Taurus Judge - I'm surprised!

[Doggy Daddy]

It's not really a good idea to reuse, but I do indeed melt it down and use it for other purposes. :)

OMGpleaseIdontwannaknow!!!   

DD

[PTK]

...because using old ballistic gelatin for knife testing is so horrible?

[Doggy Daddy]

...because using old ballistic gelatin for knife testing is so horrible?

... and that's a euphemism for what?

DD

[PTK]

[PTK]

Seven yards, with one layer of heavy Denim, and I will concede. Not otherwise.

For giggles, what caliber, barrel length, and loading do you use for SD? I'd like to see what they do under similar conditions (the Federal 000 buck load and your preferred carry load out of a similar barrel length if I can)

[kgbsquirrel]

.... and the performance isn't that impressive.

*sputters drink* Wait, what? Achieving 15 inches minimum penetration with four .36 caliber projectiles all at once isn't that impressive?

...... *thinks a moment*

Okay, I know I'm taking a few steps down on the argument pyramid by addressing the authority of a speaker rather than the substance of their 'argument', but I'm going to do it anyways as said 'argument' has failed to present any supporting evidence itself in its address to the substantial supporting evidence that it purports to rebut.

De Selby, have you ever actually shot the Judge yourself, or conducted any sort of reasonably professional testing regarding the lethality of any sort of ammunition before that would give credence to the claim that the above ammunition performance would be considered mediocre? In short I want to know if your position is arrived at through reasoned deduction (and see the logical process there-of with empirical evidence supporting) or if it's merely emotional or instinctual (you feel the Judge sucks, or someone told you that it does and their statement seems right).

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

http://mcb-homis.com/judge/

http://www.survivalreviews.com/index.php/reviews/reviewsguns/154-taurus

[De Selby]

KGB, it's pretty simple - there are lots of platforms (of more handy shape & size) that can deliver four equal or larger holes just as easily.  Most of those will even make expanding projectiles available.  They also give several times the range. That's why I'm not going to buy a judge to try, even on the off chance I get a magic judge that vastly outperforms all the others.

All that's needed to get there is common sense - a compact model glock delivers better concealability, just as many holes (with bigger projectiles), and longer range.

Then there's also the issue of all the bad reviews out there.

You might want to consider that I'm not the only one here who came to this conclusion about the gun too.

[Matthew Carberry]

...because using old ballistic gelatin for knife testing is so horrible?

How do you do test knives with gelatin, isn't it kinda soft?

I'm in "non-snark" mode BTW.

[PTK]

It is indeed softer than I'd like, yes, but... meat is more expensive, the gelatin does well enough to get an idea how the knife will perform, and there's really no other use for it. :)

[Matthew Carberry]

It is indeed softer than I'd like, yes, but... meat is more expensive, the gelatin does well enough to get an idea how the knife will perform, and there's really no other use for it. :)

There's always room for Jello. 

So stuff like Janich does on Best Defense?  That makes sense.

[PTK]

I have no idea who Janich is, or what she does on Best Defense. Sorry. :)

[Matthew Carberry]

I have no idea who Janich is, or what she does on Best Defense. Sorry. :)

She's the male pattern baldest knife instructor on tv is who. 

Seriously, what sort of testing do you do?

[PTK]

Ah, I didn't know who he was. Anyway, I just do slashing, stabbing tests, usually with old bones and such put in the mold at various points, too, just for laughs. Most impressive so far was the little 12" overall khukuri that went through the 9" tall block, bones and all, and then stuck in the scrap wood table underneath. About an inch and a half in, too.

[Matthew Carberry]

Good deal.

You'd probably appreciate his knife stuff.  He's an (insert any number of Filipino arts here) instructor who has an integrated basic HTH technique that integrates a blade easily.

Uses meat on sticks with cloths on it to show how to execute real disabling "stab and rake" strikes to immobilize arms and take out legs via muscle/tendon distruction so you can get away.

He's on my list of guys to train with.

[mtnbkr]

I don't quite get all the hate and adoration the Judge inspires.  It doesn't strike me as a better SD gun than other options, but so what?  Not all guns have to be used strictly for SD.  I just dropped of a vintage S&W 32-20 at Alphaprecision for a rebuild.  Of my collection, that gun is one of the less useful guns, but I still like it. 

As a snake gun, I'm sure it'll do the job, but I killed a 4' rattlesnake from a few feet away with 38special snake shot.  One shot nearly took its head off.  If he had been backed up by a large predator, I still had 5 shots of 180gr XTP at 1300fps to launch.

It doesn't fill a niche for me, but I'm sure one could have fun with it.  At the end of the day, if a gun isn't "fun", I won't buy it anyway, regardless of its abilities.  For every "business" shot I take, I fire hundreds of rounds for "fun".

Chris

[Jamisjockey]

Yep. I fall much in the same camp for the judge as Chris.  I don't get it, but the deep rooted bashing is a head scratcher, too.  Not a fan, wouldn't buy one for myself or recommend it to someone who asks me what they should look at.  Wouldn't want to be on the business end of one, either.
The consistient bashing thats going on here is starting to grate on my nerves, though.  Once you say your piece against it, we heard you.
Enough already.

[Tuco]

Shotshells?
Pistol?
Meet me at station 7.

My dad fell for the eleventybillion dollar marketing campaign.
Imagine Taurus investing the same in QA/QC.

I hold no real opinion on his choice - His coin, he can do what he wants with it.
He's got Beretta semis, several S&W and Colt wheelguns, heck he may even have a 1911 somewhere in there,
but after a while the Judge was retired and replaced with a Ruger .357 for carry.

One day while tuning my frankenAR at the sand pit, he approached me with it. 
Like a doper grinning on the corner outside the liquor store on Saturday night -
"Wanna try a hit?  It's fun."

I followed my gut and turned it down.
I just have no desire to drop the hammer on a Judge.
 
Like a ++++P+P+P+ loaded, 1 7/8" titanium .44 magnum- No desire whatsoever. 

[kgbsquirrel]

...

One day while tuning my frankenAR at the sand pit, he approached me with it. 
Like a doper grinning on the corner outside the liquor store on Saturday night -
"Wanna try a hit?  It's fun."

I followed my gut and turned it down.
I just have no desire to drop the hammer on a Judge.
 
Like a ++++P+P+P+ loaded, 1 7/8" titanium .44 magnum- No desire whatsoever. 

C'mon, the first loading is free......   

[White Horseradish]

My dad got me to try his Judge. I didn't hate it, but wasn't particularly impressed, either. I like my .44 Special Bulldog better.

[PTK]

Seven yards, with one layer of heavy Denim, and I will concede. Not otherwise.

For giggles, what caliber, barrel length, and loading do you use for SD? I'd like to see what they do under similar conditions (the Federal 000 buck load and your preferred carry load out of a similar barrel length if I can)

Bueller? Bueller?

Seriously, though - I'd like to compare what you carry for SD to the Judge.



Also, car maintenance among other things, gel testing is delayed but still planned for the coming days/week. :)

[Perd Hapley]

A friend of mine just bought the Public Defender, and fired it for the first time last night. He called me, all giddy-like, and said it was such fun to shoot and I had to try it. Then he said he had just purchased an NIB Browning 12 gauge over-under. I'm eager to try them both.

[roo_ster]

One of CSD's links noted something a lot of other reviews have also noted: 00/000 buck getting squashed down to flat ~.452" disks. 

[roo_ster]

One of CSD's links noted something a lot of other reviews have also noted: 00/000 buck getting squashed down to flat ~.452" disks. 

Let me elaborate:
They are getting squashed before they leave the bbl.  CSD's link is the first I saw where they squashed to the point where they swaged the rifling in the rim of the disks.

[PTK]

Yep, those aren't hard enough. The Federal loads don't flatten. :)