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New Judge in town?


Cash Duckett

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I just read in the lil blue book about the new Taurus Circuit Judge revolving carbine. Looks pretty sweet to me. I've been thinking about a Judge for the truck. Looks good for "snakes of all types". Who has been shooting these Judges, and how do you like them?

Thanks,

Cash

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I haven't had one show up yet, but... it's a Taurus, and it's a revolver...

 

... and I've sent back far, far more Taurus revolvers for warranty service than any other firearm.

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There have been reports that when birdshot (#7 or 8) is used, it shoots in a bagel pattern, spreading out in a 12 inch circle around the center with nothing hitting dead center.

 

BSD

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I think the Judge is an answer in search of a question. The shot doesn't pattern well, and, in the pistol at least, doesn't get enough velocity to do a decent job. It looks impressive on a paper target, but doesn't get the penetration you'd want for anything serious.

The .45 does okay, but I would tend to think accuracy would be much improved if the bullet didn't have to jump such a big gap when fired.

Were I looking for something like that, I'd probably get a .45 revolving carbine and load the first chamber or two with .45Colt snakeshot.

If I were frequently out in the boonies, I'd probably carry my SKS as a truck gun, though.

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What goes wrong with them?

 

More than once, I've had low use revolvers returned because the cylinders wouldn't lock up - hammer down, hammer cocked, cylinder freely spins. The indexing stars are small and wear rapidly. Timing is sometimes sufficiently off that they consistently spit lead. Barrel/cylinder gaps are often too tight and the cylinder drags on the barrel, or fouls the small gap so rapidly that only a couple cylinders can be fired before having to clean the face of the cylinder. Last week, I had a customer return a Judge that he claimed he didn't have a full 50 round box through yet and the cylinder rod would slide right out of the frame when the crane was opened, dumping the entire assembly on the floor - this one was a double whammy, as it also had the free spin cylinder option. Late last year, a customer came in with a Tracker that he "couldn't hit the side of a barn with... from the inside", as he put it. The first inch of rifling was VERY rough, then there was NO rifling = just rough, chewed up tooling marks for about 3/4", as if the rifling button had spun or something, then good rifling from there to the end of the barrel. It was clear that the rifling at each end didn't line up either. I had a customer a month ago bring back a .454 Raging Bull that he claimed lost its rear sight under recoil and he couldn't find it in the snow. Who knows, but I got it back in about three weeks with a brand new rear sight, free of charge, of course.

 

On the other hand, I've sent back exactly ONE Taurus auto. The customer couldn't get the set screw on the sight loose to drift the sight, and we couldn't either, so, since we are a retail store w/o a gunsmith, I boxed it up and sent it back to Florida. :blush:

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It's not like EVERY Taurus revolver we sell has problems, but they have an inordinately high failure/problem rate requiring warranty service. Many people have NEVER had a problem with their Taurus revolvers, but I'll bet I send back Taurus revolvers at a rate of at least 4:1 over any other brand. If I have time, I'll check my books today and post later.

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Our former farrier's wife used one last spring to dispatch a 35 lb. racoon that was trying to raid her henhouse. She is very protective of her chickens. :)

 

The first three rounds were .410 (shot, but I'm not sure what kind) and the last three Cowboy .45LC. The engagement was at night and began with the 'coon in the rafters of the hen house. It came down with the second .410 hit and she used the rest to complete the mission.

 

Can't say about quality or reliability, but for taking 'coons in a close environment it worked just fine. :)

 

SQQ

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+1 on the SKS.

 

I've got a small Taurus semi auto in .22. It's a great little pocket gun, but it looks like the metal may not be the hardest in the world. I've probably fired about 500 rds through it with no problems, but I don't know how long it would last if I shot it all the time. Can't speak to their revolver reliability.

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It's not like EVERY Taurus revolver we sell has problems, but they have an inordinately high failure/problem rate requiring warranty service. Many people have NEVER had a problem with their Taurus revolvers, but I'll bet I send back Taurus revolvers at a rate of at least 4:1 over any other brand. If I have time, I'll check my books today and post later.

 

 

It may be that newer Tauri revolvers are not so good. I have an older M-94,(.22lr, nine shot, j frame), that is a great little gun. I carried a M-85 .38 for my CCW for years, and don't hesitate to carry it now. I got that one because I liked my wife's so much.

A friend of mine has a Raging Bull in .454 that is great, and for ammo commonality, he has a M-450,(K frame, .45 Colt snubby) as his CCW.

Never had a bit of trouble from any of them.

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I have the ultra light judge. Hardly ever shoot it but its my favorite gun.

It sits on the back of my night stand, and a shotgun/ revolver is just what I want

to come to hand when groggy or panicked. My non shooting wife can pick it up and pull trigger,nothing

complicated.

I load it for whatever might come up, like the lady and the raccoon.

 

Pattern of 3, 000 balls is one at point of aim one high right one low left.

It is a close in gun for sure.

truly

s.t.

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I remembered, kind of...

 

... in my "Repairs" book, which records customer owned guns that were returned for warranty service, just a hair shy of 48% were Taurus... so I've returned almost as many Taurus revolvers for service as all other brands combined! There have also been a handful of store-owned guns that have been returned for warranty service as obvious problems manifested themselves right out of the box, but the 48% is still going to be very close, probably varying no more than 2 or 3% one way or the other, even with store owned guns factored in. S&W is my next most returned revolver, followed by Ruger. I didn't find ANY Uberti revolvers in my Repairs log... go figure. :wacko:

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I posted something a while back about needing a small boat gun (kayak) and had narrowed it down to the Judge or the Bond 45/410. I actually carried my Bond 45Colt out on a couple of salt water paddles recently and decided I did not want anymore bulk than it has so dropped the idea of the Judge or even 410 barls on the Bond, Im not bird hunting and guns for snakes is almost always overkill.

I did even consider the Colt Officers Model 45acp but decided that the likelihood of a firefight in the coastal swamps of SC was almost nill, so back to the Bond Derringer. Though extremely unlikely I am usually thinking gators.

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  • 1 month later...

Our former farrier's wife used one last spring to dispatch a 35 lb. racoon that was trying to raid her henhouse. She is very protective of her chickens. :)

 

The first three rounds were .410 (shot, but I'm not sure what kind) and the last three Cowboy .45LC. The engagement was at night and began with the 'coon in the rafters of the hen house. It came down with the second .410 hit and she used the rest to complete the mission.

 

Can't say about quality or reliability, but for taking 'coons in a close environment it worked just fine. :)

 

SQQ

 

Pretty good trick to get 6 shots out of a 5 shot revolver. I have a Taurus 5 shot 45 Colt total titanium in shocking blue I like a lot. 2 inch ported barrel. It's for easy packing and just having on hand to repel boarders, not for lots of shooting.

 

We had a deputy who carried one of those 9mm Taurus clones of a Beretta 92. Until one day at qualifying it disintegrated in his hand, never to function again. He got a Glock next day.

 

I want one of those polymer Judges just because I do. Be a good "get off me" gun. I would think the shorter the barrel the better for pattern purposes.

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Hmmm. I've kinda wanted one for a carry around the farm snake gun, but at the time I was looking at them they were WAY high, like $500!!! Didn't want one that bad. Sure don't wanna pay what one costs if they have that many problems. Not like I'd shoot it a whole lot, but still........

 

Still kicking myself for not buying a .45/410 barrel for my Contender back when you could pick 'em up at gun shows for $100. Same deal, never wanted it that bad. Sure cost more than that now. I always wondered how much I'd carry it anyway, even a 10" Contender is a lot of pistol to tote around for a knockaround gun. Guess I'll stick with my short

Vaquero with .45 snake loads. Never been to impressed with ANY snake loads, even in a big bore, but guess it will do for creepy crawlies. Had one of those SxS Cobra derringers for awhile, but seemed like it never patterned the same place twice in a row, and was miserable to shoot, esp. with 3" shells.

 

JHC

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