Governor or Judge?

Governor or Judge

I'm also looking at the same scenario. My wife shoots my old colt 45 I shoot a 22 and black powder. Any way I have never put a gun lock on my defense gun even when the boys were little and my wife was against guns. I kept the clip hidden and the gun under the bed in a box. Home invaders do not advertise there coming in, all of a sudden they're there. Now I have to get the gun find the key unlock it and hope I don't have to use it. Do they have a gun. It's not so much what it is as how fast I can be ready to use it, will I be shaking will I be accurate will I hesitate to use it. Will they try & take it off me. My first two rounds will be those special 410 rounds followed by 45 LC which was the round of choice in the old west I believe. A gentleman at work had his house broken into while he and his wife were sleeping,His two daughters were home from college and his 18 year old son was in a room adjacent to the garage where they came in. His two dogs were in bed with him and his wife. They took tools and tool boxes out of the garage, loaded up his car and stole everything. NOBODY heard a thing. There were 4 of them. The police rounded them up a month later. Scary isn't it. His wife and daughters were afraid to sleep in the house till they were caught. He has more guns than a gun shop. All locked up only one by his bed side. A shot gun is only good across the room. A single bullet must hit the target. I tell my wife if it must be fired DO NOT STOP TILL THE GUN QUITS GOING BANG BANG. anyway that's my nickels worth.
 
After reading informed comments ..I feel the Judge , Governor 410 Handguns
Are great belly guns...really no way to know velocity or energy levels at 20ft or beyond..I'm sure the velocity would greatly reduce because of no "spin" on the shot.. basically a free fall ...but as a close range belly gun the 410 000 Buck would be very effective...the setup is good for most self defense situations.

As I said most...but not all, not like a known projectile (bullet ,velocity ,how the bullet will react on impact) and exact bullet placement...

In other words a high quality HP 40 caliber bullet placed in a attackers chest ..will result in stoppage of attack at 2 ft or 50 yds. ..if you do your part...

Nothing wrong with belly guns...they just have limitations.. I think you should limit your limitations, when your life or your loved ones life is on the line..
 
All these discussions about what gun to use or not use is laughable. I have a gun in my collection that was used by the Germans and the Czecks back in the 1930's . It's a CZ27 in 32acp. I'm talking about something not much bigger than a .22! Sure they replaced them when bigger came around but, at the time they did a fine job.
just my .02
 
How bout rocks and clubs..spears and swords ..i have a brother -in-law that hunts wild boar with dogs ..pins them down and jumps in the mix and cuts the Hawgs throat.....with a 6 inch hunting knife

CZ27 in 32acp I had one once
 
As most have said judges/govs or any .410/45 colt guns are not the PERFECT hd weapon. If you are buying it just for that then there are many more efficent options IMO. But of the two i would expect the smith to hold up better in the long run. (Yes i have owned taurus revolvers.)
 
Let's see. Two people who have not shot all the calibers under discussion but one of them is a court recognized expert, perhaps designed some new ammo in different calibers, actually used them against humans and studied for hundred of hours about ballistics and defensive shooting. The other is a banker which may or may not have shot all calibers under discussion but lacks the extensive training, proven results, acknowledgement of recognized agencies and whose opinion would not earn him a dime or be considered a learned opinion for anything of importance. So why would the second person think if he does his own research that his opinion and choices would be just a valid as the first.

I would rather have a firearms lawyer who never handled a self defense shooting of a dog defend me then do my own research and represent myself in court. You know what they say about those who represent themselves in a court of law? They have a fool for a client. :) The lengths people go through to defene their choices of guns and calibers is funny at times. Hopefully they do not prove deadly. Got more to day but I have to go and research how to remove my own appendix as I think I can do it better than my regular surgeon who never did one. I do not think his many years of medical training and experience would make him any better at it than me. :)
 
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I have a similar family situation; when my twins were born (boy-girl) we already had a 2 year old daughter and a 1 year old daughter.

When they had reached the age of your kids, I had them watch, over and over, the NRA Eddie Eagle safety video (still available from the NRA) which taught them when they saw a gun, they were to: stop, don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult.

My "kids" are now in their 20's going through college and graduate school, and they are all home for this Easter - I just quizzed them about the video, and 15 or so years later, they can still repeat the Eddie Eagle mantra.

My wife is petite, small-statured, around a 100 or so lbs soaking wet, and also did not (and does not) love to shoot, but she learned to do so after we had someone try to break into our home when I was out of town and she was alone with the kids. She called 911, but as the saying goes, when you need help now and the time is measured in seconds, the police are only minutes away.

After shooting lots of pistols, rifles, and shotguns, we agreed on two options for her: a K-frame 38 with factory wadcutters, which was low recoil but as much as she could or desired to handle. The pistol was and is kept in a gun safe bolted to the closet wall where you push in a combination and the door pops open.

The second choice is a Rem 870 youth model in 20 gauge, loaded with #4 birdshot, chamber empty, safety on, and was kept on a shelf out of reach of the kids.

Good luck. And by the way, if you want your kids to go to college, start saving now, but no matter how much you put away, you still won't have enough $$$$........
 
I have two Judges...neither one set up for defense, but as I've modified them they'd certainly work for that purpose- but too big to be concealed. ;)

The one I've had the most work done on is 6" barreled one with a 3" chamber and had a lot of work done on it, including having an extension and choke tubes installed, a set of Nill Grips and other various things. It certainly beats my old Contender in .410 for patterns and is THE ticket for shooting rats when they run out from under the bushog while I'm mowing. :D But, that is it's purpose- essentially a multi-shot version of a Game-getter without having to go through the paperwork. :) The Contender was fun, but impossible to reload on a tractor. ;)

The second one is still being worked on...if it'll ever get finished. :(


The fact is, get a gun that that feels good and can shoot well.
The other fact is, no one wants to get shot, whether it's a .22 short, a 1/2 oz of #9 or a 255gr .45 slug. I'd rather have a gun, even an ugly that I knew how to use and shoot than not one at all.

However, life it too short to have an ugly gun.
 
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Shooting rats as they run from under the brush hog. I had not thought of that, it makes perfect sense. I now have heard two decent reasons to have one of those handguns. The brush hog reason, and to dispatch snakes from the boat in water moccasin territory. If I were to buy one it would be the Smith for the simple reason of initial quality and better warranty service. I would never trust a .410 handgun, or an inaccurate .45, or some hybrid of the same to save my or my family's life. Never. They are also silly looking, and I have determined life is too short by far to spend with ugly guns.
 
Although neither are my cup of tea, I would go with the S&W. There isn't a huge difference in price so you might just as well go with the US company with the better reputation.

Federal says their 000 buck is 850 FPS out of a pistol. http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/buckshot.aspx?id=848
So that is 4 .36 caliber rounds (at 70 grains each) traveling 850 FPS. Not super impressive, but not terrible. Similar energy as a 32 auto with bigger diameter and 4 at once.
 
Why S&W doesn't offer a 6" barrel with choke tubes for those of us that want to actually use it in the field, I don't know. :confused:

Properly "adjusted" which chokes and other legal modifications, these little guns can easily shoot with any regular .410 shotgun.
 
the circuit judge

I read a lot about the judges 410 pattern. maybe thats true with the judge but the circuit judge's pattern with a 410 shot shell 2 1/2" #7 1/2 shot, lets me compete with the 12 gauge in shooting trap. just with the choke that came extra with the gun. first time out with it at the range i hit 23/25. and it had a nice 6" pattern at 20'. and it shoots really nice with the 45 colt, can hit a pop can almost every time at 50 yards :) great gun recomend it to every one
 
Shooting rats, snakes,racoons, and other targets of opportunity, then rotate the chamber to a medium warm .45 colt for figment of the imagination predator defense. I know the long barreled Judge looks like something out of
Batman, but something about a really big gun does not make you feel under gunned. You can scrounge with the gun, defend yourself, whatever. This thing does great camping,fishing. What, you never shot a fish?
 
Ranger94,

First I'd like to also thank you for your service. I am assuming that your SN indicates when you either became a ranger or were last a ranger (discharged). If I am correct that means you were issued an M16 of some variation for service and you are quite familiar with the M16 platform.

That being the case you should consider an AR15 with and adjustable (M4 style) stock, 16" barrel and a red dot sight with a flashlight attachment. This would make the firearm more controllable and thus easier to fire under pressure. Afterwards get your wife out to the range with it and plink around at some reactive targets (1 gallon water bottles work wonderfully). Start out with it just being fun then start working on movement, quick target acquisition, target change etc. Of course remember to keep it fun and make a game out of it for your wife - you're not training a recruit. This is what I did with my wife although I started small - a .22lr revolver because she came from an anti-gun family. It worked for me and now she's carrying a .45acp as her EDC.

Good luck.
 
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