‘A friend of mine’ who went 55 years of his life without one just bought two guns this month.
[And then lost them in a tragic boating accident]
The store owner was happy he was making a ton of money- even expanded his store open hours temporarily.. but he said he was worried about what would happen to his business AFTER
Does anyone here shoot a 410? Is reloading those shells much cheaper? (I know they are very expensive to begin with, for some reason)
How do 410 shotgun shells compare with .45 bullets? (cost wise) the one gun ‘my friend’ bought is made to shoot both.) [I mean if he hadn’t lost them in the tragic boating accident]
Two of the handguns we bought in November were Taurus Judges. Ammo for them is either .45 Colt (a longer-than .45 ACP) or .410 shells.
The 000 buck .410 shells only have 4 pellets in them - BUT they are each slightly larger than the size of a .38 bullet (.36 for the 000 and .357 for the .38).
Range time was awesome - at 25 feet, there were 4 horizontal holes across the center of the target with each shot.
>> How do 410 shotgun shells compare with .45 bullets? (cost wise) the one gun ‘my friend’ bought is made to shoot both.)
Ah, your friend bought himself a Judge. It’s a shame he wasn’t more careful with his new purchase. :-)
I used to have a Judge, too, before it fell off my truck.
.45LC is kinda pricey handgun ammo, and not always easy to find. I did notice that they at least had some on the shelf at my Academy, last time I looked. I have found dirty Mexican .45LC for about .65/shell. Most of the time it’s more than that.
But it’s not just cost, it’s also effectiveness.
While .410 small shot may be cheaper (50 cents) and is useful for some varmints, IMHO the .45LC is a better defense round. If you’re planning to shoot longer than about ten or fifteen feet, anyway. For defense, don’t even THINK about any shot size smaller than #4, and frankly, #4 is too small too. Think buck. Smaller shot just sprays every whichaway shortly after it leaves that little barrel.
Before I lost my judge, I preferred these for defense: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/AMM-860.
Three 000 pellets. Price is okay relative to other .410, if you can find them. And the pattern is tight-ish out to a reasonable distance.
In fact, I keep ...er, *kept* the judge loaded with three of these (first) plus two Hornady JHP .45LC after those.
Your friend may have been tempted to try .410 slugs, but IMHO they aren’t worth their price ($1 each). If you want to throw just one piece o’ hot lead out of the Judge, use .45LC — cheaper, more accurate, and more effective.
The Judge certainly has its flaws (and plenty of detractors to point them out), but all in all I have... er, *had* a lot of fun with mine.
FRegards
What a coincidence.....I lost all of my firearms in a tragic boating incident recently as well.
To compound the tragic loss, I injured my rotator cuff chopping through the ice so I could launch my boat. :))
EODGUY
I have one that shoots both, a Judge.
I have one that shoots both, a Judge.
Ah yes. I lost a similar weapon just recently in an equally tragic boating accident. It was called “The Judge”. Lovely gun. Think I’ll buy some more ammo for it....
just in case I find it some day. Ya just never know. It could happen.
“How do 410 shotgun shells compare with .45 bullets? (cost wise) the one gun ‘my friend’ bought is made to shoot both.) [I mean if he hadn’t lost them in the tragic boating accident]”
Your friend might have been looking at the same gun I have been thinking about. It’s a nice size little hand gun and it uses 45long or 410 ammo.
It’s called the judge public defender. I haven’t ever considered owning a gun either and I am older than your friend. When I went to the local gun store, I told them that I thought a 12 gauge was a perfect weapon for self defense, except that the barrell was too long for the modern hallways.
I told them I wanted it for self defense only, and something that I could use, even though I likely would not have perfect aim for a while, and certainly didn’t want the kick that a 12 gauge would have.
So the judge is what he advised me to get. He didn’t have any in stock, but had some coming in a couple of weeks. I told my Hubby that he still owes me a Christmas present and that is what I want.
However, there would be a background check, and we might not want to get on anybody’s radar. We don’t go boating, so couldn’t use that boating accident excuse.LOL
Look at how far we’ve come since 2013.