There are some SD shootings that have occurred with the .410 buckshot and the performance was poor, less than the mouse gun handgun calibers, in general.
It would be interesting to see that information, the good and the bad widely available, and particularly whether or not the round(s) were fired from a Judge or an actual shotgun.
There are quite a few factors important to this discussion, but they are twisted around each other (as is often the case), which can lead to confusion and misunderstandings.
One basic question is, "Is the .410 suitable for home defense?" (against humans)
This question hinges on how you define "suitable", and I define it as "most likely to do the desired job under normally envisioned conditions."
Not, "how well does it do that job", Not "this or that does the job better" those are other separate questions. Adequate is suitable, in my book. Better performing rounds would be more suitable, provided some additional factor(s) don't negate that.
One of the factors always considered is, does the round have sufficient power to do the job. Despite some people's die hard convictions the .410 is inadequate, reality indicates otherwise. However, enough to do the job and enough to do the job WELL are different matters, too.
So, what does one actually get from the .410, and specifically, from the various Judge guns??
Various .410 buckshot loads fired from a 24" shotgun gave velocities in the mid 1300fps range or a bit higher. This is consistent with larger bore shotguns, and the fact that it is the upper velocity range consistent with good patterning. Driving shot faster generally results in much worse patterns.
Now, figure how much less velocity you will have fired from a 6", or 3" revolver barrel. OR, in the case of the Home Defender, a 13" revolver barrel.
Clearly one would expect the highest velocity from the longest barrel, but, in this case, IS that difference in velocity enough to overcome the handling characteristics of the Home Defender model in use for home defense??
Personal judgement call, for me, its not worth it.
Winchester has a 3" 1/4oz slug load (call it 110gr for ease of comparison) which they advertise as doing 1800fps. One tester I read clocked it from a 24" Mossberg and found it actually faster than advertised, getting 1955fps from their gun. This is nothing to sneeze at, but not what you're going to get from that round fired from a handgun.
Another point is the pattern size & spread. At across the room distances, the pattern may only be the size of the palm of your hand, or even less. And just as one can miss with a single bullet, one can also miss with a pattern that size (especially if its only 3 balls of buckshot). The idea that because it is a shotgun one doesn't need to aim is widely believed by the ignorant and under informed public, but its not true, and neve has been true. You DO need to aim, or you can't count on the results.
These factors, along with others are why I feel that advertising the .410 as a good defensive round are misleading marketing hype.
Still use it once in a while, too.