Effectiveness
Shot shells in .410 bore are not considered especially effective in personal defense; for instance, there are only three (21⁄2" shell) or five (3" shell) pellets in 000 buckshot, a common defense round; this compared to nine in the more common 12 gauge shell. However as of 2008 Taurus has addressed this concern with the release of the Taurus Judge Magnum Edition which can fire 3" shot shells. The 3" shot shell 000 buckshot version contains 5 pellets, which makes it more effective as a self-defense round.
Federal offers ammo specifically designed for the Judge. The 21⁄2" 000 Buckshot contains 4 pellets. B. Gil Horman, an American Rifleman writer and expert on .410 handguns, has conducted research on the many .410 cartridges available. He hosts a free website devoted not only to the Judge, but to all 410 handguns.
While the Judge's cylinder bore is adequate for higher-powered single-projectile loadings such as the .44 Magnum or .454 Casull, the gun is not designed for the high chamber pressures that these cartridges generate and thus could explode if they are used with it. To prevent this, the cylinder bores are choked to prevent successful chambering of rounds larger in diameter than the .410 shotshell and longer than the .45 Colt.
Taurus introduced the Raging Judge Magnum based on their Raging Bull model to address this issue; the Raging Judge Magnum safely chambers .454 Casull as well as .45 Colt cartidges.
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