The Taurus Judge is the Brazilian manufacturer’s best selling gun, according to the last sales stats I saw. That says a lot, but why? Welcome to my in-depth review of the Judge, focusing on its use cases and how it shoots.

Introduction

Why call it the Judge? Well, the gun started out with the model number 4410. In 2006, a couple of things happened. Executive Vice President Bob Morrison at Taurus found out that some judges in high-crime areas around Miami, Florida were packing the gun for protection. He named it ‘the Judge’ because of that. Additionally, the model number went from 4410 to 4510 to illustrate the gun’s capability of shooting .410 shotshells and .45 Colt cartridges. The two model-numbered-guns are basically the same.

The four Taurus Judge models

Fourteen different Judges. That’s quite a few. I owned a public defender with the 2.5-inch barrel and the polymer frame. It was interesting, to be sure. You always knew when you’d dropped the hammer, especially on a .410 shell. I know a couple of folks who carry a Judge, but I’m not sure that it is best for that task.

Let’s consider some possible uses for the gun.

Why buy a Taurus Judge?

Trail carry gun

Living out like I do, I’m never sure what sort of critter I’m going to run across. With a couple of .410 shells up first and the other three chambers loaded with my .45 Colt handload, I’m good for just about all comers.

If you live in snake country, this gun is a natural.

I remember putting together, some 40 years ago, Speer plastic shotshells hand-filled with whatever shot I could find, usually #7 or #9. I would drag the empty capsule through the shot, filling it. I then popped the cap on the end and loaded it over seven or so grains of Unique (back when that stuff existed in my part of the country).

I put them up in .44 Special cases so I could shoot them out of my Charter Arms Bulldog or Smith and Wesson Model 29, two .44s I had at that time. They made a pleasing little pattern on the paper (little being the operative word).

The Judge is way, way better at doing this than my .44s. If you want a do-it-all type of handgun on your hike, here you go. Will a Taurus Judge kill a bear? Certainly it could. 

Home defense

I could see using this gun, especially the longer-barreled version, in a home defense role. Granted, the .410 is anemic at best when it comes to shotguns but you can’t deny the “handiness factor” that this short gun exhibits. Load some slugs in it for an attention-getter. Again, stoking it with a couple of .410s and three .45s might work well. 

Concealed Carry?

Notice I didn’t mention concealed carry.

This is a personal matter, and you will do what you deem right but for me I don’t believe I’d carry one. I shot mine enough to know that, unless you were at most 5 yards away from the target, the shot dispersed enough to negate effectiveness.

When Taurus was designing the Judge, they experimented with different rifling depths. They wanted rifling that was just deep enough to stabilize a bullet but not so deep that the shot capsule would be spun a great amount, thereby spiraling the shot further apart at the target. So, they settled on the rifling that you see as you look into the Judge’s barrel – like Goldilocks, not too much, not too little. 

If you are going to carry the .45 Colt in the Judge, there are other guns out there better at that. Of the many that are out there, one in particular comes to mind – the Charter Arms Bulldog. Charter Arms specialize in small, concealed-carry revolvers in calibers ranging from .22 LR to .357 Magnum, with .44 Special and .45 Colt in the wings.

Am I totally against carrying a judge? Of course not – there are just better options. But, for a trail gun, it’s very effective.

If you’re in the market for a concealed carry gun and you’re interested in revolvers, I recommend you check out my guide on concealed carry revolvers, which I updated recently.

Plinking at the Range

My friend Ed, who owns this Judge, and I sure had fun shooting it. It is a great gun with which to win sucker bets. If you had frangible targets that were safe to shoot, this is the gun for that task. Just don’t stand back too far away from your target.

Shooting the Taurus Judge

Before we look at specifications and photos, let’s shoot this thing. Following are three targets we shot – one with shotshells and two with .45 Colt cartridges.

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Shotshell Target (5 yards)

Notice the wad in the center of the cardboard and the bullet-sized holes to its left – we shot not only plain shotshells but also Winchester PDX1 Defender rounds with lead discs. These would do some damage. We did not try to pattern the shot – that’s not what this is about. We shot probably five shells total, 3 shot shells and two Defender loads. The range was about 5 yards – the furthest away I’d care to be if I had to shoot anything from a rattler to a varmint (two-legged or otherwise) with shotshells. The .45 Colt was good to about 15 yards, then the short barrel’s lack of sight radius limited accuracy. 

.45 Colt Targets (15 yards)

Not bad, for 15 yards. These would definitely work. Some shooters are not too convinced that single bullet loads in a Judge will be that accurate, since the chamber is cut for either 2.5- or 3-inch .410 shotshells and the “jump” from the cartridge case mouth to where the rifling starts doesn’t help accuracy. Well, these targets are not bad at all so I think I’ll put that one to rest as far as I’m concerned.

It would take experimentation, for sure, but I could almost see hunting deer-sized game with the 6.5-inch Judge, depending upon the individual guns’ accuracy. If this Judge is any indication, the 6.5-inch-barreled model, with the right loads, might make a decent 50-75 yard deer gun.

I’ve shot deer with other .45 Colt guns and the cartridge does a number on them. Plus, stick some .410 loads in your pocket for the walk back home or to the truck and you’d be ready for that bunny that pops up from the tree row or that squirrel that just would not shut up while you were trying to be stealthy – sounds like fun!

Taurus Judge specs

I will show specs from the Taurus website for a three-inch Judge. All Judges are 5-shot, except for the Raging Judge which is 6. The 2.5-inch and the 6.5-inch models will have different weights and overall lengths.

The trigger was very decent in both Single Action and Double Action modes – not much creep or take-up. We didn’t measure it but it was sufficient for the purpose. The gun was well-balanced, which helped. All in all, it was fun to shoot.

Conclusion

If you are in the market for a trail gun that would be as effective on snakes as it would be on predators or varmints with legs, you might want to give the Judge a look. The only competition for this gun as I see it would be the Smith & Wesson Governor – a very nice stainless .410 that has a 2.5-inch barrel and holds six shots. It includes moon clips for .45 ACP, so you have that available to you, as well.

The price of the Governor with a regular, ramped front sight is $825, and you can add $60 more for a night sight. I have a friend who has one and he likes it. 

But, if you are on a budget and still want a gun like this, the Taurus is available in several versions as explained above. Having owned one, I can vouch for it. Plus, now that Ed’s gun has a new front sight, he’ll be shooting his a lot, or so I would imagine. For a trail gun or something to hang on your belt as you go check your fence line, it can’t be beat. As always, keep ‘em in the black and stay safe!

If Taurus revolvers are your thing, you may also enjoy my full review of the Taurus 692, which is one excellent gun.