Taurus 4410 - Home Defense Tactics

[tweaker]

I just ordered mine in Blue w/ the 2.5" barrel. Here is the intended role for the piece:

Replace 12 gauge Remington shotgun as defender of my master bedroom, primarily for my wife while I am out of town each week.

My children's rooms are opposite the square shaped center hallway of our second floor, so penetration through the doors/walls is a concern. I believe that the best defense would be for her to position herself at the top of the stairs with the 4410. The distance for shooting would be less than 10 feet down the 1/2 flight of stairs.

Here is where I would like some suggestions. I have yet to shoot this gun, so I am unfamiliar with both the felt recoil and the shot patterns of either of the available calibers. There are many options (00 Buck, #4) and I don't know what would be the best combination to load the gun in for this role. What are some ideas you fellow friendly firearm freakazoids would choose to load this 5 chamber revolver?

My starting guess would be 2 or 3 #4's and then 3 or 2 .45LC's.

[rantingredneck]

One question I have is can you locate #4 buck in .410? I've never seen any, though I haven't actually looked for it either. I've seen three pellet 000 and five pellet 00 but those are in 3" shells. Doesn't this gun only fire 2.5 inch shells? Providing you can locate the ammo, your plan to stagger the loads seems reasonable.

[tweaker]

It is definitely available, from Natchez SS. #4, 00, and 000, also slugs, but that seems to be both redundant to the .45LC, as well as defeat the benefit of the option of shotgun shell patterning.

[rantingredneck]

Cool. I'll have to look into getting some myself. In that case I think your plan is sound. You may want to consider staggering .45/410/.45....in the cylinder though. Just thinking that if the #4 doesn't have the desired effect after the first shot I'd hate to have to wait two more to get to the .45's.

I agree that slugs won't do you very much good from a rifled barrel and modern .45 colt loads will likely outpeform them anyway. Corbon makes a nice 200 gr. JHP that isn't +P loaded exactly but it's got good velocity - 1100 fps. On par with good .45ACP +P's.

[HuntAndFish]

I talked to the regular clerk behind the gunshop counter yesterday about a 4410 they have it stock. Handled it. Looks like a very nice HD revolver.

[22-rimfire]

I believe the new model 4410 (The Judge as I recall) was designed with a longer cylinder for the 3" 410 shells. The original 4410 is for 2.5" 410 shells only. I would use #4 shot myself. I don't think buck is necessary at the distances involved inside a home.

[The Real Wyatt]

I experimented with various load patterns for my 44-Ten for over a year before I settled on all five chambers loaded with 00 buck.

When my 6.5" bbl model isn't with me in the field or on the range, it lives on my wife's bedside table or close to hand on her computer desk.

Four 33 caliber lead balls at ~950 fps (outta the 6.5" tube) seems like good medicine for any BG. And if four of 'em don't do the trick, there's 16 more good to go.

[markj]

I agree that slugs won't do you very much good from a rifled barrel

I use sabot slugs in my rifled barrel 12 ga, they are made for a rifled barrel and have plenty of power to drop a bad guy. I would think they may be a bit more powerful that the .45 colt. Most have slugs that are 7/8ths of an ounce, lot of lead there.

[rantingredneck]

I use sabot slugs in my rifled barrel 12 ga, they are made for a rifled barrel and have plenty of power to drop a bad guy. I would think they may be a bit more powerful that the .45 colt. Most have slugs that are 7/8ths of an ounce, lot of lead there.

Indeed a 12 ga. 7/8th ounce sabot slug is a lot of lead, however a .410 bore 1/5 oz rifled slug out of a Taurus Tracker Revolver with a rifled barrel would be less than ideal for HD. Since we are talking .410 here and not 12 ga. you're comparing apples to pumpkins. Much better off with a mix of buckshot and 200 gr or heavier .45 colt JHP's out of the platform we are discussing.

[The Real Wyatt]

Do any of you people actually own a 44-Ten?

I feel that all of this is just conjecture.

I've owned a 44-Ten for well over a year now. Slugs exit the tube at ~1550 fps. Quite equivalent to a .357 mag, the most recognized man stopper on the planet. It shoots .45 Colt, a round that has probably killed more men than any other round in existence. It shoots double aught shotshells, four 33 caliber lead balls at ~950 fps (outta my 6.5" stainless model). DO NOT understimate this gun, it is a damn fine defensive weaon.

No bad guy wants to face me when I can launch twenty 33 caliber lead balls in his direction in 'bout 1.5 seconds. Oh, and when the smoke clears ... I will have my Mossberg 500 in my hands ... Look out! Here comes 15 of those 33 caliber balls your way. And another 15, and another 15 and ...

[markj]

a .410 bore 1/5 oz rifled slug out of a Taurus Tracker Revolver with a rifled barrel would be less than ideal for HD.

So how many "grains" would that be? a .45 is up to 330? I would wager the .410 would pack a huge wallop, I have shot slugs out of a .410 into varmints like coyotes and it does the job just fine.

I do not own a taurus pistol of this type but have shot slugs a lot living in Iowa. I kinda like the idea of a .410 pistol

[bubbygator]

I have patterned my .410 O/U with 3", 5-pellet 000 shells - this is a potent HD load. As a matter of opinion, I think HD is about the only valid/reasonable use for the Taurus 4410. Definitely get the "Judge" in SS if you can find it.

[kickshot85]

I currently have one (6 1/2 inch SS) and use it for that exact purpose. We had a number of break-ins in my apartment complex. I replaced my twelve gauge as my main HD weapon with it. At the range it proved to pattern under 4" at around 25-30 feet with #7 shot. It patterns surprisingly well with the 45's I've put through it. I intend to try my hand at some hogs with it come next winter, after a lot more practice. I know there are other threads started on here where a few owners have sounded off about it and they, for the most part, were satisfied in it for this purpose. With the two rounds I've already discussed there is virtually no recoil. My fiance loves to shot this gun. There is a marked increase in the recoil when shooting slugs out of it, though. But still it's less of a recoil than you get with a smaller framed 357. I tend to shoot around a 2" grouping standing up at 25 yards with the slugs, more than accurate enough. I hope that I helped a little but if you have any other specific questions just ask, I will be more than happy to help.

[tweaker]

Thanks for all your help/suggestions/advice. I am very surprised to hear the recoil is so low. I expected it to be nearly as much as my .357. My wife did not like shooting that at all.

[Old Gaffer]

So how many "grains" would that be? a .45 is up to 330? I would wager the .410 would pack a huge wallop, I have shot slugs out of a .410 into varmints like coyotes and it does the job just fine.

1/5th oz - 87.5 grains (7000 gr/lb)

Cheers,
Rob

[tweaker]

Well I just shot the new gun with various loads. I learned that the .410 in either #4 or 000 buck kicks quite a lot, and the .45 LC cowboy or self defense loads kick much less. I was not really surprised by these results. I am used to shooting semi-autos only, so I realize that most any revolver will kick more.
Now I have a problem. My first wife (as I jokingly call her) refuses to use this gun, saying the recoil is too much for her. She wants to continue to use my Beretta 92 FS in 9mm. She is a good shot, so I don't want to really push her into the 4410, but I know how much more effective the revolver is.
I am glad I bought the Taurus, because I will still use it myself, but I am very disappointed that she will not. Does anyone have any advice for me to encourage her with?

[The Real Wyatt]

Get some semi wad cutters in .45 Colt.
Shoot a paper target at 7 yds.
You shoot the .45 Colt semi wad cutter.
She shoots the 9mm.
Shoot one round each.

Then inspect the target.

She'll see a puny little ragged hole made by the 9mm and a monster gaping hole made by the .45 Colt. Pretty convincing. Be sure to use SWC in the .45.

[bigghoss]

taurus just recently introduced a 3" chamber 4410