Taurus .45/.410 improvement

[kirbythegunsmith]

Here is a look at the choke conversion on an early 6" (pre-Judge).
There is a long choke, and a longer choke (installed).



We can't have a tube that is lacking in strength, since many types of loads may find their way through the appendage extending out of the barrel, such as slugs or stack-buckshot loads.

There is a Browning Invector .410 tube next to the inside portion of the tube custom-installed in the Taurus.



The custom tube is still much thicker when compared to the thick muzzle end of the Browning choke. Not to say that the Browning tube is weak, but it was totally unsuited to fit a .45 bore, anyway.



There are more details to come about the firing results, which so far tend to show the most marked improvement to the buckshot and slug accuracy/grouping vs. the shot pattern.

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[Doggieman]

Hmm. I'd be interested in the penetration depth of buckshot with the extended barrel length.

[kirbythegunsmith]

Some initial chronograph testing had these results, all shells 2-1/2", just like cylinder:

(Stevens single shot for comparison of standard barrel length vs. shorter, but Stevens has 3" chamber, build quality being only modest may affect Stevens readings)

Day getting late, sun nearing setting so testing aborted, later noticed 2 pellet strikes on unit due to extreme fast spread of shot, prior to choke install.

Sporting Clays #8 (1300 fps claimed)
Stevens: 1401, 1392
Taurus: 1031, 1045

S & B stack buckshot 2-1/2" 000 buck 3 pellet
Stevens: 1050, 1203
Taurus: 923, 965 Winchester Buck 000 1 shot read 985

Pattern group shot 3 shells at 25 yards at 3' square approx., so 9 pellets total, 2 pellets hit paper. Conclusion: ineffective at that distance, rifling not adding any stability to undersized pellets

Winchester rifled slug
Stevens single shot: 1954, 1925
Taurus revolver: 1447, 1416, 1486

Remington slug in Taurus only:
1461, 1449, 1473, 1656 ( one reading of 2423 discarded)

[wyocarp]

I bought one of these guns but except for as a toy, it was a complete waste of money. It might have been better if they would have made it to take the three inch 410 shells.

[3006mv]

Have thought of porting that thing?

[Crosshair]

I agree, they need to make a 3" version.

Question, what would prevent Taurus from rifling the barrel with a 1-1000" twist to avoid the gun from falling under the SBS clause of the 1934 NFA act? Would certainly improve the patterning.

[Doggieman]

Maybe a bit of a stretch. I'm all for the .410 handgun *in theory* for purely self-defense purposes.. I'd like to see something that can shoot 3 or 5 or whatever it is 00 buck pellets *effectively* in one bang. But their spherical shape makes them poor penetrators to begin with. And the shortened barrel adds to this problem.

Not so worried about spread. I figure you're not going to be using it at a distance greater than oh what 5-7 yards anyway. But then the question is: what are you going to be using it on? A person? Would you be carrying a 7-10" barreled gun around people normally? A bear? Not enough oomph. A deer? Deer would be long gone.

So it seems the 410 handgun is relegated to snakes and low-flying birds. Right?

[IMTHDUKE]

Well, its orginal intended use was to give a car-jacker a face full of slag

[turrettooling]

I would like to ask Kirby the Gunsmith a few things about the Taurus Judge. I just bought one of the short barrelled versions of the Judge 3" 410 revolvers. The logic behind the purchase for me is that I have a lot of really nice chickens roaming the yard, and have lost many to a nasty fox. It's heart breaking, and I've employed a 'have a heart trap', with no success yet. I have seen the fox walking on the road on two occaisions, and both times, I did not have a gun handy. My thought was to carry something which is not too cumbersome. The fox is really fast, and there is not the time to aim well, so I thought I could at least wound and possibly slow it down to be able to get another shot or two in before it dissappears. Well, this is why I am trying the Judge concept. I think a choke modification would be improve the pattern for the likely distance that the target would be (about 10-20 yards.) The stock gun seems good for personal defense panic situations, but that's not quite what I'm dealing with. I'm a machinist, and could make almost any part pretty easily. One key question I have for you is if a choke was installed, would it interfere with a 45 long colt bullet? Sorry about the length of this text. Thank you.

[44 AMP]

Well, its orginal intended use was to give a car-jacker a face full of slag

And for that, I think bird shot would do just as well.

Look at the velocities from the buckshot and see it is a little above a .32ACP, but not a lot. SO each pellet is about a .32 auto +p. And, as mentioned, the round shot does not penetrate as well as a conventional bullet shape.

.410 slugs, on the other hand are turning some useful speed, even from the short revolver barrel. BUT, if you are going to shoot slugs, why not just use .45 Colt ammo, and get some benefit from the rifling?

I have Contender bbls in .45 Colt/.410, and the manual is very emphatic about not shooting .45 Colt ammo with the "choke tube" (actually a "straightener", intended to at least partially counter act the spin from the rifling) installed.

The intent of the "straightener" tube is actually to tighten the pattern, not open it up. The spin from a rifled barrel opens up the pattern more than firing it from a smooth bore. The problem is that the spinning shot creates a hole in the center of the pattern. This "donut hole" in the middle of the pattern, with no shot in it means that a small target, aimed at properly can be missed by much (or all) of the shot.