Is a used Taurus Poly Public Defender worth it?

[Cheapshooter]

My Judge is the 2 1/2" chambered, 2 1 /2" barreled , polymer framed Public Defender Poly. With the original Gripper grips it wasn't bad at all. But I can see someone who is recoil shy would have a different opinion. I replaced the small Grippers with Pachmayr Diamond Pro grips which gave it a much fuller feel.
For my purpose as a "truck gun" I do have it loaded with a combination of Federal Premium Handgun 000 buck and Winchester PDX1 225 gr. 45 Colt. First three up, buckshot. Followed by two rounds of 45 Colt if there still exists a threat at further than at my window distance.
Yes, premium ammo in both 45 Colt and 410 is quite pricey. But although still a lot higher than 12 or 20, you can get some birdshot for fun and practice for less than 50¢ per round.

[Prof Young]

I have a poly public defender. (Used to have all metal. Mistake to sell it.) Anyway given where I live (rural town right across the street from the police station) it's my choice for my HD gun. It runs just fine, but was a little stiff before break in. It does have some recoil but it's not out of control. I take it to the range and shoot 45 colt at close range. While it's in the home (quick access) safe it's loaded with a variety of the specialty handgun 410 ammo. First two chambers are disks and smaller shot. Next two are larger buck shot. Final chamber is a slug on top of buck shot.

Life is good.
Prof Young

[ThomasT]

I reload .45 Colt and have thought about doing .410 if I bought a Judge. Would be interesting for sure.

I reload 410 shells because of the silly price they want for them. I made my own 410 reloader set up. I use a Mec resized die to resize the base. I thought I was a genius when I made my own reloader set up. That is until I ran across this site. They are doing the same thing I am doing almost exactly except they use a Mec crimp folder to refold the case and I use a roll crimp on my cases.

I don't shoot enough 410 to merit the cost of a $150+ Mec reloader. So this makes all the rounds I need and they ever it as well as the factory loads.

http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.co...ding-kit/60500

[franco45]

I traded into a used Poly Public Defender. I have no illusions of ever carrying it for self defense. I don't even use it for hd. I will be taking it with me when I travel both as a car gun and sometimes woods carry gun. I too added the Pachmayr Diamond Pro grips. I bought a Fobus owb paddle holster for the occasional woods carry I mentioned.

[zxcvbob]

Originally Posted by Cheapshooter

When it comes to the Judge, if it had been introduced by a company approved by the American Society of Gun Snobbery like S&W or Ruger it would have been heralded as one of the greatest innovations in firearms design in the 21st century!

Some people bought a new Taurus (thinking they couldn't possibly screw up a 150 year old design SA revolver) only to get a lemon, and when they called Taurus to get it repaired under warranty, Taurus hung up on them. So FU about the snobbery.

[Cheapshooter]

You have documented proof of either of your internet rumor claims.
Warranty repairs mught take more time than some people think they should, but Taurus probably sells more guns worldwide than anybody. So they have an equally greater number of warranty claims. I have never heard that they hung up on any callers. Only that a call to CS may take some time. Again, a lot of volume.

[Bill DeShivs]

S&W DID jump on the .410 revolver bandwagon very quickly.

[TruthTellers]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

S&W DID jump on the .410 revolver bandwagon very quickly.

They wanted market share and it's easy to get market share when you're S&W and the only other brand in competition is... Taurus.

The Governor has been around for 7 years, but S&W haven't added any new models of it since. No smaller Public Defender like model, no long barrel model, no 3 inch chambered model. At least Taurus kept building on the Judge platform.

[zxcvbob]

They hung on me when I called because my brand new .357 Gaucho (single action army revolver) didn't work. I don't recall exactly what the issue was; it was caused by a faulty base pin. I think it would jam after 2 or 3 shots. I repaired the gun myself (bought a replacement part for a Colt and filed it down to fit) but I don't trust now it so I don't shoot it much. I'd sell it, but it's a Taurus and used Taurus are not worth much (I wonder why?)

You had to call them to get a return authorization, and when I tried to do that they wouldn't even talk to me.

So it's just a sample of one, which is not statistically meaningful, but it's a first hand account and it's meaningful to me

[Cheapshooter]

Did you call back?
I have had phone calls dropped when calling all sorts of businesses. Cable companies, other utilities, credit card companies. Customer service call or not. I've lost more than a few personnel calls as well. Be it land line, or cell. How are you so sure that they hung up on you?

[Elkins45]

I wouldn't buy a used Taurus of any model unless it were the only gun for sale and I needed it NOW. Sorry, that's just the truth. Plus, I don't get the appeal of the 45/410 revolver to begin with.

[Cheapshooter]

Just a couple myth defying videos.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yNVXuspaJtE
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDMDd4eAQO0&t=297s

[Cosmodragoon]

Just a couple myth defying videos.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yNVXuspaJtE
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDMDd4eAQO0&t=297s

The size comparison with the semi-auto was questionable because he really downplayed the grip. When it comes to concealed carry, which is the market for both guns in the video, that grip sticking way out could be a big deal. Beyond shrink-wrapping these for a volume measurement, I recommend getting them in your hands for a personal comparison. The semi-auto is a lot smaller!

Comparing it to a semi-auto firing .45acp raises some other issues too. Did he not have a Bulldog available? That would have been better. Comparing the Judge to self-defense weapons in general, it should have been compared with what people carry in general. Heck, why not compare it to compact high-capacity 9mm handguns?

Part 2 was more interesting. Yes, special rounds have been developed for the Judge and those do better. That helps. Is it enough to make it more useful than a high-capacity compact semi-auto (or even a full-sized semi-auto in some cases) that you could probably carry with more ease? When considering the demands of EDC, is it enough to make it more useful than a five or six shot J-frame or LCR?

The reviewer seems to agree with me on concealed carry but somehow concludes that the Public Defender would be a good nightstand gun. I'd agree that it could be. Then again, so could a lot of guns. You could put something like the 15-shot FNX-45 in your nightstand just as easily. Personally, I'd prefer that or many other handgun choices, maybe including the full-sized Judge, over the Public Defender as a nightstand gun.

[TruthTellers]

Originally Posted by Cosmodragoon

The size comparison with the semi-auto was questionable because he really downplayed the grip. When it comes to concealed carry, which is the market for both guns in the video, that grip sticking way out could be a big deal. Beyond shrink-wrapping these for a volume measurement, I recommend getting them in your hands for a personal comparison. The semi-auto is a lot smaller!

Comparing it to a semi-auto firing .45acp raises some other issues too. Did he not have a Bulldog available? That would have been better. Comparing the Judge to self-defense weapons in general, it should have been compared with what people carry in general. Heck, why not compare it to compact high-capacity 9mm handguns?

Part 2 was more interesting. Yes, special rounds have been developed for the Judge and those do better. That helps. Is it enough to make it more useful than a high-capacity compact semi-auto (or even a full-sized semi-auto in some cases) that you could probably carry with more ease? When considering the demands of EDC, is it enough to make it more useful than a five or six shot J-frame or LCR?

The reviewer seems to agree with me on concealed carry but somehow concludes that the Public Defender would be a good nightstand gun. I'd agree that it could be. Then again, so could a lot of guns. You could put something like the 15-shot FNX-45 in your nightstand just as easily. Personally, I'd prefer that or many other handgun choices, maybe including the full-sized Judge, over the Public Defender as a nightstand gun.

Thing is that with a revolver it doesn't have magazines to deal with, so you can keep it loaded for decades without an issue. I've never tried keeping a magazine loaded to full capacity for longer than a couple months, so Idk how a mag would hold up over years.

It's one of the reasons I mostly keep revolvers around the house.

I agree on the CCW aspect vs a J frame/LCR. I don't think the PD shines as a CCW choice, but it can work in the role.

[zxcvbob]

Thing is that with a revolver it doesn't have magazines to deal with, so you can keep it loaded for decades without an issue. I've never tried keeping a magazine loaded to full capacity for longer than a couple months, so Idk how a mag would hold up over years.

It's one of the reasons I mostly keep revolvers around the house.

I agree on the CCW aspect vs a J frame/LCR. I don't think the PD shines as a CCW choice, but it can work in the role.

(I haven't figured out how to do a proper quote when I reply on this new version of the forum software) Loading a magazine to its full capacity and leaving it that way for years should be less stress on the springs than loading and unloading it all the time. *If* the springs are properly made, that should be the least of your worries.

[Cheapshooter]

The size comparison with the semi-auto was questionable because he really downplayed the grip. When it comes to concealed carry, which is the market for both guns in the video, that grip sticking way out could be a big deal. Beyond shrink-wrapping these for a volume measurement, I recommend getting them in your hands for a personal comparison. The semi-auto is a lot smaller!

Or, compare the size of my PD Poly with my Colt 1991 Compact

Or Springfield Armory XD40 Sub Compact.




But the biggest myth the video dispells is the accuracy using 45 Colt. The "shallow" groves have very little detrimental effect on accuracy. And power with 410 buckshot. With handgun spacific 410 ammo the 2" barrel doesn't seem to preclude good penetration.

[Cosmodragoon]

Thing is that with a revolver it doesn't have magazines to deal with, so you can keep it loaded for decades without an issue. I've never tried keeping a magazine loaded to full capacity for longer than a couple months, so Idk how a mag would hold up over years.

This issue comes up from time to time. Advice seems to be that loading to +1 capacity or keeping any mag fully loaded and storing long term can eventually weaken the springs. As zxcvbob responded, this is probably less wearing on springs than regular maximum flexing. I've heard similar accounts regarding rifles being stored with the bolt open. I haven't experienced it personally but I only keep one semi-auto loaded and it is at -1 capacity (as in, I don't top off the magazine after chambering a round). It gets shot, cleaned, lubed, and stored with a fresh batch of defensive hollow-points at least once per year.

This particular issue might just reduce to the old revolver vs. semi-auto arguments. I didn't intend to distract with the capacity argument on the judge. Six (or more) shot revolvers have a significant capacity advantage as well. Even for ones that don't, we're still stuck with the main anti-Judge argument that for any given task, there is usually a more traditional firearm that does it much better. What the Judge has going for it is (1) it can do a lot of different things and (2) it is fun and/or cool.

Maybe we can summarize that anti-Judge argument by saying that it passes all its subjects in 1 with a C average.

[TruthTellers]

Originally Posted by Cosmodragoon

What the Judge has going for it is (1) it can do a lot of different things and (2) it is fun and/or cool.

Maybe we can summarize that anti-Judge argument by saying that it passes all its subjects in 1 with a C average.

I think a lot of the anti-Judge sentiments are from revolver purists. They don't like how it looks, they don't think the idea of multiple projectiles from such a short barrel makes sense, and they have yet to see it be extraordinarily impressive vs .357 or .44.

As for the "different/fun and cool" factors... those are the main reasons I'm interested in owning one: it's different, does more than one thing, and it's fun. In addition to the usual appeal of .45/.410 revolvers, the adapters to shoot 9mm and .38 and even .22 make it something so different, I have to own it.

Now, what I'm about to say is probably going to make a lot of those revolver purists' heads explode (like that scene from Scanners) but the .410 revolver I want most is a single action because with those adapters, the centerfire ones at least, I can knock out the empties without having to remove the adapter from the cylinder.

[Bill DeShivs]

I have magazines that have been fully loaded for over 40 years! They still work fine.

[Cosmodragoon]

... what I'm about to say is probably going to make a lot of those revolver purists' heads explode (like that scene from Scanners) but the .410 revolver I want most is a single action because with those adapters, the centerfire ones at least, I can knock out the empties without having to remove the adapter from the cylinder.

I really enjoyed that movie back in the day. What I'm about to say might make the anti-political purists of this forum explode but I'm still waiting for those supposed champions of gun rights to repeal utterly nonsensical gun control laws that have been on the books for far too long. The fact is that the Judge as we know it only exists because of a need to dance around unconstitutional and arguably moronic legal restrictions. For instance, Taurus actually developed a smooth-bore 28-gauge version of the Judge but that isn't allowed here. Freedom in this case is based on technicality.

[zxcvbob]

I think a lot of the anti-Judge sentiments are from revolver purists. They don't like how it looks, they don't think the idea of multiple projectiles from such a short barrel makes sense, and they have yet to see it be extraordinarily impressive vs .357 or .44.

I'm not sure there is a lot of anti-Judge sentiment. There is a lot of anti-Taurus sentiment because Taurus sucks. They probably also make a few decent gun occasionally, by accident, but I wouldn't know about that.

I have a full-sized Judge that I won in a raffle a couple of years ago. (there were lots of prizes, and i won the Judge) I bought a a couple of boxes of shells for it but I haven't even fired it yet. The organizer of the the raffle is a friend of mine and and was excited that I'd won one of the good ones. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket. So I just told him "Yep", or something stupid like that.

So I have 2 worthless Taurus revolvers now. At least they are shiny.

[Targa]

I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket.

Ill give you $25 for it.

[Cheapshooter]

I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket.

Just another exaggeration from a a taurus hater that completely nullifies any credablity.

[TruthTellers]

I'd rather I had won something (anything) else that I could have sold for more than the $20 I'd paid for a ticket.

Originally Posted by Cheapshooter

Just another exaggeration from a a taurus hater that completely nullifies any credablity.

Yeah, with how popular the Judge is (I believe it's Taurus' highest selling revolver) any pawn shop would pay $100 for it, no matter what model it is.

[Cheapshooter]

Yeah, with how popular the Judge is (I believe it's Taurus' highest selling revolver) any pawn shop would pay $100 for it, no matter what model it is.

Of course he would. Then sell it very quickly for $300.