2 1/2" Barrel
http://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-t ... x-o-truth/Lessons learned:
Jack bought this pistol for snakes and it looks like a fine tool for that job.
Birdshot, in any gauge, is for little birds.
Buckshot out of a .410 does not penetrate enough to be an effective personal defense load.
The rifled slug was also a disappointment and did not have enough weight or power or penetration to be effective as a defense load.
The .45 Long Colt loads had plenty of penetration and would be the preferred defense load for this pistol.
It’s fun to bust clays with this pistol.
3" Barrel
http://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-t ... revisited/Lessons learned:
The 3 inch .410 shells did slightly better than the 2 ½ inch shells did. But most of them still failed to make the 12 inch minimum penetration standard. However, a few loads made the minimum penetration standard.
Some of the pellets deviated sharply from their path and left the water jugs.
The longer barrel of the 28 inch shotgun made quite a difference in penetration. It seems that the short 3 inch barrel of the Judge is its main limitation.
Even at 7 yards, the pattern of the Judge is too wide, and will cause some of the load to miss a bad guy. Not only are you responsible for every pellet you send down range, but if they miss him, they do not Stop him.