410 Shotshells for your Taurus Judge

[ClemBert]

There's been some confusion as to the specifics of Federal's "Personal Defense" .410 Handgun shells that uses 4 shot. Some folks falsely assumed that "4 shot" surely means #4 buck. I took the following picture to take the mystery out of what is in several types of shotshells including the Federal Personal Defense rounds.

As you can see the Federal shotshells are 2 1/2" cartridges containing copper coated pellets. The "4 shot" version contains 7/16th ounces of #4 "birdshot" not #4 "buckshot". The listed muzzle velocity is 1200 fps for both of the Federal shotshells. The #4 shotshell contains 63 pellets. The 000 buck shotshell contains four 000 buck pullets.

I picked up the Winchester Super X shells for grins as these where the only 3" shells available locally. The steel pellets of the Winchester #4 shot appears to be slightly larger than the Federal #4 shot. This particular cartridge was holding 94 pellets in it's 3" cartridge. The #7.5 shot cartridge contained 220 pellets. Both 3" Winchester cartridges contain 11/16th ounces of shot and have a listed muzzle velocity of 1135 fps.

The #4 shot appears to be more suitable for snake kills whereas the 000 buck would appear to be more useful for 2 legged animals. Personally, I would like to see Federal have a 3" shotshell containing #4 buck and another containing 6 pellets of 000 if they can get it to fit.

 

[Locoweed]

That clears up some confusion. I would add that economy shotshells such as S&B and RIO are to be avoided in the Judge. They are hard to load and even harder to unload after firing. Stick with Winchester, Federal and Remington in your Judge.

 

[bigghoss]

I'm curious about these shells. are they doing anything with the powder loads to tailor them to the judge and other .45/410's, since other shells are designed for full length shotgun barrels, or is it just the copper plated shot?

 

[ClemBert]

I'm curious about these shells. are they doing anything with the powder loads to tailor them to the judge and other .45/410's, since other shells are designed for full length shotgun barrels, or is it just the copper plated shot?

It would appear that Federal designed their Personal Defense 410 shotshells specifically for handguns. Afterall, the box is label ".410 Handgun".

...Speculating that the powder design is such that muzzle velocity can be 1200 fps out of a handgun...

 

[45_Shooter]

..Speculating that the powder design is such that muzzle velocity can be 1200 fps out of a handgun...

All the #4 .410 loads that Winchester lists on their website are in the 1200-1300 FPS range.....from a full shotgun barrel. Notice their 'PDX' .410 handgun loads are the only ones without a velocity listed.

Here's a thread from a few months ago in which one of our mods (JohnKSA) mentions that the Federal ammo is good for about 850 FPS out of the 2.5-3" bbl Judge; not sure where that number came from but it sounds reasonable.

It's about the same energy level as a 9mm or .45 ACP

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=383092

 

[ClemBert]

Personally, I would like to see Federal have a 3" shotshell containing #4 buck and another containing 6 pellets of 000 if they can get it to fit.

Just FYI...noticed my local Walmart had the 3" Personal Defense shotshells in stock so I bought a box of the #4 buck version. The price is $14.97 for the 3" and $12.97 for the 2 1/2" version. So did Federal read my original post or do I have a crystal ball?

 

[kraigwy]

Seems to me the "buckshot" defeats the purpose of the Judge (shotshells in a revolver).

So to see for my self, I shot some out of my wife's judge at the head of a IPSC targets at 15 yards. Too many missed the head. I tried #4 shot and it did pretty good. The #4 shot also ripped through 3/8s plywood indicating they would do the job if called on.

I suppose a compromise would be #2 shot.

I'll stick to #4. The reason she wanted the Judge in the first place was for snakes while horseback. #4 does that, she's proved it a couple times.