tarus the judge snubnose is it good to give girlfrind for homedefense

some butthole broke in on my girls house this weekend luckily she scared them off by screaming she had a gun so they left her unharmed. she wants a hand gun but she has pisspoor aim with the 9 mm lady smith i tried here with same for 40 cal sw sigma i tried her on too. she doenst want a full size shotgun . would the judge by tarus chambered for 410 shotgun shells be a better choice i found her a nice little one in local shop for 480 so itds nice and affordable and i was thinking loading it with bird and buckshot would gurantee a hit if some one comes in on her plus being a shot shell she wouldnt have to worry if she missed killing people next door.

The judge is a great hand gun for home defense .The effective spread on it is like 10-15 feet i think.So you dont have to worry about the shot going through walls and killing your neighbor or someone in another room. If your girlfriend is anything like mine,and will probably never go to the range with you,then I think its a great choice.Point and click,no safety for her to mess with in a panicked situation,no pump,and it wont knock her down or bruise her ,lol. Remington makes a defensive round for it,that is just devastating,remington pdx. But there are plenty of shot types to choose from.It also shoots a .45 Long colt for longer distance shots if you so choose.If you dont mind spending a couple hundred more,you could get the Smith & Wesson Governor. It shoots those same two ammo types as the judge,but can also shoot a .45 acp which is a little cheaper than that .45lc But hey its for home defense,so you may not even be considering putting anything but shot in it. Judge=good choice for what you want it for IMO.And if you can get her to go to the range with you, or let you take it some time,you will have good fun with it too.

I forgot to mention.Depending on the person that gets hit.Bird shot may just piss them off. On the other hand it could also blind them! Try different types of shot to see what you feel will be most effective in a situation

I take it recoil and punishment with each shot is something she doesn't shy from? My other half eats it up like I've never seen. I've recently been told we're getting her to a range with a .50 for rent. One in Oklahoma, actually.

The Judge is one I thought was really neat to shoot..a little. After a few loads through it..Wow... That hurts! lol.

As long as the recoil won't make her leary, and thus, nervous and inaccurate with shooting it..I'd say it's a great gun. There is just that one thing..and it is a big one. It isn't a gun for the weak or limp wristed (literally..for ouch factor), IMO.

A friend of mine got one, and 3 days later had to use it in home defense. As is a possibility, the guy just got hit a few times and left a blood trail for the police. It's a damn good gun, especially for intimidation.

I think having a weapon that can be fired will act as a great deterrent anyway, if you are broken into you shout "i have a gun" and let a round off then shout "and ived called the police" would be better than sitting quiet or investigating and risking a miss and therefore perhaps have it taken off you acdn used against you.

Get a sportsmans starter pistol even?

Wouldnt want to risk hurting her self either if shes shaking scared and a poor aim anyway. Im just saying, id rather a gun but i know how to use one.

They do a polymer version i think of the judge, might save alot of a weight if thats a problem with her aiming

the nice thing about the Judge 410 45 410 45 410 or 45 45 45 45 45 remember this is long colt not the 45 auto, or 410 410 410 410 410, here is one place to get ammo for the judge in 410 note the slug www.ammunitiontogo.com...

The judge would be a great handgun.

Try the S&W governor as well (.410 shell, .45 ACP, .45 Colt)



Freaking sweet!!

Originally posted by Biigs
I think having a weapon that can be fired will act as a great deterrent anyway, if you are broken into you shout "i have a gun" and let a round off then shout "and ived called the police" would be better than sitting quiet or investigating and risking a miss and therefore perhaps have it taken off you acdn used against you.

Get a sportsmans starter pistol even?

Wouldnt want to risk hurting her self either if shes shaking scared and a poor aim anyway. Im just saying, id rather a gun but i know how to use one.

Oh good lord tell me you're joking. Please tell me you're joking. If I were a burglar who isn't out for a first time try...say I'm a bad guy whose been inside a time or two and really really doesn't want to go back.....?

You're calling out and giving a warning did nothing more than tell me you're awake, you're a problem to deal with and now I know precisely where the problem is standing......while you have NO clue where I am. See the problem here? It's Marco Polo in it's deadly version...and you handed the bad guy a cheat mode.

The only gunshot anyone out to be firing is the one that puts a burglar down. Preferably, a fatal wound that ends the threat on the spot. Warning shots are for Hollywood and reckless people. No offense and I'm sorry if that upsets anyone to say....but someone being hit with a warning shot by accident is just as hurt or killed as someone who you meant to shoot.

Additionally... lets get back to that bad guy example. After you told me exactly where you are with the shouted warning....Your warning shot went on to both deafen and likely blind you..not me...but you. So now that problem I am faced with dealing with....so I don't go back to prison (remember?) is fixed for location, temporarily flash blinded and partially deaf from the first round fired inside.

I hate to say it....but that sequence of events just gave the bad guy a Christmas present. If he isn't a junkie as scared of you as you are of him...you sealed your own fate and the next word anyone will likely have is the result of the homicide investigation on a burglary gone wrong.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Hey id have the gun every time so would my girl, but she can shoot so im not bothered.

Just thowing some counter aurguments in for a good debate on it, esp since the shouting worked before!

reply to post by proteus33


To hell with birdshot brother, get .00 buck. I think the .410 shell that would fit The Judge has three projectiles in it, and it will definitely put a hurting on someone's day. Just for fun, I'd alternate the .00 shotgun shells with .45 hollow points; that's rule number four in the Zombie Apocalypse - Double Tap.



Seriously though, in addition to being very intimidating, The Judge is a fine choice for self-defense. I've been thinking about buying one myself. I'm a firm believer in the old adage, "Never pull a gun on someone unless you are prepared to pull the trigger, and never pull the trigger unless you are trying to kill someone." Shooting to wound is dangerous on a number of different levels; if you absolutely have to shoot someone to save your life or the life of another, always shoot to kill.

reply to post by Biigs

Indeed... Just tossing out one of my own on that whole warning/warning shot thing. As it happened, that was one of the most contentious points of discussion and debate for my CCW class. I'd imagine it is for many where it comes up.

At least in this state warnings aren't required and again, at least here, warning shots were presented as a step that could lead a perfectly legal situation in every other respect to a prosecution on that one act. Kinda like the New Hampshire guy recently in the news for the same thing.

Oh well... I'm sure we all just hope we never find the situation in real life to see how things play out.

Originally posted by Bodaciouschief
I forgot to mention.Depending on the person that gets hit.Bird shot may just piss them off. On the other hand it could also blind them! Try different types of shot to see what you feel will be most effective in a situation

Bird shot is too nice. Try double 00 buck. Actually, there is an expensive round that has a slug on the top and about nine buckshot below. I saw them at Dick's. Not available at my local Wally World.

Originally posted by proteus33would the judge by tarus chambered for 410 shotgun shells be a better choice i found her a nice little one in local shop for 480 so itds nice and affordable and i was thinking loading it with bird and buckshot would gurantee a hit if some one comes in on her plus being a shot shell she wouldnt have to worry if she missed killing people next door.

Fine choice; however, I'd personally load it with 410 ga. 2 1/2" Supreme Elite™ PDX1 410.

I have these in my 14 year old daughter's pink 410 (she named it Flo) by her bedroom door. We live in the country and while we don't leave her home alone often sometimes it can't be avoided. Here 911 is a joke the response could be as much as 30-45 minutes depending on the location of the one (yea 1) deputy on duty.

Her instructions should the bad guy make it past the dogs she is to stay upstairs and cover the choke point and let all 5 rounds fly center mass if he advances.

Those disks in there will rip a person up, did a neat job on this watermelon anyway...

reply to post by proteus33

Ok I a m a girl and I have looked into the Judge and read all the pros and cons and I decided it wasn't a good pick for the following reasons.
Spread....I could accidentally hurt someone else with the spread. I have lots of kids and you never know what the situation is.
Power...if you had a very aggressive assailant it may just piss them off and not really incapacitate them.

I have read shot is hard to find.

I think weapons training and regular practice with a more accurate gun would be better. IMO

Ditto on the Governor

reply to post by proteus33


as long as you dont live in ca you can get a judge or the newer govenor which can shoot .410,45lc and evidently 45acp with moon clips www.smith-wesson.com... cheaperthandirt.com...

for home defense its not to bad if she gets practice with it it could be easy for her to get the hang of but her hand side might be a factor but hey 3 ammo choices is nice in a hand gun so as long as its legal in your area you should be golden but see if she can test fire it first as they can be a bit pricey

reply to post by outandopen

My "better half" is not fond of large handguns. She has a S&W .380 and she has clamed my .410 shotgun. The oo buckshot has four large lead or steel shot. So the spread, not too much of a problem. The main thing is use what you feel comfortable with. She goes with me to the range and has a "blast" with these two weapons. My .44 Mag, not for her..

reply to post by proteus33


If she has trouble with the smaller pistols, the Judge will not solve the problem. If you like .410, you can get the SPECIAL PURPOSE SHOTGUN - 500® hs410™ HOME SECURITY 6 SHOT 50359 .410 SPREADER CHOKE or the pistol gripped version in .410 or 20 gauge 50452 and 50455 see: www.mossberg.com...

reply to post by proteus33


Someone else mentioned it earlier but I'll reenforce it, you should really consider the Smith & Wesson Governor.

The Judge is a fine range toy but I've had mixed experiences with it myself. I had to send mine back to the Taurus factory twice because of timing issues with the cylinder that rendered the firearm useless, each time Taurus covered the repairs for free but I wouldn't trust my life to it. Another issue I noticed is that many personal defense .410 rounds become stuck in the cylinder after firing and can only be removed after the shell has had time to cool and shrink back down to size, usually taking 5 to 10 minutes. This isn't the first time I've had quality control issues with Taurus firearms either, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt but so far they've been hit and miss for me.

The Governor, although I don't own one yet, has got me wanting to trade in my Judge the first moment my gunstore gets one in. Fit and finish are superb, as they are with every S&W I've handled, and the cost is not much more than the comparable Judge.

For that added cost you get the ability to not only shoot .410 and .45LC, but also the popular home defense round, .45ACP. On top of that, the cylinder holds not 5 rounds, but 6. This is important because now the shooter is able to use .45ACP speed loaders, which drastically improves reloading speed in the hands of an experienced shooter to that of a semi-auto pistol, something you're unable to do with the Judge.

It's important to remember that these jack-of-all-trades pistols may be able to accomplish much but they excel at nothing. They won't be nearly as accurate as caliber specific pistols because of generous chamber dimensions and rifling and can be fairly cumbersome compared to many other carry pistols.

These are just my personal experiences and opinions, at the end of the day it comes down to your own preferences and judgements.

i just want something she can aim at bedroom door so if guy tries to come in she can kick him back out , intruder made it to her locked bedroom door last time.