S&W Governor - Reasons to love it?

[Meatball357]

Had this thing for 10 years or so; thought it would be all kinds of useful.
Admittedly has its place, being it fires 410's, 45 ACPs, 45 LCs. Mine spends time bedside, in the truck, or camper.
But I struggle with giving it its due respect or range time.

Anybody have any advice for how to love this wheelgun?

[tai95]

Anybody have any advice for how to love this wheelgun?

Squirrel and snake removal. Makes you smile every time.

[Mk42gunner]

My cousin has one of the Taurus Judges. The only use I can see for one is up close snake removal.

Robert

[M-Tecs]

Anybody have any advice for how to love this wheelgun?

Yes, sell it and purchase something that is useful and that you like.

[Targa]

If you have to try that hard to like it, my advice is the same as M-Tecs.

[Cargo]

Keep an eye on Short Lane and buy some chamber adapters for it. I had one for about a year before a buddy talked me out of it. It shot well enough and it's fairly light thanks to the scandium frame. One of my reasons for going to a 10mm/.40 revolver is that I can use large and small primers in the same gun. Same bullet and powder just different case and primer. Right now there is a huge perk to versatile muti cartridge firearms.

The Gov carries great in a Hill People Gear Kit Bag for hiking/camping.

[stubshaft]

Sorry, can't think of a single reason.

[EMC45]

Yes, sell it and purchase something that is useful and that you like.

Beat me to it.

[buckwheatpaul]

Had this thing for 10 years or so; thought it would be all kinds of useful.
Admittedly has its place, being it fires 410's, 45 ACPs, 45 LCs. Mine spends time bedside, in the truck, or camper.
But I struggle with giving it its due respect or range time.

Anybody have any advice for how to love this wheelgun?

I love mine....it rides with me on my tractor; my UTV; and my nightstand....it is perfect for what it is designed for. I cant imagine being without mine as it is a tool as valuable to me around the farm as my tractors and utv!

[rintinglen]

Well I suppose one could argue that it's nice to have possessions uglier than oneself, but other than that, I couldn't think of any reason to be even mildly in like with a Judge or Governor.

[Bent Ramrod]

One specialty use and one only.

If you live in a city apartment with cardboard walls and need something to repel boarders that won’t take out the family across the hall in the process, it’ll do.

I once threw a pop can out ten yards and a friend unloaded his Taurus Judge on it. Got a very impressive dust cloud that obscured the can and rose two or three feet.

As he ejected the .410 shells, I walked over and picked up the can. There was one shot puncture in it. One.

[Win94ae]

Yes, sell it and purchase something that is useful and that you like.

I also agree.

[Meatball357]

Good feedback. Well, that's pretty much my view too.

But I'm not inclined to sell any firearms in this day & age - even if it needs sold.

Probably use Rintinglen's rationale to keep it around....that one hits home!

[higgins]

I like them because I have seen an increase in .45 Colt brass and 2.5" AA shotshell hulls at the range since people starting shooting them.

[kenton]

000 buck shot shoots pretty well from my dad's Taurus Judge. 3, 35 caliber holes in a clover leaf at 10 yards.

[pettypace]

Federal claims their Personal Defense 410 Handgun round will launch four 000 round balls at 850 ft/s. How does that compare to a single Gold Dot from, say, a .38 snubby?

Let's assume equal velocities and that the Gold Dot expands to 0.50". Then the expanded Gold Dot has about the same sectional density as the round ball and should penetrate to about the same depth. The four round balls will have twice the combined cross-sectional area. But the expanded JHP crushes tissue more efficiently. Total wound mass should be about the same -- with maybe a slight advantage for the round balls.

Given a solid center of mass shot, the four round balls have a much greater chance of hitting something "vital." Big advantage for the round balls.

Given a complete miss, the unexpanded Gold Dot has about twice the energy and about twice the sectional density of a .36 caliber round ball. So, the Gold Dot has a much greater chance of penetrating a couple layers of wall board and doing damage on the other side. Another plus for the round balls.

So, maybe the Governor deserves more love as a bedside companion.

[ddixie884]

Every gun has a use. Keep lookin...........

[Texas by God]

I've only fired Judges, their .45 Colt accuracy was lackluster and .410 pattern pathetic. An 18" cylinder Rossi .410 destroyed a can at 20 feet, the Judge barely peppered one. I'd sell the Governor in this market if it was extra to my needs.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Bigslug]

As a prized exhibit in the Museum of How Not to Do Things?

[Earlwb]

Well I think that they are still great self defense guns for close in shooting. I use the special self defense .410 gauge pistol loads in mine. The little Taurus Judge Public Defender actually fits well in the pocket of my painter pants jeans. The S&W Governor works great for an at night next to the bed gun too. The thugs nowadays try running up fast to get the jump on you so you really have very little time to get any gun out to defend yourself and it will be at point blank range too. Besides the .410 special pistol buckshot loads are still quite potent to use for self defense.

[onelight]

Each shot would be similar to 4 hits with 380 ball ammo. Assuming the target is close enough to get all 4 balls on target. So with 5 rounds you get = to 20 shots with your 380 if the target is close enough .
I'm trying to think of a reason :)

[snowwolfe]

Ours is the most used firearm on our property, mainly for snakes. Works great on feral cats, coons, skunks, and opossum's as well. As long as we live in the country it will never be sold.

[onelight]

You guys that live in the country and use them have more practical experience than the rest of us combined .
And I gotta confess I have a bond arms 45/410 I just like it for no practical reason . I don't even carry it for snakes . Just get it out about once a year and shoot 8 or 10 , 410s and put it up for another year.
I was a member at another forum where a member actually used his in a defensive situation at a few feet and it was a DRT to the bad guy , he was struck in the neck with the 00 buck load.

[pettypace]

Here's a quote from Dr. Fackler that I lifted from an old issue of Wound Ballistics Review:

281078

And here's a picture I lifted from a ShootingTheBull video showing one shot from a Judge (five 000 buckshots) fired at 7 yards :

281079

And each of those .36 caliber balls penetrates more than 12" in bare gel.

[Drm50]

Basically a Governor is a dependable Judge. It’s put together a lot better. I have shot Judge, Gov and Circuit Judge, novelties at best. Non of them are accurate with 45 Colt. As far as killing some varmit with shot you have to be right on top of it. SD with Buck you are close so effective range would be inside no miss zone for any handgun.
A 410 shotgun is better choice for farm gun. A 44 or 45 with shot caps is better choice for the occasional close range varmit.