Rossi Circuit Judge in 28 Gauge
[Richard Johnson is a firearms instructor, law enforcement veteran, contributor to Guns and Patriots, and the publisher of Guns Holsters And Gear.]
With all of the rumors surrounding the 28 gauge Raging Judge, one of the overlooked new guns from the Taurus/Rossi lines at the 2011 SHOT Show was the Circuit Judge chambered in 28 gauge.
The new Circuit Judge has an 18.5″ barrel with a straight rifled choke that Rossi claims extends the shooting range of this long gun. As with the previous version, this Circuit Judge is essentially a revolving shotgun, and weighs in at 5.6 pounds with hardwood stocks.
The original Circuit Judge chambered for the .45 Colt/.410 shotshell proved to a popular gun in 2010, and it is can still be hard to locate on dealers’ shelves.
I heard from Rossi that all the other versions of the Circuit Judge won’t be available until September ’11!!!
@Zander
Nope, I am right there with you.
I guess I’m the only one more excited that Rossi is making a Circuit Judge in .22LR/.22mag and another in .44 magnum.
28 gauge slugs for reloading here:
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/bpi/articleindex/articles/slugs_dgs_about/slugs1.htm
Check Midway for the MEC single stage press and dies.
I know that one aftermarket company offered straight rifled choke tubes, claiming that they improved paterning of shotshells.
So, 28Ga has smooth bore or fully rifled?
Too bad this gun will never be available in California. Any long gun firing a fixed shotgun shell with a revolving cylinder is an assault weapon. Also goes for the .45LC/.410 bore versions, and probably a .45-70 version should one be produced and advertised as also firing .410 shells.
The 45Colt/.410 IS available in California. CA DOJ has determined that it is a rifle. California laws specifically define a shotgun as a smoothbore, so this one is OK in CA.
That’s probably it, Rusty. I was wondering about the Street Sweeper ban. It’s probably how they’ll get around that.
I’m waiting on the 12ga hanging judge. lol
The rifled barrel has to do with legalities.
It’s a straight rifled barrel, apparently, which means there are grooves in the barrel but no twist. That would theoretically straighten out shot as it flies out the barrel to tighten up the shot’s grouping.
You never want traditional rifling in a shotgun. That’d spin the shot out into a big “O” shape and you’d never hit anything that way.
Despite bbl rifling, I still can’t have one of these; revolving magazine. Sigh.
Ugh, do it in a useable caliber (12 or 20) and I’d be all over it. 28? I can’t remeber if I have even ever seen a 28ga shell.
Matt,
No doubt. Does anyone even make 28g slugs? They might be nice for shootin’ hogs…
Matt, I’m pretty sure it has a rifled barrel for import reasons. I’m believe that shotguns with revolving cylinders are “non-sporting” according to the ATF (ie the Armsel Striker/Street Sweeper). However, there is no law against rifles with a revolving cylinder being imported.
Herp derp, Steve says right there, 5.6lbs. Yeah, it’d make a fine backwoods gun, assuming you could find slugs.
Steve, feel free to merge my comments.
Just to clarify, I mean that the rifled barrel is constricted, not that it is a smoothbore.
It would make a nice multipurpose backwoods gun, assuming it isn’t too heavy.
It doesn’t have a rifled barrel, it’s got a rifled choke. Still a weird addition.
I guess at my age I must have seen an uglier gun somewhere. Damned if I can remember where or what it was.
It is straight rifled so that between the lands and grooves it is less than .50″. That way it doesn’t qualify as a destructive device. As a revolver it sure could send out a lot of lead in a hurry, almost as fast as a semi.
Can a 28 gauge cylinder safely chamber and fire any other round? Given the nominal diameter of the 28 gauge, i think we’re in the .50cal neighborhood; perhaps Rossi and Taurus plan to bring 28 gauge slugs to market or have a another round in mind, hence the rifling.
Yeah, make an unrifled version and then we’ll talk.
“Straight rifled choke?”
It’s quite possibly the only 28 gauge I ever wanted, but I can’t fathom as to why it has a rifled barrel, or how that could be of any benefit.