410 Revolvers Suck – And I’ll Tell You Why

The Taurus Judge is a gun some love and some cringe at the thought of. It’s certainly a controversial gun, but Taurus sold a ton of them. As an enterprising 21-year-old fresh off his second deployment, I saw one and snatched it up. I still own it, and at the time, I thought it was the bee’s knees. However, as I better educated myself on firearms and shot the thing, I learned a few lessons. Most importantly, I learned that 410 revolvers suck. 

Taurus Judge, 410 revolver

These little fellas can shoot 45 Colt and 410, have rifled barrels, and come in various configurations. The Judge was so popular that it revived 410 ammunition, S&W copied it with the Governor, and specific 410 handgun ammo was even created. Their insane popularity has declined sharply, but millions of these guns are likely still tucked away in gun safes around the country. So why do 410 revolvers suck? 

Low Capacity and Lots of Weight 

The Taurus Judge is a big gun. It has a chamber that is longer than the barrel in some configurations. It’s also a fat bottom girl and is quite hefty while offering only five rounds of your chosen ammo. The lightest weight model is the Public Defender polymer, and it weighs 28 ounces, empty. For comparison, the SIG P365 offers double the ammunition and weighs 23.6 ounces fully loaded. 

Taurus Judge 410 revolver next to Sig Sauer P365 for size comparison.

The ratio of weight to capacity is terrible. I don’t mind carrying only five shots, but I don’t want to carry 28 ounces and have only five shots. Let’s not forget the length of the gun as that affects concealment as much as weight. The shortest Public Defender model is 7.65 inches long, making it longer than a Glock 19

410 Revolvers Throw Terrible Patterns  

Like a shotgun, fan patterns are everything for me. These 410 revolvers throw inconsistent and sometimes unpredictable patterns. My model is a 2.5 inch chambered with the standard barrel, and I never know how the shot is going to pattern, at least with buckshot. The patterns swing left or right, and flyers are frequent. I imagine the rifled barrel doesn’t do wonders for buckshot patterning. 

Taurus Judge 410 revolver pattern at 10 yards.
The pattern covers the whole body at 10 yards….oh and one pellet missed completely.

If you can’t pattern a shotgun consistently, I’d have trouble trusting it for defensive use. I want to know precisely where my loads are going to hit. 

With birdshot, it’s just a big splatter of lead on target. At ranges beyond 10 feet, it’s off a man-sized target, but it’s consistent at the least. 

Most Buckshot Has Weak Penetration 

410 might be a shotshell, but it doesn’t pack the same punch as a 20 or 12-gauge by a lot. The 410 is an anemic cartridge and made even more so from a 410 revolver. Most standard buckshot loads fail to penetrate deep enough to meet FBI standards in ballistic gel. You might be getting three or four pellets, but they aren’t going very deep. 

The 410 revolver was so popular that Federal created specialized handgun loads for the round. They admittedly performed a good deal better than most 410 buckshot loads. They were capable of reaching the standard FBI depth but packed a punch of recoil. Hitting a target with multiple projectiles at the cost of recoil has always been the trade-off with a shotgun. 

Taurus Judge 410 revolver with cylinder open and loaded with different cartridges.

A shotgun should have a stock, which, when combined with proper recoil mitigation techniques, still allows for rapid follow-up shots. 410 Revolvers loaded with these hot handgun rounds tend to drastically slow your ability for a follow-up shot. And don’t forget one-handed shots will be even more compromised. 

As the popularity of 410 revolvers declined, so did these specialized ammunition types. I haven’t seen them in stores for years now, and a cursory glance online shows no available stock. So even the loads they work decently with are gone. 

What About PDX1 410 Loads? 

The PDX1 410 loads were probably one of the cooler 410 revolver ideas. The Winchester PDX1 loads replaced pellets with circular plates. These plates could engage the rifling and pattern much more efficiently. Behind the plates were 12 bbs designed to increase the likelihood of an effective shot. They sound cool, but there are some problems. 

The Winchester PDX1 Defender ammo

First, like most 410 handguns specific ammo, they are seemingly out of production. Second, according to Winchester, they only penetrate 8 to 10 inches into ballistic gel. Third, the recoil they provided made follow up shots difficult. Lastly, the insistence on loading BBs behind the disks increased the chance of a pellet being thrown off target and hitting someone else. 

Bad Breath Range

A shotgun’s range has always been limited, but 410 revolvers are a whole other beast. At 7 yards, you can’t keep a buckshot load entirely on man-sized targets. Your patterns will be ultra-wide, and a pellet is likely to fly past the target. Do you know what happens if that pellet hits an innocent person? 

You will be charged for it, likely go to jail, and then be subject to the rightful wrath of litigation with the injured person or, in the worst case, the deceased person’s family. The PDX1 loads worked great with the disks, but those damn BBs seem to go everywhere. 

Winchester PDX1

This limits a 410 revolvers effective range with 410 to bad-breath range. It’s a belly gun at that point. If you are concealing one of these big beasts, be aware your loads are going everywhere. Are you using it for home defense? Well, unless it’s at near point-blank, you can expect the same thing. 

Poor Accuracy With 45 Colt

The most useful thing about these 410 revolvers is that they can also shoot 45 Colt. The classic Colt round is a proven man stopper with lots of oomph. That’s great, and I wish 45 Colt double-action revolvers were more common.

45 Colt can be used in 410 revolvers

While these 410 revolvers offer acceptable accuracy with 45 Colt, but it’s not great. The 45 Colt has a lot of cylinder to travel down before it hits rifling. This makes it hard to ring out every bit of accuracy from the round. You can create okay groups, but the longer sight radius should give you something a little more precise. 

What Are 410 Revolvers Good For? 

Well, not a whole bunch in the self-defense realm. It’s as effective as a heavy limb or machete for popping off snakes. There could be an argument for a 410 revolver loaded with a round of birdshot for snakes and 45 Colt for everything else when heading into the wilderness. 

PDX1 shotshell - 410 revolver ammo.

Ultimately, the best reason to own a 410 revolver is the reason why they were so popular. They are fun to shoot, especially when mixed with the right reactive type target. Shooting watermelons, soda bottles, and clay pigeons can be a fun day at the range. They don’t offer much utility but seeing a melon explode still brings a smile to my face. 

Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner and a lifelong firearms enthusiast. Now that his days of working a 240B like Charlie Parker on the sax are over he's a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is probably most likely the world's Okayest firearm instructor. He is a simplicisist when it comes to talking about himself in the 3rd person and a self-professed tactical hipster. Hit him up on Instagram, @travis.l.pike, with story ideas.

Sign Up for Newsletter

Let us know what topics you would be interested:

13 thoughts on “410 Revolvers Suck – And I’ll Tell You Why

  1. Agree….jack of all trades, master of none, fun to shoot but not what I would hang my life upon unless it’s all I have,

    1. Love my Judge, it dose what it’s made for. Some said the 410 rounds get stuck. Well if you have the smaller chambered Judge you don’t use 3” 410 shots, they will get stuck in the barrel after firing them.

  2. I like the “bad breath” distance, which seems to be about it, although I once worked with a guy you could identify from about 30 feet.

  3. I bought a Circuit Judge just to have a .45 Colt carbine. It’s not as accurate as my .45 Colt Blackhawk (though not bad at 25 yards) partly because with my long arms the rear sight is further from my eyes with the handgun. 🙂 I’ve hardly put any .410 through it.

    It’s also the strangest-sounding firearm I’ve ever heard.

  4. What a ridiculous article. It assumes that the typical, chosen self defense distance is 10 yds. Evidenced by the picture of the target. Try to justify in court, why you chose to shoot someone from that distance, instead of pursuing other options. I don’t own a .410 pistol, and don’t really care to. But for a carjacking, I’d think that having one of these on my lap while driving. Would be a simple solution to anyone who dared to open the door without my permission.

  5. It does exactly what it was intended to do, kill a snake. With the 45 LC as your last 2 rounds, you can finish off a deer or feral hog. It’s the ideal South Texas hunting side arm.

  6. My biggest issue with Taurus is the got rid of the Taurus 450 after they came out with the Judge. I like the concept of a .45 LC revolver that can take +P loads. I’m ok with the judge it beats 2 shots from a derringer.

  7. “Doesn’t penetrate to self defense standards.”

    What? Literally its like getting hit with four or five.380 rounds per trigger pull. You have no idea what you’re saying. https://youtu.be/256aNCB4AVo?t=190

    I’ve never had a single 000 federal pellet do less than 12 inches in gel, ever and I have 9mm do it all the time.

    The Hornady Triple defense out of the longer barrel handgun delivers more energy as a .357 128gr and 3 wounds with one trigger pull. That means 3 separate wound channels per trigger pull. Doesn’t surprise that a Marine would do 30 seconds of research. And your shot sucks, from 15 yards I can hit everything on target in a 14 inch circle with 000 buck. 25 yards I can hit 90% of the pellets in a man sized target.

  8. I’m a day late and a dollar short….but don’t listen to this guy..was paid to make the gun look bad and probably can’t shoot. I have one and it shoots good . It was not made to carry just home defense and a close range. I can shoot all 45 rounds in quick succession at 10 yards and hit bulls eye every time….410….home defence not for a room full of people or for protection in public. Bad artical…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

© 2024 GunMag Warehouse. All Rights Reserved.
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap