Judge VS GOVERNOR

General Purpose Revolver, with personal defense in mind

  • Taurus Raging Judge 6" (.454 Casull, .45 Col and .410 Gauge)

    Votes: 6 9.5%

  • Taurus Raging Judge 3"

    Votes: 1 1.6%

  • Smith and Wesson "The GOVERNOR" 3" (.45 Colt, .45 ACP, and .410 Gauge)

    Votes: 16 25.4%

  • **Theoretical** Smith and Wesson "The GOVERNOR 6"

    Votes: 4 6.3%

  • Other Large Frame Revolver 6"

    Votes: 8 12.7%

  • Other Large Frame Revolver 3"

    Votes: 28 44.4%
  • Total voters
    63
  • Poll closed .
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triggerhappy2006

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Okay so the Taurus Judge has been around for years, proven, effective, realiable...then they made it better(at least IMHO). Taurus added the power of the 454 Casull to the mix, and combine that with a 6" Barrel and you have an effective general purpose revolver(maybe not Conceal Carry or 100yds hunting) but you can still use it as a bedside gun, truck gun or drop a deer at 50 yards or so as well as a awesome bear defense gun. You could probably conceal it if you go with the 3" barrel and for comparison sake, the 3" with 454 gives you the option of a bear stopper over a normal Judge. Now Smith and Wesson, mind you I am still upset with them for the Clinton Administration thing, releases the The GOVERNOR which shoots a .45 ACP, .410, and .45 Colt in an orginal "Judge" size pistol. Here is my a question is having the ability to fire a .45 ACP from a revolver that can shoot 2 other more powerful rounds really worth sacraficing the ability to shoot a 454? Also is it possible to shoot a .45 ACP out of a .45 Colt revolver or did Smith and Wesson actually do something different? I would like to hear anybody else's arguments for or against the GOVERNOR.

My stand is I would rather have a 454, .45 Colt or 410 in a 3" package than .45 Colt, .45 ACP and 410 in a 3" revolver, now the .45 ACP is an outstanding round but it's not really in class with the .45 Colt and 410.
 
proven, effective, realiable
Sorry I totally disagree with your assessment having owned 2 Taurus guns, both were very UN reliable revolvers and there customer service is about the same.
 
MY PD Poly is completely reliable, and the accuracy with 45 LC really surprised me. It's not my "house" gun, or EDC, but does find purpose next to the seat of my truck when I'm on the road.
For that purpose, all the listed choices were not applicable, so I didn't vote.
 
proven, effective, realiable
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I noticed that as well. Funny. Made me think back to previous threads where the .410 pellets were bouncing off a cardboard box.

I would prefer a S&W to the Taurus version. But I would consider either one of them to just be fun guns. "Different" but just for fun. Show me some police departments or military units that are using them.

Gregg
 
Don't care for Taurus, I owned a couple that broke. The 410 000 buck loads is coming out at the same speed as the 12 gauge 000 buck load (fps) just fewer pellets. I believe there are more efficient choices for SD, but it isn't a bad weapon.
 
I'm waiting for S&W to make shells for their 500, maybe a little longer cylinder... It would hold more pellets than a 410

I think it's about as close as you can legally get to a handheld shotgun without the AOW stamp.
 
I never liked the Judge or Taurus in general, but I picked up a Governor when they first came out and love it! 6 rounds vs. 5, chambers .45acp, great sights, S&W quality. And the latest .410 SD loads are very impressive.
 
I like the Raging Judge due to the fact that it can fire the 454 rnd. As far as reliability goes, the Raging series are built better than their other lines. No problems with my Raging Bull ever.
 
I never liked the Judge or Taurus in general, but I picked up a Governor when they first came out and love it! 6 rounds vs. 5, chambers .45acp, great sights, S&W quality. And the latest .410 SD loads are very impressive.
Click to expand...

I have just the opposite opinion. The Governor I looked at was even larger, and bulkier than a standard Judge, let alone my PD Poly. I guess it all depends on your intended use.
 
If Personal Defense is the primary purpose of this weapon... The Judge and Governor are absolutely the wrong weapons. (my opinion)

Get yourself a decent 3-5" .357 Mag or .44 Mag, and call it a day. Forget about all of the .410 crap. It isn't effective out of a pistol barrel, anyway.
 
.410 buckshot from a pistol LOL, If I wanted to hit somebody 4 times with a 32acp I'd just carry my Walther PP.
20+ years ago I had a T/C contender in 45 colt .410 trapsing around the farm I realized that the .410 did little to improve on my 38 special shotshells.
IMHO you can keep either of those giant piles I'll take my 3" 696.
 
My idea of a general purpose, with SD in mind, revolver would be something like a S&W 696 3" (good luck finding one) or a 3-4" S&W Mountaing Gun in .44 Magnum or .45 Colt. I don't see the Judge or the Governor as anything other than novelties w/o any real, practical purpose.

Just my opinion . . . and we all know about opinions. :rolleyes:
 
I find that big interest in this type of weapon a bit strange. If you buy one just to fool around with, alright, if you have the money go for it. But consider one to use as a serious defensive weapon? Your kidding me. (No I never shot one or owned one, if that bothers you too bad.) A .410 shot out of a 4 inch barrel? If you like .410, get a full size shotgun, at least you would have a chance. You would be better off with one of the mini-9mm that out there or even a 5 shot revolver. At the very least you know where your shots will end up. I can't believe that Smith and Wesson are really copying Taurus. A nice GP-100 or a used Model 19, there are so many other options than a .410 shotgun revolver I am totally blown away with this.
 
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Okay so the Taurus Judge has been around for years, proven, effective, realiable...then they made it better(at least IMHO).
Click to expand...

I'd argue that it has been proven it is not effective or reliable.... Out of your options I'd rather have a 6" large frame like a .357. Say a 686 or a Ruger GP100.
 
Sure, sure.., .410 bounces right off cardboard, and you can't hit the broad side of a barn with .45 from a Judge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNXqaKLuNg
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Yup, the early buckshot loads were indeed poor performers as the soft lead pellets flattened into disks, but with the Federal OOO Buck loads that have been introduced you have some serious performance as the pellets are hard and, even though they are unbuffered shot, flatten very little and stay together.

Here is my test that I did with the Federal buckshot load. 24" of water penetration.

Water penetration test: Federal Premium .410 000 Buckshot 4 pellet in a Bond Arms Derringer

Remember this is in a derringer, in a revolver you will get more velocity and more performance.
 
Sure, sure.., .410 bounces right off cardboard, and you can't hit the broad side of a barn with .45 from a Judge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNXqaKLuNg
Click to expand...

I experienced pretty much the same results with my Poly. The accuracy with both 45LC, and buckshot surprised me. What I did that the video didn't show was put a bunch of ragged, nasty, holes through a piece of 3/4" plywood @ 10 yds.
My experience with it gives me enough confidence in it's defensive capability to make it my seat side companion when traveling.
Unlike the "expert" detractors ,most of who have never even fired one, I tried it, and I liked it!:D
 
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