A friend brought his "Judge" out for a try out on the farm here in Ky, earlier this year. Here are the results:
With Federal buckshot defense loads, the gun was unable to penetrate 3/4" fence board from a distance of 21 feet. The pattern was a little over 6" in diameter and centered on the sights.
With .45 LC cowboy loads, all cylinders keyholed their bullets at the same range and the group was 6" across.
The gun locked up ok but had a trigger pull that was unbelievable...very heavy and felt like sand had been poured into the works. In my opinion, a woman of normal strength or a guy with similar sized hands would find the double action pull impossible to shoot...so hard that it would pull shots off center mass at combat distances.
The finish was poor, with inadequate polishing...
He spent his cash on a revolver with marginal usefulness in real self defense situations and that money is wasted....he's a retired airline pilot and could have bought a quality weapon but was caught up in the hype of Taurus' advertising.
In this instance, the quality, engineering and usefulness were sub standard. Reports here on this forum regarding their customer support leave much to be disired.
I'd recommend a Colt, a S&W, or a Ruger...buy American...spend the additional dollars and be proud of your choice...you won't have to make excuses for doing it either.
In my own experience, S&W's customer service is superb..two problems with J frame guns, one new and the other nearly 20 yrs old, resulted in quick (less than a week) turnaround times at their expense, including shipping. The people on the other end of the phone line, spoke American English, knew the weapons intimately and were more than ready to fix the problem. First Rate...the other 12 S&W's, 10 Colts, and 8 Rugers in my stable have never been to a gunsmith to fix a problem...never...some are over 70 yrs old.
Forget Taurus, buy an American product and be happy. Rodfac