I have a Judge. It shoots 45colt decently at seven yards, about like any other 3" large caliber revolver with groove and notch sights. I can hit a paper plate pretty much every time at that distance, which is good enough for me.
With 410 shells it is really fun for blowing up rotten watermelons and so forth. When I was a kid I walked around in rattlesnake country a lot, and a Judge would have gotten a lot of use from me back then.
No offense intended, but could anyone really believe that it would be useless as a SD handgun when loaded with 410 buckshot? IIRC, that would be thirty 32 caliber pellets all discharged in just a few seconds. Just fooling around with it on boxes or vegetables or whatever, the results have been impressive.
All that being said, I just keep it in the safe with most of the others. I keep a 4" 357 out for HD, and also a few small pieces for CC. So if actions speak louder than words, I probably do treat it as gimmicky. But I certainly do have respect for it and would not at all feel unarmed with it in my hand if something went bump in the night.