S&W Governor? Gimmick or Good Idea?

Not surprised at all that S&W copied the Taurus Judge, seeing as how many Taurus has sold since they introduced it. S&W just wants a slice of that pie. To answer that question about just using a shotgun instead, I find it cumbersome to pack both my 30.06 and a shotgun while Elk hunting. The Judge comes in handy for the Blue & Ruffed grouse I encounter while pursuing Elk and Deer or the Rattlesnakes I see while Antelope hunting.
 
If you have never shot it why are you giving us your opinions... you are just wasting everyone's time.
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I don't need to have shot one to know it is the dumbest revolver to come down the pike in a long time. As I said, we raffled one off at my club. Just picking it up and pointing it told me I had no interest whatsoever in acquiring one.
 
Exactly why I take opinions with a grain of salt and try things for myself, a number of people that give their opinions..good or bad.. about something do not have first hand experience with that something.
 
Opinions are like bowel evacuation holes, everybody has one. Some folks just think their opinions are the only correct ones...they consider themselves experts on everything.....yawn.
 
I personally see it as more of a gimmick, but thats not to say I wouldn't want one. Its on my list of future guns to purchase mainly as a fun range gun.
 
It's a gimmic wannabe to cash in on a gimmic gun. And yeah, I've got an afternoon's experience with a friends 3" Judge...YMMV and JMHO, Rod
 
A lot of you are giving Taurus far too much credit in regards to the ingenuity department. The Thunder 5 predated the Judge by a large margin.
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That's why I stated it like this.
and been the first major manufacturer with the 45/410 revolver
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I don't think MIL Inc. could be described as a major manufacturer.
 
There is ONE load out there that makes a Judge (or better yet, a Governor!) worth owning.
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Probably as opposite of fact as you can get.
My PD Poly with it's 2" barrel is as accurate as any revolver I have shooting 45 Colt. Especially the Winchester PDX1 225 gr bonded HP. Then with the Federal Premium 410 Handgun 000 Buckshot it shoots a group of four projectiles easily into 3". Pull the trigger three times with that load, and the center of a target oretty much goes ayay. Then using the last two vhambers for the Colt, two to the head is quite doable, and repeatable.
But those two aren't the end to the usefulness. A load of 7 1/2, or 8 shot will easily dispatch a venomous snake in the berry patch, or pesky rat in the barn from 10-15'.
At 42 bucks for a box of twelve of those other goofy things I doubt I waste my time, or money on them.
 
I vote gimmick.
I wonder why the 'Thunder Five' faded into obscurity but these revolver .410/45Colt took off?
 
I have owned both S%W and the Judge, and they both worked well for there intended purpose, short range self defense weapon and snake gun, My wife is not a very good shot but she can hit with these with self defense loads, setting aside all opinions I saw what these can do at short ranges and I would not want to be at the receiving end.
 
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.
 
I wonder why the 'Thunder Five' faded into obscurity but these revolver .410/45Colt took off?
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Internet.
Prior to the internet, and first hand reports of people actually taking the time to use weird crud like the Thunder Five and find something useful about them, were few and far between.
The Thunder Five had a very tiny cult following - smaller than the faithful that swear there's a use for the COP and/or the Snake Charmer....
 
I wonder, why can't a gimmick aldo be a good idea?

My primary use for guns, barring two or three, is having fun. I have a lot of fun with match guns that, outside of the Olympics and such, are gimmicks. But I do enjoy them. I guess I could manage to have fun with a .410 revolver. I certainly do with my single shot pistol.
 
I found that the 410 slugs perform better than the 45 colt out of my gun. The slugs expand to catch the rifling and travel at 200 fps faster than the 45 Colt round. I can place a five shot group inside 3 inches at 25 yards with the slugs but have a much larger "pattern" with the 45 Colt rounds. I carry the slugs for self defense when I carry it.
 
No offense intended, but could anyone really believe that it would be useless as a SD handgun when loaded with 410 buckshot?
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It's not useless but there are just IMHO so many better choices.
 
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