Taurus Judge
 

I recently had to test fire a Taurus Judge Public Defender for a customer of my dad's. He said the hammer was too hard for him to cock and wanted the hammer spring and trigger lightened. The fact it has a hammer spur is I think a pretty clear indicator you're supposed to fire it double action typically, but it's quite easy to cock to single action if you pull the trigger a little first to clear the hammer back some. But anyway I shot some 410 shells through this thing and while the grip was a little too small to hold well, I thought it was pretty nice to shoot and had acceptable recoil. After experiencing it first hand I don't knock it quite as hard as I used to. I think it would actually make a decent CC handgun. The only problem with it is it's very innacurate. It wasn't hitting anything more than 10 yards away. I was using birdshot though, I assume the buckshot rounds would fair a little better, but I doubt the .45 LCs would because of the short barrel. So if you don't need to be a marksman at variable ranges, it's a pretty intimidating little piece for CQB. What do you guys think of it?

I'd rather have a S&W anyday, obviously. The Judge just isn't my cup of tea

I've handled and fired my buddy's Judge. The hammer isn't really hard to cock back. The double action isn't hard either. It's the kick and the weight that gets you

This was the spurred hammer Public Defender model though, with the shorter barrel and shorter grip. That's why he had trouble cocking it to single action, it has nothing to really grip the hammer with.

I've always wanted to shoot one. Maybe when I go to the range w/ my uncle who owns one I'll get to run a cylinder or 2 through it

I always though the Judge would make a good trail gun, can't imagine carrying it for self-defense though.

Since I am a fan of wheelguns it always makes me happy to see a new revolver get made. It makes me even happier when that new revolver is a hit. But having said that I don't really care for it.

I always thought that firing something like that would break your wrist if you weren't careful. And how legal is it? Should it technically be considered a sawed off shotgun?

It's classified as a handgun, so it doesn't need to comply with rifle or shotgun requirements. The cartridge it fires doesn't always have to do with what it is and therefore what it has to be.

It's a nifty concept, but I personally have no use or want for it, as it's niche is fairly small (snake gun, trail gun, and those can be better served by other guns too). I doubt anyone would carry this thing concealed over a regular revolver or automatic. It's good to hear you've fired one and have some good things to say about it though, and to hear from you at all, GM!

Nah, it's recoil isn't that bad really. A little stout but I've shot way worse pistol calibers.