Smith & Wesson Governor - Home Defense Gun

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well it seems like a good choice for that price, me personally i waiting to see if S&W will come out with their version of a raging judge.
 
Some gunsmiths now offer a choke for the Judge. I have the Rossi 410 Pistol, and screw in the choke for birdshot and lead buck. Works great to keep a tight pattern. Not getting a flyer on the buck as I do without a choke. Just another option for those who would rather load up with the 410, as you can't mix the 45 colt in without disengaging the choke.
 
I love when people say things like "much less usefulness" it shoots 45 cal bullets out the barrel how is that "much less usefulness"??

I want one & say go for it, just don't get any lint around it
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So what if it fires 45 colt bullets? That doesn't mean its a great SD option. Are you new to guns?

My bedside gun is a glock 19. A glock 19 is a vastly superior home defense gun, and if you have to ask "why" then you won't understand.

If someone wants a 45 colt for whatever reason (despite the obvious drawbacks) and someone wants the buck shot capability (despite again, obvious drawbacks) then its probably a fine gun. If you want it for the heck of it, or because it appears interesting, thats fine. However, if you want a great home defense gun, there are many better choices out there.
 
There are a whole lot of people out there with opinions, and some of those opinions are valid while others are based on misunderstanding, anecdotes, and BS.
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So whats up, doc? 45 colt for HD? So it beats out a 22lr, a 32 acp and a 50 A&E but does a 5 shot 45 colt revolver really beat out anything else?

Since a few people think that the anti-judge/governor people don't have their facts straight (lol) here is my list of criticisms of this type of revolver:

(these are NOT in a particular order, just off the top of my head)

1) capacity - ok so 5 shots is "enough" but if you have this gun, with 5, you could have instead a semi with say 10 or even more. I'd rather have more than 5, because you never know and your accuracy will be way lower in a SD scenario. Many studies state that 33% or 1 in 3 "hits" is the expectation. 1 shot of 5 is 20% so you may register one hit, in 5 rounds? (2 shots is 40% which is above average SD accuracy per any study or report on the subject). Will you reload the gun? Can you reload? Should you have to face this? Why ponder it when you could have a double stack auto?

2) Size - now of course, this doesn't come into play as much in a SD scenario, but once again, compare it to say a S&W J frame. What are you getting for the size? The power? I don't think its a good tradeoff. Everyone says "well its great 10 yds or less" so is a 9mm or a 38 special and countless other rounds. Every round should be good at that range. Many of the common pistol rounds are quite powerful at said ranges.

3) Accuracy - I can't think it would very accurate compared to other SD pistols or other pistols in general. Remember in a SD scenario you are much more likely to shoot the gun in DA. Of course you can get good with DA firing, but it takes a lot of time. Add in a shorter barrel length, and you have a gun that would not be too easy to shoot well with consistently. So you say to me "well it only needs to be accurate to 10 yds or less" and I say "well can't you shoot a 9mm or 38 10 yds or less on a man size target"? The other issue here is that your intent is not to wound the assailant but rather to maim or kill. I think a well placed shot with a 9mm or 38 hp (for example) is more deadly than the sloppy shooting that may happen because you are shooting a revolver with buckshot. Of course the buckshot is deadly if most of them land on target, but there you got less range.

4) Recoil - this is a prime consideration. So you may only place 1 in 3 shots in a SD encounter, which means a follow up shot is likely to be needed. How quick could you get one off? You think you could shoot quickly with 45 colt? Quick enough to save your life? Seems like an unnecessary gamble to me. Remember, "its effective out to say 10 yds" and so is a 45 acp (referring to semi here), 9mm, 38 special, 380, etc.

5) Weight - now of course, one must consider the lethality of 45 colt here and actually the lethality of buckshot WITHIN RANGE. The gun has to be bigger to offer the power of these chamberings, BUT, in these ranges, many guns are deadly. The weight dampens recoil, but if anyone wants to carry this, its not very light compared to other SD options. I know that the OP said he wants an exclusive HD gun, but many others think the Judge or Governor is a realistic CCW, and while it beats out a few other designs, its not a great one for that purpose. If the weight was the ONLY problem here, it wouldn't be very important, but its not.

6) Collateral damage - ever consider your buckshot going across the road and hitting someone or something else? You want to gamble on that? So the SD range is probably going to be inside say 30 ft, and you buy a judge/governor because you want to hit the attacker for sure. That makes sense BUT if you can't take most any handgun, and put your shots on a man size target consistently at 10 yds or less, then you should have a long arm, not a revolver which fires buckshot and not a handgun in general for that matter.

7) Which round to you actually ready the gun with? 45 colt / 45 acp has greater recoil, making for a slower follow up shot, and more power than what you need, BUT the 410 buckshot offers collateral damage risk while basically insuring some hits. So which one? Alternate them? Is that a good idea?
45 colt exclusive? Why not another type of gun, such as a DA S&W or Ruger, or etc. Surely many other 45 cal revolvers are more accurate. Buckshot exclusive? Why aren't you more confident in your accuracy? Why limit your range? (I mean this towards 2 legged creatures, not natural predators).

Honorable mention - buying such a gun from Taurus. I know this thread is about S&W, but many people buy a Judge, and trust their life to it. How much more proof do you need that this is a big gamble? Its a gamble of your life, no less. I think if someone is dead set on this type of revolver, I'd pay extra for the S&W although I have not read a ton about Judge quality control horror stories. Even so, Taurus earned their rep, and I care about my life more so than trusting a Taurus product, in general. (Exceptions can be made to this).

As said before, I don't think the Governor / Judge actually offers what people buy them for.
 
Winchester_73 "That doesn't mean its a great SD option"

When did I mention SD options? 45ACP or 45 colt will certainly work in a defensive situation. O ya then you could hunt with some hot 45 colt rounds, if you lived in snake country the 410 sure beats 9mm shot out of your g17. Then you bring up “357, 22, 38, etc. I just bought a Colt pre Woodsman” for self-defense I would take the Governor. It seems you are the new one, I’m guessing daily!
 
Then you bring up “357, 22, 38, etc. I just bought a Colt pre Woodsman” for self-defense I would take the Governor. It seems you are the new one, I’m guessing daily!
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LOL - well just like the people who will vote for Obama because of ______ you are entitled to your own opinion, no matter how ridiculous. I think that a poster "comn-cents" should have a little more than what I'm seeing here.

When I brought up 22 and the Colt pre woodsman, I was saying that I think you can easily get more for the money in general. No, please "think" first and then "post" second, I obviously did not recommend a Colt Woodsman or a S&W 22 for SD. A S&W 17, a colt woodsman, buckmark, ruger MKIII, have a DEFINED purpose, whereas IMO this judge/governor does not. The purpose of these buckshot revolvers is to take advantage of ignorance, which ultimately goes back to money. Something that does all things mediocre, few thing well, but hey man, cousin billy bought one, and Mr Wilson across the street has one, and that old blind guy likes the idea of shot instead of a single bullet, so I gotta get me one too! People are sheep, and this crap is a perfect example. If you want to tell me you have a better SD concept/platform than my glock 19, I suggest you prove it to me, otherwise, I see many logical fallacies with your stance. (Of course, there are many other semi choices than a glock 19, and I am not saying its better than any of those. I own one however, and I think it to be a better concept (double stack DA semi) than a judge/governor, but not necessarily better than other semis)

A S&W in 38 or 357, in a revolver, takes away the reliability advantage of a judge/governor, while giving more accuracy, greater range, and potentially more stopping power IE 357 vs buckshot. A 38, 357 or ? does not have to be S&W, that was only an example.

Basically, a solution for the snakes that have been around for 1000s of years that suddenly, we had no real solution for, so now we can buy this raging magnum snake killer revolver! Awesome! What did people do before this judge/governor business :rolleyes:
 
Well explain for all of us why the governor is a reasonable choice over a double stack semi? Can you back up your stance with some "comn-cents"?
 
To clear up a couple of points brought up

- The S&W Governor is a 6-shot revolver, not a 5-shot. That puts it on par with all other .4x chambered revolvers that S&W sells.

- It weighs 29.6 oz unloaded (Scandium alloy frame). This is lighter than any other S&W revolver chambered in .45 or .44, and is almost identical in weight to the 329PD Alaskan Backpacker, a 6-shot .44 mag scandium alloy 2.5" 'normal' looking snubby that tips the scale at 29.7 oz.

- It has a 2.75" barrel, overall length of 8.5". This is less than 1" longer in total length than the 6-shot 629 with the 2.625" barrel at an overall length of 7.625" or the 329PD with the 2.5" barrel.

So even though it looks funny, it's not actually especially worse than any of the smaller .44mag snubbies from S&W and is several hundred dollars less than the two models I mentioned.

For someone who has decided that they'd like a light weight .44 or .45 caliber 6-shot revolver, the Governor doesn't seem to be a bad choice. I don't know how useful it is to be able to shoot a .410 shotshell out of a pistol but I'm willing to keep an open mind about it.
 
JC57,

Thanks for the clarification. I thought the governor was more of a close copy of a Judge, but I see now it has some improvements over a Judge, IMO.
 
Seems like folks can't get past the .410 part.

Kind of funny that because it also shoots .410 it becomes a "novelty". Keep in mind it still shoots .45 acp and .45 colt (6 rounds of either or mixed or whatever you desire). So a basically a 6 shot N frame is now useless for self defense. Oh yeah, you can reload it pretty easily with full moon clips of .45 acp. Everyone I've talked to and every report I've read has said despite concerns of inaccuracy with the .45s (because of the freebore in the cylinders) it is NOT a problem with the S&W. Reliability has never been mentioned as a problem either.
Price a .45 Nightguard. I'd jump on a Governor for that low a price that the OP saw. A Nightguard that you can, if you want, shoot .410 out of.
As far as a wheel gun vs. semi-auto, I think there are plenty of threads to read on that subject.
 
Depends on what you're asking. If you're looking for the optimal HD pistol, the Governor might not be the best pick. If you like the Governor & want to buy it for fun anyway, it can be pressed into the HD role very effectively with the right ammo.

One thing I've noticed in all the reviews.....000 buckshot pellets seem large enough to engage the rifiling, making them fairly accurate & tight-grouping at room distances. Not a bad choice for up-close work.
 
Hey, if that's what floats your boat,buy it.
Will it do the job? yes.
Is there better choices for home defence? yes.
Would I buy one? no.
I have 45's, and 22's, and 38's, that I can shoot snake shot with,and shotguns for buckshot.
 
I just think this is a 'solution' looking for the answer.

It is inferior to a dedicated 45LC revolver, and inferior to a shotgun.
 
Well, let's step back and think about this for a moment. Because of it's rifled barrel, we know that the Governor will likely produce the same "doughnut" type patterns that the Taurus Judge is known for so the useful range of shotshells is limited, but then again self-defense is a short-range proposition the vast majority of the time anyway. .410 Birdshot probably shouldn't even be considered for self-defense because of its poor penetration, but .410 Buckshot can still give us adequate penetration at short range. Finally, we know that .410 revolvers usually give mediocre accuracy with .45 Long Colt/.45 ACP loadings because of the long jump that the bullet has to make to the forcing cone. I wouldn't expect much better than 5-6" 25 yard groups from a Governor loaded with .45 Long Colt or .45 ACP ammo, but that's still accurate enough to hit an attacker at self-defense range if the shooter does his/her part.

So, what does it all mean? Well, the main limitation that I see to the Governor is range, but as I mentioned earlier SD is a short range proposition anyway. .410 Buckshot would seem effective enough in close quarters and I don't think anyone would sneer at the .45 Long Colt or .45 ACP as a defensive round. Also, the Governor can be reloaded with speedloaders or moonclips, so it doesn't have a speed disadvantage when compared to other DA revolvers. Is the Governor better than a more conventional revolver for SD? No I don't really think it is. Is it as good as a more conventional revolver? That's debatable. Is it adequate as a self-defense arm? Yes I think it probably is.
 
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I'd be fine with the Governor for home defense. It's a pretty cool gun. For home defense, I'd probably want to alternate .410 and 45 or just keep 45 in it.
 
I found my new Governor to be very accurate. At 12.5 yards, the very first shots of 45LC were right in the bullseye. Shooting 45 ACPs is a real treat too, and are just as accurate. I shot Winchester AA 410s 9# shot as well. These produced a pattern that nearly covered the range target and produced a mighty amount of recoil.

The Governor is in no way a close copy of the Taurus for three main reasons: 1) There is no plastic anywhere on the Governor, the Taurus Judge has a poly top strap, 2) it takes 6 rounds, and 3) it will chamber 45 ACPs using moon clips. Be advised, however, that loading a moon clip is easy. Unloading one without a special tool is a real pain.

Both the Governor and the Taurus have ~10 - 12 lb pulls. This is a very heavy DA trigger. Once the Governor is cocked into SA mode, the trigger is nearly hair-like and can easily be inadvertently fired. The Judge's SA trigger is not as sensitive.

A few more points. My friends brand new Judge blew apart where the top strap meets the barrel the very first day he shot it and there are many posts about that happening. As a SD weapon, I would not be firing 45LC in the house, but would fire a 410 round. Many say that this is a novelty gun. In some ways that is true because it depends on your reason for purchasing it. I don't shoot anything that moves, so in my case it is a novelty. I just like the fact that I have a choice of three different rounds and I enjoy shooting it. The 45 LC and 410s produce a huge amount of recoil. Understandable but still a lot of recoil.

I purchased my Governor for $560 out the door.
 

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