Taurus Judge buckshot ammo test: Federal 410 Handgun 000 vs 4 buck in ballistic gel
Taurus Judge buckshot ammo test: Federal 410 Handgun 000 vs 4 buck in ballistic gel
The Taurus Judge can chamber and shoot .410 shotgun shells. Some of them are great performers, some are terrible performers. In this test, I’m going to try out two types of buckshot for the Judges (with 3″ cylinder/chamber): Federal .410 Handgun ammo in two varieties, the 5-pellet 000 buckshot (part #PD413JGE000) and the 9-pellet 4 buckshot (part #PD413JGE4B).
Both of these are 3″ cartridges, and I’m using the Raging Judge Magnum as the test gun. There is nothing “raging” about these shotshells, and nothing unique about them that would require the Raging Judge; I’m just using the Raging Judge because that’s the only .410 revolver I have that has a 3″ chamber. These shells will also work in regular Judges that have 3″ chambers.
This test is different than most of my ammo tests. In this test, I’m not evaluating the performance of one pull of the trigger; instead I’m loading up the whole cylinder and blasting the living tar out of the gel block with every round as quick as I possibly can. The idea is to simulate what you’d probably do if you were faced with a home invader, and I’m trying to determine just how much damage the Judge can do, with each of these loads.
In this testing, it’s obvious that the 000 buck is a far superior load. It literally cut the gel block in half and left over 20 bullets buried deep in the optimal penetration zone (13 to 17.5″ deep). The 4 buck, by comparison, largely missed the target and those pellets that did hit, did comparatively very little damage.
In patterning tests, the 000 buckshot delivered a nice tight group of approximately 2.25″ from a distance of 7 yards. The 4 buck, on the other hand, spread out to almost 15″, meaning that only five of the nine pellets actually landed on the target! Three others were clearly misses, and I never did find where the ninth pellet went — but only five landed on the target.
Note: I’m not making any claims for these videos other than that these are the results I achieved, in my own testing, from the stated pistol(s). I have no intention to make a blanket endorsement or indictment of any product, only to review and report what I found in a given instance. Obviously it is incumbent upon each individual to conduct their own research and make up their own mind about which defensive ammunition is best for their own purposes, in their own firearms. Also keep in mind that individual firearms can be persnickety; my Judge may feed a particular round consistently whereas your Judge might not work as well with those rounds, so — please conduct your own testing before trusting any particular ammo.
The standards I use to judge bullet performance are the standards established at the 1987 and 1993 Wound Ballistics Conferences, and subsequently adopted by the FBI. You can read more on these subjects in my blog articles, including:
Bullet Effectiveness — what’s the big deal about 12″ penetration anyway?
Bullet Size – The Other Major Factor In Bullet Effectiveness
More on Bullet Penetration — and Why We Don’t Use Bones When Testing Ammo in Gel
If you like what you see, subscribe to the channel, and also visit the blog at www.shootingthebull.net.
Sounds like you are
Not familiar with
#4 shot which is meant
For small game like
Squirrel close range
With judge or longer
Range with shotgun
Very popular in west
Virginia
If I was being attacked by multiple parakeets Id use the 4 shot 🙂
No. 4 crowd control. 000 single target. That’s what I see.
That 000 buck did some pretty impressive damage. I use the Hornady Critical Defense 410 Triple Defense 2 1/2 shells in my Taurus Publis Defender. They have a 41 Cal. FTX Slug and 2 35 Cal. Round Balls. They are rated at 204 ft-lb at 750ft/sec. I would very much like to see how these Critical Defence rounds compare to the 000 buckshot in comparison using the ballistic gel.
Would you consider using a Bond arms derringer both 45 long colt and the 000 buck shot? This would be very interesting to see this in ballistics gel!
Agreed! But, I have the 4 buck in my single shot 410, for pests and such. Figured it should work well for that. Got my 12 gauge pump with Hornady Critical Defense 000 buck for home defense. Good review!
000.. THE JUDGE RULES.. Don’t leave home w/o it!!
The 4buck would be better for dispersing a mob, hit 3-4 people with each shot.
I’m disappointed you didn’t list a velocity from the Raging Judge. So hard to get good data from these loads.
I thought the judge was a meme before learning about this ammo
Stop calling them "bullets"
I have enjoyed and shared your 9mm short barrel tests quite a bit. I carry a S&W Governor for walks in the swamps locally. It seems to me, perhaps, you don’t get the point of these firearms. Or maybe I don’t.
I carry with 2 #8 field shot loads for snakes. 2 00 for wild dogs or such. And 2 overloaded 45 Long Colt in 255gr SWCHP for anything I might deem a threat when I move past it.
Why not just use a 12 ga shotgun? The gun is too bulky to carry and if I am at home why limit myself?
I got the hornaday critical defense! Its nice!
Would like to see what the 000 buck does to a car door
Now, if someone would flatten the 000 pellets slightly into cylinders, so the .410 3" shell could hold 6-7 pellets, that would be even better.
8" of penatration, and .22 pellets all through your body, will shut you down! You and your opponent won’t be discussing how cruddy a round it was. Seriously!
Miss you brother …. thanks for all the awesome work on the videos.
that 4 buck patterns very tight in a shotgun with full choke
great video bud. that thing is a monster… I’m a huge fan of the .357 magnum S & W 686 +P (7 shot revolver) for home defense… but you can’t deny the evidence in front of us…. I’m getting one
000. The rifling is the reason it holds tight with triple. And is the reason why 4 buck doesn’t. The 000 is the same diameter as the bore or close enough that it spins. Because they are stacked one behind the other it actually stabilized the pellets much like a rifle does.
if you ever do this again, do it with a few layers of denim.
Thanks you’ve confirmed my suspicion about the 000 buckshot
After you aid i’m going to unload them into the gel as fast as i can, 30 and 54 pellets to see how much damage i can do. I thought, i like this guy, keep up the videos.
No joke indeed! Federal 000 is an awesome home defense option in a long barrel. I have it loaded in my Saiga 410
People can make fun of these all they want, all they need to do is watch this.
I know nothing about guns but want a gun that will stop an intruder not kill him. Am I on the right direction here with these buckshot bullets for a handgun? Do I need to buy a certain type of gun to use buckshot bullets?
This is the best video I’ve seen about the ammo for the judge
Looks like half your #4 went over/ate the top of your block. But what do I know?
I think Federals 000 is the best and would like to find some 2 1/2” for my Bond Arms.
I wonder how the #4 buck would do out of an 18"+ barrel
You know, I have a pretty deep seeded disdain for Taurus, but these results don’t lie. Considering the fact that penetration and hitting vitals is what matters (not muzzle energy) with handguns, that 000 buck round is no joke for civilian self defense. I’m not going to go buy a raging judge, but I’m also not going to poo poo anyone who does. The only issue I see is that most people will use the shorter barreled judges, which likely effects penetration greatly.
#4 buck is great from a smoothbore
Come back to us Shooting the Bull you are needed again. We need a hero.
Distance really drained the gas out of the #4 buck, I’m ordering a case of 000 buck!
What about a (454 casull/45LC/410) Judge , can you get 000 Buckshot with 454 Casull power load?
This 000 round has much less velocity than it’s 2.5" sibling (due to the extra pellet), and I’m concerned about possible underpenetration from a snubnose barrel. I would guess that it will still be devastating and average 12+" gel penetration depth based on the results here and the 18+" penetration of the 2.5" 000 shell out of the Public Defender in the STB410 review of that gun. However, some of the pellets may underpenetrate. It’s a concern to weigh when choosing between them. More penetration or more pellets. So long as they penetrate beyond the FBI minimum, I’d rather have more pellets myself.
There’s is also a 3" four-pellet .40 caliber buckshot NobelSport Law Enforcement load, which just like this Federal is the 3" version of the 2.5" load featured in the previous .410 buckshot test video on this channel. Apparently it’s no longer imported into the US. Bigger shot usually means deeper penetration. If I were an ammunition manufacturer or shotgun handloader with access to such projectiles I’d like to try loading a .410 shell will .40+ caliber discs to maximize the efficient use of space. Over the effective range of a rifled .45/.410 barrel, the probably inferior patterning over distance of the discs compared to round pellets likely wouldn’t be significant.
In my police training I was told what you’re looking for in close shotgun wounds is the "rathole" wound. Looks like the triple aught does it, not the #4. I wonder if the #4 would do any better out of a longer barrel, but I suspect not. Altogether I think we have found a new defensive weapon in the .410 with these updated rounds. When the snowflakes and anti self defense leagues start screaming about these new "murder loads" we’ll have our confirmation
Very useful, applicable, informative video.
What was the barrel length used?
I wonder if Federal used preflatened 000 buckshot if it wouldn’t perform better, in that one or two more pellets could be loaded in 3" shells.
So Much Judge/Governor .410 Drama I made a Rebuttal w TONS OF BALLISTICS DATA from 7 Different Testers of Federal 000 & some top .45 Colt loads, & FIGURED OUT THE TISSUE CRUSH VS 9MM HST! Check it out & Read Data in Description https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b4Ucl0GYKc
How would the 2 1/2 000 buckshot compar to 3 inch???
Show a smoothbore test
That 000 would be horrendous to get hit by
I know this is an old video but i have to say that the 5 pellet buckshot was really impressive
I dont have a judge but am considering it for a fun gun/nightstand gun and am trying to sort through all if the gun video/forum fuddery that comes along with a firearm of such varying opinion
I often carry a .32 acp as a BUG and having 5 .32 weight projectiles at a similar velocity and a comparable diameter with each trigger pull sounds quite attractive. Basically you are shooting 5 .32 acps with each trigger pull and have a grand total of 25 if needed.
The CNS overload of multiple projectiles at once is how a lot of sub guns like the MP5 came to popularity. Ive always thought a shotgun is as close to a burst from a sub gun as the average gun guy/gal can get and having that multiple projectiles with each trigger pull in a handgun is something to consider.
Great video and enjoyable series. Ive often used it as reference when speaking on behalf of the Taurus Judge as ive never owned one.
Just rewatched this. Watch the 6th shot carefully in the slow mo! Watch the pellets. One of the deformed pellets bounces back and forth between the blocks, exits out the crack between, and then slow mo flies back to the left. 😀
It would be interesting to see this test redone using a smooth bore shotgun
Dude. Reshoot it. Fire one to see where it hits. Love your content, but this was off.
Yes, 00 or 000 is better; but #4 is a beast as well IF IT ALL hits. It won’t have the penetration, but the entry wound will be extreme
Very well done