Is a used Taurus Poly Public Defender worth it?

The size comparison with the semi-auto was questionable because he really downplayed the grip. When it comes to concealed carry, which is the market for both guns in the video, that grip sticking way out could be a big deal. Beyond shrink-wrapping these for a volume measurement, I recommend getting them in your hands for a personal comparison. The semi-auto is a lot smaller!
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Or, compare the size of my PD Poly with my Colt 1991 Compact

Or Springfield Armory XD40 Sub Compact.




But the biggest myth the video dispells is the accuracy using 45 Colt. The "shallow" groves have very little detrimental effect on accuracy. And power with 410 buckshot. With handgun spacific 410 ammo the 2" barrel doesn't seem to preclude good penetration.
 
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Thing is that with a revolver it doesn't have magazines to deal with, so you can keep it loaded for decades without an issue. I've never tried keeping a magazine loaded to full capacity for longer than a couple months, so Idk how a mag would hold up over years.
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This issue comes up from time to time. Advice seems to be that loading to +1 capacity or keeping any mag fully loaded and storing long term can eventually weaken the springs. As zxcvbob responded, this is probably less wearing on springs than regular maximum flexing. I've heard similar accounts regarding rifles being stored with the bolt open. I haven't experienced it personally but I only keep one semi-auto loaded and it is at -1 capacity (as in, I don't top off the magazine after chambering a round). It gets shot, cleaned, lubed, and stored with a fresh batch of defensive hollow-points at least once per year.

This particular issue might just reduce to the old revolver vs. semi-auto arguments. I didn't intend to distract with the capacity argument on the judge. Six (or more) shot revolvers have a significant capacity advantage as well. Even for ones that don't, we're still stuck with the main anti-Judge argument that for any given task, there is usually a more traditional firearm that does it much better. What the Judge has going for it is (1) it can do a lot of different things and (2) it is fun and/or cool.

Maybe we can summarize that anti-Judge argument by saying that it passes all its subjects in 1 with a C average.
 
Cosmodragoon said:
What the Judge has going for it is (1) it can do a lot of different things and (2) it is fun and/or cool.

Maybe we can summarize that anti-Judge argument by saying that it passes all its subjects in 1 with a C average.
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I think a lot of the anti-Judge sentiments are from revolver purists. They don't like how it looks, they don't think the idea of multiple projectiles from such a short barrel makes sense, and they have yet to see it be extraordinarily impressive vs .357 or .44.

As for the "different/fun and cool" factors... those are the main reasons I'm interested in owning one: it's different, does more than one thing, and it's fun. In addition to the usual appeal of .45/.410 revolvers, the adapters to shoot 9mm and .38 and even .22 make it something so different, I have to own it.

Now, what I'm about to say is probably going to make a lot of those revolver purists' heads explode (like that scene from Scanners) but the .410 revolver I want most is a single action because with those adapters, the centerfire ones at least, I can knock out the empties without having to remove the adapter from the cylinder.
 
... what I'm about to say is probably going to make a lot of those revolver purists' heads explode (like that scene from Scanners) but the .410 revolver I want most is a single action because with those adapters, the centerfire ones at least, I can knock out the empties without having to remove the adapter from the cylinder.
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I really enjoyed that movie back in the day. What I'm about to say might make the anti-political purists of this forum explode but I'm still waiting for those supposed champions of gun rights to repeal utterly nonsensical gun control laws that have been on the books for far too long. The fact is that the Judge as we know it only exists because of a need to dance around unconstitutional and arguably moronic legal restrictions. For instance, Taurus actually developed a smooth-bore 28-gauge version of the Judge but that isn't allowed here. Freedom in this case is based on technicality.
 
I think a lot of the anti-Judge sentiments are from revolver purists. They don't like how it looks, they don't think the idea of multiple projectiles from such a short barrel makes sense, and they have yet to see it be extraordinarily impressive vs .357 or .44.
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I'm not sure there is a lot of anti-Judge sentiment. There is a lot of anti-Taurus sentiment because Taurus sucks. They probably also make a few decent gun occasionally, by accident, but I wouldn't know about that.

I have a full-sized Judge that I won in a raffle a couple of years ago. (there were lots of prizes, and i won the Judge) I bought a a couple of boxes of shells for it but I haven't even fired it yet. The organizer of the the raffle is a friend of mine and and was excited that I'd won one of the good ones. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket. So I just told him "Yep", or something stupid like that.

So I have 2 worthless Taurus revolvers now. At least they are shiny.
 
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket.
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Ill give you $25 for it.
 
I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket.
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Just another exaggeration from a a taurus hater that completely nullifies any credablity.
 
I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket.
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Cheapshooter said:
Just another exaggeration from a a taurus hater that completely nullifies any credablity.
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Yeah, with how popular the Judge is (I believe it's Taurus' highest selling revolver) any pawn shop would pay $100 for it, no matter what model it is.
 
Yeah, with how popular the Judge is (I believe it's Taurus' highest selling revolver) any pawn shop would pay $100 for it, no matter what model it is.
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Of course he would. Then sell it very quickly for $300.
 
I have a Taurus Judge PD polymer revolver I bought used about 3 years ago and it has functioned flawlessly . Never had a problem with it yet .
 
OP here.

Apparently new stainless Public Defenders can be had for under $400. With Taurus offering lifetime warranty to guns registered with them, should I pull the trigger on stainless PD or am I inviting a dumpsterfire into my life of endless warranty work and terrible customer service?

I do really want a Public Defender, but I'm smart enough to walk away if the thing is only going to be a problem.
 
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