45's in a Judge

[steg]

I know that I'm grasping at straws here, but does anyone have any ideas for a longer case than the 45 Colt, the reason I'm asking is because of the extremely long jump the boolit has to make before engaging the rifeling in a Judge. I picked up a box of condoms, LOL, but I didn't get to try them yet, maybe it won't matter all that much............steg

[swamp]

How about the 454 Casull?

swamp

[Johnch]

The Judge I looked at (earlyest model)
Had a ...sort of a step in the chamber to prevent chambering of a 454 or 460 case

And when I looked at the rifleing
It apeared to be super slow , as to not mess up the shot patterns
We never could get it to group either jacketed or cast well past 25 yds

After that everything started to tumble

Good luck

John

[skeettx]

Hello All
Give this a try in a 45 Colt case, a SOFT 454 diameter bullet. Will take the old Lyman 45 colt diameter moulds. Cast it soft.
Let me know how this works in your gun.
Mike

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I don't think it will matter much to the judge, it is a short range defense gun, so it is much different compared to a 100+ yard hand gun in tollerances . . .

[nicholst55]

Either the .454 Casull as stated above, or the .460 S&W are what I'd be looking at. Not sure it's really going to matter, but it might be worth a try.

[SciFiJim]

Would brass .410 shotgun shells work?
a link:
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,4673.html

[KCSO]

Nope the rifling is too slow to do a good job with bullets. Best we could get was 4-6 inches at 25 yards, usually 3 together somewhat and 2 off a ways.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

A friend has one of these guns. To my knowledge you can not chamber a 454 or 460 for as mentioned above there is sort of a “step” or slight bottle like neck to the chambers. As to using 410 brass and slugs I believe this would be even worse seeing as a 410 slug is even smaller in diameter. I would try the dead soft lead with an over sized slug idea. Keep in mind these guns were designed to shoot 410s, the 45colt and rifling were sort of an after thought just to keep things legal, so I would not expect great accuracy from a gun like this.

[thenaaks]

Nope the rifling is too slow to do a good job with bullets. Best we could get was 4-6 inches at 25 yards, usually 3 together somewhat and 2 off a ways.

that's about all the judge was designed to do...maybe better!
i've got a 2" snubbie 38 that i would be tickled to get 4-6 inch groups at 25 yds with!

[Old Goat Keeper]

I have one of the early Judges chambered for the 2.5" 410. Yes there IS a ridge in the cylinders BUT I CAN chamber 454 Casull rounds. I would NEVER fire one in it for strength concerns! I wonder if Taurus knows of this? BTW, they now make a Judge whick can handle 454 Casull ammo IF you can handle it! lol Wonder if the 460 is next?

Tom

[AZ-Stew]

The latest issue of "Handloader" has an article at the very beginning of the magazine by Dave Scovill regarding The Judge. Best results with .45 Colt used either the WW or Rem factory hollow-based bullet. The buckshot loads were also tested, but not the latest .410 loads made specifically for The Judge.

Regards,

Stew

[cbrick]

As was mentioned, the only reason the Judge is billed as a 45 Colt is to keep from running afoul of the law. It takes only minimal inspection of the dimensions, chamber, throat, forcing cone and verrrrrrry looooong leade and short shallow rifling (2 inch barrel) to understand that this is strictly a defensive up close and personal firearm for shot (or very close range with the Colt).

I use the Judge strictly as snake control (legless variety). I use Magtech .410 brass shells exclusively for hand loads. Testing various shot sizes and powder charges at various distances I came up with 220 gr #6 shot and 14 gr of LilGun for best patterns at 7 feet, Fed #150 primer. About 1/2 the shot will penetrate through a 1 gallon milk jug filled with water at this distance or closer and the pattern will cover most of the jug. Smaller diameter shot doesn't have the weight/momentum for penetration and larger shot doesn't give enough pellets for a good pattern. Since I use it for legless snakes I pretty much abandoned the idea of using it as a 45 Colt. For two legged snakes the Colt in the Judge would certainly work as an up close and personal firearm. I did no testing with either slugs or 45 boolits but I doubt there would be much if any accuracy at any distance.

I use a cardboard wad (home made) over the powder, then a Federal plastic wad holding the shot, then another cardboard wad held in place with just a couple of drops of super glue, one drop on each side. It doesn't need a crimp, doesn't need sizing the brass either before or after firing. Fired .410 brass shells fireform to a very distinctive hour glass shape.

I also tested Federals handgun 410 factory shot loads for both pattern and penetration and found them to be very anemic.

Hope this helps.

Rick