New For 2023: Taurus Judge Home Defender

The dual cartridge .45 Colt/.410 bore Taurus Judge revolver has proved to be a popular handgun since its introduction in 2006. Taurus has built on that popularity over the years by offering many unique variants of the revolver, from the Raging Judge to the polymer-frame Public Defender Poly. For 2023, Taurus is introducing the latest version of the Judge with the Home Defender.

The Judge Home Defender is a variant of the Judge line-up that uses a 13" barrel and polymer fore-end. Image courtesy of Taurus USA.

The Judge Home Defender shares many of the same features as the other models in the Judge line-up. It is a double-action revolver with a swing-out cylinder chambered for both .45 Colt and .410 bore with a capacity of five cartridges. It uses the 3” .410 bore “Magnum” cylinder length. The action uses a transfer-bar safety mechanism and Taurus’ keyed Security System. It has a rubber grip, and major components are made of alloy steel and finished in matte black. 

The Home Defender uses the same double-action, swing-out cylinder design of the other models in the Judge line-up. Image courtesy of Taurus USA.

The Home Defender differs from other Judge models in its incorporation of a 13" barrel and a fore-end assembly. The fore-end is designed to be used by the support hand. To this end, the Home Defender has a “blast shield,” a steel extension that surrounds the lower edge of the front of the cylinder to contain the gases that escape from the cylinder gap when the revolver is fired, a feature borrowed from the Rossi Circuit Judge.

Taurus touts the superior ballistics provided by the Home Defender’s 13" barrel length. When loaded with a .45 Colt cartridge, the barrel could be expected to provide approximately 15 percent more velocity than the 6.5"-barreled Judge and 50 percent more velocity than the 3"-barreled Judge.

The Home Defender uses a steel “blast shield” at the lower edges of the front of the cylinder to allow the revolver to be fired with a support hand on the fore-end. Image courtesy of Taurus USA.

Taurus markets the Home Defender as a versatile design that can be used for everything from self-defense to hunting. The polymer fore-end has a built-in M1913 Picatinny rail that can be used for accessories like lights, lasers or a bipod. The revolver has an aluminum Picatinny rail mounted on the top strap of the frame for use with optics, and no iron sights are provided. The Judge Home Defender has an overall length of 19.5" and weighs 58.6 ozs. 

The versatile design of the dual cartridge Home Defender is adaptable to many uses, from self-defense to hunting. Image courtesy of Taurus USA.

The Taurus Judge Home Defender has an MSRP of $730. For more information, visit taurususa.com.