All I know is what Ive read, like the Box-O-Truth test on the Judge, or the FBI ballistics report on the .410. IN those peoples expert opinions, the .410 round is extremely poor for self-defense, no matter how you load it, esp. out of a short barreled rifled revolver.
The Governor is very versatile in it's loadings, and if you can shoot it well and kill what you are aiming to kill, more power to you. But for those touting the lowly .410 as a good self-defense round, stop.
And that's just the point, right? You only know what you've read, you haven't tried the weapon for yourself. And the other point is that the Governor (and the Taurus Judge, although lacking the .45ACP option) are two of the most versatile handguns on the market because they can shoot .410 loads AND large bore centerfire handgun cartridges.
Folks who start badmouthing these handguns start and end with the fact that they shoot .410..... and that perceived "taint" somehow magically spills over to make their performance in these other loadings similarly anemic. Most of the people who dismiss the .410 load from a handgun base their opinion on the old Box of Truth test, which was a valid test for the loads available at that time.
But the ammo has changed, so the results are no longer valid
except for the loads tested at that time.
I carry a Taurus PD Judge just about every day both here on the ranch and if I go into more urban settings. I load it with two rounds of Federal .410 000 buck, the load from Federal which was developed just for these types of guns.
Those two rounds equal eight rounds of .36 caliber in two shots. The next three rounds are Hornady's premium 225 grain FTX hollowpoint. This weapon is augmented by a KelTec P32 with 8 rounds of ball .32.
I have carried many other handguns, to include many Glock offerings and several S&W and Ruger revolvers, and many others over the years. But right now, and for the past year, I have carried the Judge. I load it the way I do in anticipation of having to shoot while moving to cover, potentially, and the buckshot loadings increase my chances of a first hit. The .45LC in the remaining three chambers are capable of good penetration out of this gun, even through medium hard cover such as drywall or plywood.
Personally I'm not interested in the kind of penetration required by the FBI, which IMO is rather excessive for civilian purposes. I rarely carry handguns these days which are capable of that kind of penetration, for reasons of practicality and for reasons of liability. Full-sized handguns aren't much fun to conceal in the heat of the TX summer; and, I have no desire to flirt with the increased possibility of over penetration.
But the .410/bigbore guns offer so much more. With this same gun I can tramp the woods and pastures of my property with my six dogs and know that if I have to kill a rattler before it bites, or put down a sick or rabid varmint before it infects me or my dogs, I can do it handily with this platform with the gun loaded with birdshot and medium velocity lead hand loads. So it can provide service on the trail or on the street.
Last year my FIL (who lives on our property) called me to tell me that there was a good sized raccoon wandering around in the pasture beside their house. This was well after sun up. I grabbed my Judge and hopped in our beefed up electric cart, and ran over there to see. When I got there this big male coon was meandering around a section of the pasture, obviously disoriented and sick, but still able to walk. When it heard me coming it attempted to run towards the creek. Coons often carry rabies, and odd behavior is a symptom of this dread disease.
The pasture I was driving across is rough and the ride was bouncy. The coon was making sure progress towards the creek, and likely safety. The Judge was loaded with three rounds of Federal 000 buck and a couple .45LC lead round nose cartridges. As I approached the coon, bouncing along with my eyeballs jiggling, with the animal less than ten yards from thick brush and safety, I fired the Judge one-handed, double action, from about 20 yards and nailed that coon dead with the first shot.
More recently one of these masked invaders entered our front yard to try and make off with one of the chickens which roost in a tree in a corner of the yard. This was at about 4 a.m., full dark. We heard the commotion (chickens can be very loud when someone tries to eat them alive) and I exited the house with Judge and flashlight in hand. The coon heard me coming, climbed down the tree until he was about 6 feet from the ground, then jumped. He hit the ground running and headed for the yard fence about 15 yards from the base of the tree.
With a flashlight in one hand and the Judge (again loaded with Federal buckshot) in the other, I tracked him from the tree towards the fence. Firing one-handed, the first shot was a bit behind him, but the second shot caught him just as he was headed up the fence, and nailed him in place.
Now, what is the moral of these stories? Is it to convince you of the killing power of the .410 000 buckshot loads out of a handgun? No. The moral of the story is that under adverse conditions such as movement or low light or poor shooting platform (one handed shooting), these handguns are capable of increasing hit potential remarkably. I probably could have hit both of those coons eventually with my rail-lighted Glock 19 or 17 or 34; but while my neighbors do live some distance away, I can be sure the buckshot loads I shoot in the middle of the night will not leave my property, while a 9mm slug most certainly will if I happen to send one high.
And further; if I can hit a running coon, one-handed, double action, on the move, at night by flashlight, then I'm pretty certain I could hit a human head at similar distances under similar conditions if I had to.
.410 000 buckshot out of a short-barreled handgun is not capable of great penetration, no. It will kill a coon, but I am certain it will kill a human at close range if I do my part. I KNOW .45LC will do the job that the .410 began, though, if need be. Same for the .45ACP.
I know this was long-winded, but I write these things in the hope that eventually naysayers will start to realize that there are some very good reasons for the choices some folks have made in selecting these types of handguns. I've done the testing, I've shot the guns. I've done penetration tests and I've killed with these weapons. I know the strong points and the limitations. But I've educated myself, rather than rely on out of date internet opinion.
If someone wants to buy a different handgun for similar purposes based on their own experiences, I'm good with that. But I'm here to tell you that the .410/bigbore revolvers such as the Judges and now the Governor are serious handguns capable of doing many things. And I think they are here to stay.
Andy
