I am putting a wilderness/camping survival kit together and I have been thinking of including a Taurus Judge in it. My thinking is that I can place a the pistol, 10 rounds of 6 or 7.5 birdshot, and 10 rounds of 45 long colt, in the kit and I won't increase the overall weight too much. The reason I am thinking of adding this is to be able to shoot small game for food or even use the .45 to take a deer or something similar, in order to stay put and wait for resuce rather than affect a self rescue or tryng to walk out myself type of thing. One of the other reasons for chooseing the Judge is that I can easily get .410 flares for signaling. Any input/comments that you guys may have would be VERY helpful, before I spen the money.
Survival Pistol?
- Thread starter jplacquay
- Start date
Hammerhead
New member
As long as you don't have to shoot beyond 10 yards it should be fine.
I like the idea of the .45 Colt, but the .410/.45 compromise chamber leaves a lot to be desired in the accuracy department.
Several of us shot a new one at the range this past week and no one including the owner could hit well at 15 yards with .45 Colt loads and the pattern from the .410 was pretty spotty.
Even good .410 long guns are pretty iffy past 10 yards.
I would pick a nice Ruger single action .45 Colt so you can hit something.
I like the idea of the .45 Colt, but the .410/.45 compromise chamber leaves a lot to be desired in the accuracy department.
Several of us shot a new one at the range this past week and no one including the owner could hit well at 15 yards with .45 Colt loads and the pattern from the .410 was pretty spotty.
Even good .410 long guns are pretty iffy past 10 yards.
I would pick a nice Ruger single action .45 Colt so you can hit something.
I recently shot one of these .45/.410 revolvers and found them to be lacking in the accuracy department. I'm no slouch with a wheelgun, and can print sub-2" unsupported 25 yard groups, and shoot a clean 7-second El Prez, but I could barely keep 4 out of 6 rounds in an 8" circle at 10 yards with one of these. It'd be an ok gun for deer or SD, I suppose - so long as the deer was inside 10 yards.
Personally, I'd choose a .22LR revolver in this situation.
edit:
Hammerhead beat me to it, lol.
Personally, I'd choose a .22LR revolver in this situation.
edit:
Hammerhead beat me to it, lol.
If you are interested in the .410, I personally would buy a nice .410 pump AND a handgun in the caliber of your choice. This idea of shooting .410 shell from a revolver for anything serious doesn't make very much sense to me. How effective is the Judge at 25 yards? If your handgun cannot be effective at up to 25 yards why bother? If I were short on cash, I would even go with a .410 single shot and a used .357 Blackhawk. At least you would have two weapons that you are sure would perform well in a defensive and hunting application.
Cheapshooter
New member
Must not be very good shots! This is with a PD Poly with a 2" barrel!
Not quite your 15 yards, but 5 rounds Winchester PDX1 225 GR. 10 yards off hand.
Really?
Maybe I'll shoot a few at 25 yds next time I'm at the range for reference.
The shot pattern does open up quite a bit, especially with #6 shot. I really don't know how well it would work on small game. At a snake defense distance of 10-15 feet # 71/2 shot patterns tight enough to pepper a slithery critter with a lot of little holes.
I wasn't evaluating it's target accuracy (it's not a target gun, after all). It was at a recent match. Pick it up at "the beep", and shoot 6 rounds, starting at 10 yards while moving forward. The gun gets emptied in under 2 seconds, and the front sight looked "on" for all the rounds. Keeping all the rounds in the "down zero" under those conditions, isn't/shouldn't be a problem, even shooting a bit faster.
Don't you just hate it when somebody asks about a "survival _pistol_" but then their question is all about a revolver? Despite the fact that revolvers aren't pistols?
We do this every couple of months! Terminology means something. Or should we just start calling 1911's revolvers and say, "Everybody knows what he means?"
I know. I'm the only one that cares. I'll go off and drink by myself now. And the Judge is a toy not something to be used for serious purposes!
Gregg
We do this every couple of months! Terminology means something. Or should we just start calling 1911's revolvers and say, "Everybody knows what he means?"
I know. I'm the only one that cares. I'll go off and drink by myself now. And the Judge is a toy not something to be used for serious purposes!
Gregg
Crazy88Fingers
New member
A pistol is pretty much any gun that can be fired with one hand (ie: not a long gun). Only in certain circles of the gun community is a revolver not considered a pistol.
I'll second the .22 idea. It would be just fine for taking small game and keeping you alive long enough for rescue. The Judge and similar guns seem to capable of doing many things, but not any one thing particularly well. Henry makes a survival rifle that comes apart and stores in the stock. And if you get desperate enough, you could probably take a small dear with a .22.
I'll second the .22 idea. It would be just fine for taking small game and keeping you alive long enough for rescue. The Judge and similar guns seem to capable of doing many things, but not any one thing particularly well. Henry makes a survival rifle that comes apart and stores in the stock. And if you get desperate enough, you could probably take a small dear with a .22.
A nice Savage 24 combo gun would give shotgun and rifle options you just can't get in a pistol. My thoughts are that the Judge would be a pretty poor example of something to bet my life on in any situation.
If you are dead set on a pistol I would suggest a good accurate .22, or a .357 you could take larger game with and use light .38's on smaller stuff. There is no pistol in the world that will make a decent shotgun.
If you are dead set on a pistol I would suggest a good accurate .22, or a .357 you could take larger game with and use light .38's on smaller stuff. There is no pistol in the world that will make a decent shotgun.
Article II gun range opened by my house earlier this year.
At first they allowed handguns of any type, rifles and shotguns.
People showing up with Judges and Governors (Judges mostly) were hitting the target carriers, the walls, other people's targets - everything.
There also was a problem with a few shotgun owners doing some dumb things so now there is no shot allowed, but a big part of that decision was the Judge owners seemingly hittting everything except their own target.
At first they allowed handguns of any type, rifles and shotguns.
People showing up with Judges and Governors (Judges mostly) were hitting the target carriers, the walls, other people's targets - everything.
There also was a problem with a few shotgun owners doing some dumb things so now there is no shot allowed, but a big part of that decision was the Judge owners seemingly hittting everything except their own target.
Buy a good revolver say a .22 LR to keep in the "kit" along with a cheap flare gun from the marine dept. and you have both, and both would actually work like they should. Personally for a "survival" pistol I would have a 5.5 " SS Ruger Redhawk in .44 Mag and carry it on my belt all the time. Guess it depends on what you are planning to survive, an attack by soda cans, two legged varmits, or things with claws and teeth. I would rather have to eat some badly shot up small critters than worry about a bigger critter picking through my remains for a snack.
Deaf Smith
New member
If I had the bucks I'd get a Ruger Super Redhawk .454, nitrate finish, and have a smith cut the barrel back to 4 or so inches are re-attached the front sight (Seen one done fore in this thread, http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=337355 )
Then use CC .45 LC shot shells for short range work and be plenty for any survival scenario!
But sadly the ocean ain't whiskey, and I ain't a duck, so I'm stuck with my 629-1 4 inch .44 magnum and trying my luck (good enough but that Ruger looks so cool!)
Deaf
Then use CC .45 LC shot shells for short range work and be plenty for any survival scenario!
But sadly the ocean ain't whiskey, and I ain't a duck, so I'm stuck with my 629-1 4 inch .44 magnum and trying my luck (good enough but that Ruger looks so cool!)
Deaf
Unless you expect to need to defend yourself against bears than what you really want for a survival pistol is a .22lr. You can carry a lot more ammo and still take small game of all kinds and even medium game if you want (like deer).
One option:
http://www.ruger.com/products/markIIIHunter/models.html
However, any number of target or hunting .22's would do the trick.
You could also consider something like this to give yourself greater accuracy at range:
http://www.henryrepeating.com/rifle-survival-ar7.cfm
One option:
http://www.ruger.com/products/markIIIHunter/models.html
However, any number of target or hunting .22's would do the trick.
You could also consider something like this to give yourself greater accuracy at range:
http://www.henryrepeating.com/rifle-survival-ar7.cfm
NoSecondBest
New member
No brainer...22 pistol. Carry one full box of 50 and the gun and no weight or bulk. It can, and will, kill anything you need to eat and short of grizzley bear it will discourage any other critter trying to harass you. Even a couple at a black bear will either kill or send it packing. Small, light weight, and lots of ammo in a small package. Have you ever tried to kill a bird with shot out of a handgun? I have, not very effective and I'm a pretty good handgun and shotgun shooter.
Bellevance
New member
As arentol suggests, the Henry Survival AR-7 really is the way to go for a reliable, all-purpose weapon--waterproof, versatile, accurate, compact, easy to pack.
Spiderwire
Inactive
As far as your survival kit goes... you must consider what will be at the end of your barrel. If you are looking at staving off the two legged predators then a judge may be your ticket. If you are looking at living off the land then I suggest a 22 LR survival rifle. The barrel is broken down into the stock, and it makes for a light weight varmint gun. Use some snacks/seeds to lure a rodent, use the rodent to lure a larger animal. 357 magnum rifles by Ruger make for superb survival tools. Big enough to kill a deer, and small enough to defend against a predator.
My two cents.
My two cents.
Dragline45
New member
If you kill a deer with a Taurus Judge I will be extremely impressed. I consider them short range defensive weapons, there is no way you will get close enough to a deer to get off an accurate enough shot to put one down. Your best bet is a .22 rifle or pistol.
Although handy all the examples of these types of rifles I have shot were awful in the accuracy department. One was a Henry survival rifle and I cannot remember the other. I would go as far to say I could shoot my Ruger MKIII more consistently than the survival rifles I tried. A ruger 10/22 is light enough where I would have no problem carrying it around over a break down survival rifle that sits in a pack, and the flush 10 round mags on the 10/22 make it a nice gun to carry around the woods.
I am SOOO glad that I asked this question! You guys ROCK with all your comments, and have given me a lot to think about that I didn't consider.
I am not conserned about defense just living off the land for the most part, and I think that having my Ruger MkIII .22 cal is going to be my best option. Like I said I want to make sure that I keep it small enough for my daypack it hold everything, so a pistol is the way I want to go. Thank you so much you guys!
I am not conserned about defense just living off the land for the most part, and I think that having my Ruger MkIII .22 cal is going to be my best option. Like I said I want to make sure that I keep it small enough for my daypack it hold everything, so a pistol is the way I want to go. Thank you so much you guys!