The Taurus Judge Story

by
posted on December 7, 2022
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **

Widely known for its economical semi-automatic pistols and revolvers, Taurus has one revolver line that stood out from the rest and became incredibly popular: the Judge in .410 bore. The concept of a revolver able the chamber shotshells was not pioneered by Taurus, however. Instead, the concept was originally developed by Munitions National Laboratories in the mid 1990s with a revolver called the Thunder, which was very similar in layout to the later Taurus developments. The Thunder did not prove to be successful commercial, though, and the manufacturer went out of business in 1998.

In 2006, Taurus brought the concept of a shotshell-capable revolver back to the market as the Judge .45/.410, able to chamber both .45 Colt and .410 bore. Despite being able to take .410 bore shells in its elongated cylinder, it is still considered a revolver, due to the rifled barrel and .45 Colt chambering. Its release also coincided with the growing popularity of concealed carry in the 2000s, and the Judge garnered attention in this market due to its potent chambering and its comparable size to other revolvers on the market.

However, the amount of popularity that the judge would gain in the self- and home-defense realms caught many in the industry by surprise. When it was first released, Wiley Clapp noted in his American Rifleman review that the first aspect of the judge that caught his attention was not the utility of the Judge, but the novelty of its concept. With its popularity continuing, Taurus made improvements to the design and released subsequent models. The first models could only accept 2 3/4" shot shells, but this was later increased on larger models to fit the more potent 3" shells. Taurus also added recoil mitigation systems under the grip of the larger 3" .410 bore models to make the recoil of the more powerful loads less of a strain on the user.

The success of the Judge line also influenced .410 bore ammunition manufacturers, as new loads were developed with the Judge in mind using a combination of pellets and disks for defensive use. other manufacturers also took note of the success of the concept, like Smith & Wesson, which developed the Governor revolver following a similar concept. Today, the Judge is still manufactured, with several different versions to choose from. To learn more about the Taurus Judge line of revolvers, visit taurususa.com.

To watch complete segments of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, go to americanrifleman.org/artv. For all-new episodes of ARTV, tune in Wednesday nights to Outdoor Channel 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST. 

Latest

375 Holland And Holland Cartridge Web 1
375 Holland And Holland Cartridge Web 1

Powerhouse Pedigree: The .375 H&H Mag. & Its Descendants

The cartridge family dynasty that began with the .375 H&H Mag. is still gaining momentum well over a century later.

Beretta Donates Unreleased Shotgun To Benefit Marine Raider Foundation

Beretta supported the fifth annual NorCal Marine Raider Foundation Fundraiser by donating a one-of-a-kind, unreleased commemorative shotgun for the event’s auction.

KelTec's Big Move To Wyoming

KelTec is the largest gunmaker in the state of Florida, but when the company looked to expand its manufacturing footprint, ultimately, the decision was made to create KelTec West, an entirely new production facility located in Rock Springs, Wyo.

New For 2025: Rossi RS22 Pistol

Rossi USA downsized its RS22 platform in 2025, creating a compact, large-format pistol variant of its popular RS22 semi-automatic rifle.

Handloads: A .32-20 Win. For Small-Game Hunting

The .32-20 Winchester Center Fire gained a fair following after it was introduced in 1882 in the Winchester Model 1873 rifle as a cartridge of modest power and good accuracy for small-game hunting and target shooting.

Rifleman Report: Heirloom Qualities

I’m thankful that we seldom witness the loss of an American Rifleman field editor, but, unfortunately for the entire shooting community, that occurred recently with the passing of combat handgun authority Wiley Clapp.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.