room full of deadly pellets ten feet from the muzzle.

I agree with Mr. Nelson about the professional training. Ever try and teach a female relative how to drive? it is worse with shooting. No offense to the ladies, but sometimes, the training chemistry is not a good fit.

What else I would do, is find a shooting range that rents pistols. Let her try the grip, and weight. Start small.

If unable to do a professional, start with a pellet gun, or a .22 rife. Teach the fundamentals on the rifle first. After she is comfortable, with that, move up to a .22 pistol.

I would recommend a wheel gun. Simple to use.

I like the .22 mag S&W revolver.

 

[weregunner]

As much as I like the Judge concept the problem is that the Judge has to be aimed like regular firearm. That is one cannot point in the general area and pull the trigger and hope to hit the target.

The moral consequences and liabilites for hitting something that was not intended to be hit are extremely high. That includes other people and things.

The more projectiles loosed during a fight for life the more chance someone or something is going to be hit that should not be. There is no guarantee how the fight will progress or the outcome. There are just too many factors to be able to predict how a fight will go. Especially under duress when fine motor skills will be lost.

There is also no such thing as a typcal violent fight. You cannot predict all the possibilities or what will happen.

The Judge is a very close in weapon with .410 gauge shells. 7 or so yards and under. And a out to about 15-25 yards with .45 Colt rounds.

Recoil is considerable in a goodly number of models with either round. More of a pussycat with .45 Colt Cowboy rounds.

Let it be recommended that she take a look at these first.
http://corneredcat.com www.womenandguns.com www.babeswithbullets.com

Then have her take a basic gun course offered by www.nra.org or www.nssf.com . There are also women only classes. Gun stores,gun ranges, or gun clubs should have local access to these. Then she'll have a well rounded basic education as to what caliber/gun combo will work for her and her needs.

She can start out with .22lrf revolvers, but those have very heavy trigger pulls. Spring kits might take care of that, but there is the problem of primer getting a healthy enough a whack to set the primers off reliably. For some guns it's not a problem. For others it is.

There are the .32 calibers in .32 H&R magnum and the .32 S&W Long. These are mild cartridges that anyone new to shooting can handle. S&W,Ruger,Taurus,and Charter Arms make such models. In Ruger guise it's the .327 Federal magnum, but those revolvers can shoot the .32 H&R and .32 S&W Longs.

Taurus' .32 H&R magnum revolvers are still available, but not in large numbers. Taurus also has the 327 in .327 Federal magnum.

I use the Taurus 327 to compliment the Ruger GP-100 and Ruger SP101 in .327 Federal magnum.

The new Ruger SP-101 in .22lrf might be looked at. Seems like a fine item, but is not as heavy as say a S&W 617.

The .38 Special has a lot going for it like the .32 calibers. Both are versatile.
I'll leave all the revolver models out of this as there are too many to list here.

I'm partial to Taurus and Ruger products.

Stay away from the ultra light models for now regardless of the company. Those can be worked toward later if need be.

Charter Arms quality has improved and their .22lrf revolvers seem to work well. The snub revolvers for women are too light in my opinion.

 

[weregunner]

By the way. I come from where the majority of Judge owners gather.

I do not own a Judge, but do own Taurus revolvers of many various calibers. That includes from .22lrf up to .44 Special.

If the lady can handle hard recoiling guns, and there is no reason why she could not learn the proper recoil techniques, then let her try a Judge.

Better yet. Go to the local range and rent a Judge or S&W Governor and see how things go. I would suggest that take place after she gets the basic education.

 

[weregunner]

I think these guys hit the nail on the head.

 

[oldfool]

Lot of good advice already stated above, all of which boils down to a "snubbie shotgun" not being a good solution to anything.

OP said for home defense, that means any 'snubbie' would be a relatively poor choice vs anything else which fits her hand well. Bring enough gun to minimize recoil for the chosen loadings, enough handle to get a comfortable grip on, and enough barrel length and weight to minimize muzzle flip. The Ruger SP (especially the 3") is a good candidate: she could start off with 38 wadcutters or mild cowboy loads.

I interpret OP as specific to "newbie shooter". Leastways read nothing that suggested otherwise. Comments following presume that to be the case. Has she shot any handgun other than your 9mm Glock ? If not, a revolver is certainly the prime candidate to try next. Not everybody takes to autoloaders from the beginning, not even if they learn to love them later.

If indeed wife is new to handgun shooting, there is no better place to start than 22 rimfire. Learn to hit well first, step up power level at shooters own comfort zone pace, a step at a time. Not all DA rimfire revolvers have terrible triggers, either, but that is a subject onto itself. Nor is there anything wrong with starting off a new shooter with a SA only rimfire Ruger Single Six being perhaps the #1 most dominant candidate of all time, but if ye must go bare bones economy price, even a Heritage Rough Rider would do for a starter. SA only shooting should never be the ultimate goal for any defense handgun shooter, but a good start trumps a bad finish. Most newbie shooters will begin shooting SA anyway, no matter what gun you hand them, given a choice.

The 22 rimfire is the #1 all time best training tool there is, always has been.
Shooter must develop comfort, competence, consistency, and confidence (more or less in that order)... and nothing trumps rimfire for doing that. All the rest comes after, and the choices for after are unlimited.

Best of luck to you both.


PS
sidenote on 22 DA revolver triggers -
in deliberate deference to weregunner, a Taurus Only example
Taurus model 94 small "j frame" vs Taurus model 96 "k-frame", shock and awe class difference, night and day
You would have to try them side by side to believe the difference, really bad vs really good, the 96 runs as smooth as a K-22 Masterpiece
(alas they do not make the 96 anymore, not that I know of, mine was bought decades ago NIB)

 

[kimbernut]

training

old fool your name does not suit you. .22 LR is the best training aid ever!

That's the track I would take with a 20 ga. shotgun loaded with 000 Buck in the interim. Control with a full stock is much easier for most folks that have initial trouble with handguns. Pattern that shotgun at 10 yards and you may realize it's the absolute best home defense firearm available. Twenty 25 caliber pellets are awesome 10 to 40 yard but spread will not be much 'til at least 30 yards. My pattern at 20 yards is only 6-7". My wife was so impressed with her pattern board session that the High Power is now backup even though she is accurate with it as well..

 

[Lawdawg45]

So my wife and I have been discussing getting her a home defense gun for about a year now. She doesn't like my semi-autos so we've been looking at different revolvers. We've pretty much been set on the Ruger SP101 so she could use .38 specials or 357's whatever she felt more comfortable shooting. Last weekend we went shooting and I had her practice with my 9mm glock and she was making about 4 foot groups at maybe 10 yards. I'm wondering if maybe I ought to get her a taurus judge. Would the spread from that be adequate to compensate for her shooting ability at all. I want to use straight buckshot either 000 or 0000. What kind of groups could I expect at 3-5 yards. I'm guessing it will be almost insignificant. She likes the sp101 a lot more. If I'm not going to get any spread from the judge at these ranges I'd prbably just go with the ruger.

If it is just for home defense, why get her a handgun of questionable quality and performance? The Judge has had horrible range reports from both .410 and .45 colt, plus Taurus customer service is deplorable. Why not get her a shotgun? The price will be half of the Taurus.

LD

 

[Guillermo]

I really don't have much to add except WHAT THEY SAID.

no ability to aim and no penetration (stopping power)

You SP101 idea is outstanding.

The Judge idea...


(Kimbernut...Old Fool is inappropriately named. But keep your eye on him when you have him over to the house. Your pappy van winkle seems to disappear )

 

[Big Bore Dan]

Yep, I agree with Lawdawg... If I were inthe OP's position I would first teach the wife how to shoot. Put up a silhouette target and teach her how to consistantly get a center mass group of 5-10" at 15 feet !. The comment about using 357 indoors is also a problem. The bullet from a 357 in a home defense situation will most likely go thru the intended target and into another area of the house!!!! 38 special is the way to go in your situation. I'd stay away from the Judge, it really is a novelty. The 410 for lack of a better word is a joke

 

[bikemutt]

If budget is not an issue consider a S&W Governor instead of a Judge, I've shot both, own the Gov and find it balances better, has less felt recoil, chambers .45 ACP as well, comes standard with a night sight and is overall a higher quality firearm.

Load it up with some Winchester PDX .410 shotshells and you'll find the close range pattern to be quite satisfactory. Penetration is another story, I have no first hand knowledge as to it's efficacy, but up close an personal I can't imagine a target swatting those pellets away like so many flies.

Two to four PDX .410 shells and the rest .45 ACP makes it a decent, close range SD gun IMO. Especially for someone who still may find themselves best served by a scattergun.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

If budget is not an issue consider a S&W Governor instead of a Judge, I've shot both, own the Gov and find it balances better, has less felt recoil, chambers .45 ACP as well, comes standard with a night sight and is overall a higher quality firearm.

+1 to this. My buddy just traded in his Judge on a Govenor. After about 50 rounds of .410 his wife was loading the Judge, and the cylinder and crane fell off the gun. He said he could never trust that gun again. Taurus revolvers are way too hit or miss for my liking.

Better yet, get the Ruger. SP101's are great guns, and just more effective in my opinion.

 

[sixgunner455]

You said she likes the SP101 better. Why are we discussing the Judge instead?

Get her a pair of SP101 revolvers: .22lr, and .357.

/thread

 

[dprice3844444]

Taurus Judge For The Wife?

wish i coulda got a trade like that,the divorce was expensive

 

[19-3Ben]

she was making about 4 foot groups at maybe 10 yards.

Seriously, I'd have her practice, then she should practice, and when she's done with that, i think a little practice might be in order.
4' at 10 yards is huge, and you wouldn't want a gun that will spread so much that it would compensate for that kind of shooting. If a shotgun (or shotgun chambered revolver) patterned 4' at 10 yards, there would be something severely wrong with that gun and spreading that much would be a liability.

If I were you, i might consider getting her something like a Ruger 10/22. She can practice with it at the range, and use it for HD. Sure, the .22lr isn't the most powerful round in the world, but if she's only backup HD for you anyway, and she's got a 25rd mag full of CCI Velocitor... you're on to something.
It'll be light, and easier for her to shoulder and shoot properly than a handgun.

 

[Guillermo]

wish i coulda got a trade like that,the divorce was expensive

Yeah...but then you would have a Judge

 

[xXxplosive]

IMO.............no serious shooter would by the "Judge".

For a woman............?

 

[weregunner]

This is about what fits her and her needs and nothing else.

It would help the OP if some people would add constructive ideas instead of adding little or nothing to the dialogue.

This is about what she can shoot proficiently with. The largest caliber she's able to do that with.

 

[skidder]

We've pretty much been set on the Ruger SP101 so she could use .38 specials or 357's whatever she felt more comfortable shooting.

The OP needs to stick with his first thought...damn good one! My wife has been using hers since 95 and she still finds it sufficient. Great snub for home defense with 38 ammo. Felt recoil will not scare her away, and that is a big issue with some of these lighter 357s.

Guillermo-- How did you did get a picture of me after the last Christmas party?... or was that me when I received my gun back from Taurus? Can't remember.

 

[Certaindeaf]

K frame .38/.357 2-3" and some good grips. If she can hit a 3' 2x6 flatways at five feet, she'll be ahead of the game.

 

[Stainz]

Yeah, my first thought when I read, "Judge for a wife" was that it must be an ugly, mean, and useless wife... Now, a Governor, that would take one that at the very least wouldn't have to sneak up on a gourd to get a dip of water...

But - I now realize the OP wanted a protective revolver for his wife. Oops. That's very different. Let her decide! My wife hates my Governor - even with .45 ACPs. We went through some revolvers - she finally settled on my only blued revolver - a 2" 10 - with custom-fitted-to-her hand grip (Hogue goncalo alves rounded/fg). She can shoot quite accurately with it, both with my mild Montana Gold 125gr JHP plinkers and +P 158gr LHPSWC defenders. The key is - she selected it! Her previous favorite 'house gun' was my 5.5" SS .45 Colt Redhawk, which had been sold for years when she finally missed it. She can tell if I've touched that 2" 10!

Stainz

 

[Zaydok Allen]

deleted

 

[Guillermo]

Skidder,

It is no wonder that you don't remember.

To open a box and find a Judge inside can cause memories to be repressed.

I would suggest that you talk to your therapist but he is busy enough with that "other thing".