Taurus Judge and Winchester PDX1 .410 Shotshell Gel Test
A TFB reader tested the penetration of the Winchester PDX1 .410 shotshell round in 10% ballistic gelatin. The PDX1, which consists of three 000 Buckshot sized discs backed by twelve BB-sized pellets, performs better than I expected.
1 PDX round fired from a Taurus Judge, 3" chamber/ 3" barrel at a distance of 5 ft into a 6"X6"X15.5" gelatin block.
The 3 discs appeared to flatten, turn into "shrapnel" and continue to penetrate to a max depth of 13.75". Only a few minute fragments of the discs were recovered.
Two of the of the pellets appear to have exited the block, the rest penetrating 8" to 14".
The last photo is the pattern of the same round fired of the same Judge at 5 yds. Note the 3 near the "A". 8 of the 12 pellets are inside the "A" zone, 4 in the "C"
[ Many thanks to rbbub for the photos. ]
Read the article. The penetration test was done at 5 feet. At 7 yards it takes a man 3 seconds to reach you and plunge a knife into your heart. At 5 feet he can stab you before you finishing blinking.
Notice no penetration testing past 5 feet. Also notice that the test was with 3″ ammo not the 2.5″ that most guys I know use. I am not bashing anything because I own and use a Governor but you have to be realistic and keep in mind that there is a difference in number of holes and penetration. Shot placement AND penetration is what stops attackers. Pattern is only of concern when bird hunting, trap and skeet shooting. Measure the farthest distance in your home and then find the right gun/ammo combination that allows you to hit your target and penetrate despite heavy clothes or an arm thrown up in defense. Anything else is relying on the person shot giving up due to non physical reasons.
I’ve had my Judge for about 6 months now. LOVE it. It is the perfect home self defense gun. Not a routine carry option. It’s to big. You or your wife don’t have to be a great shot. Point this thing in the general vicinity, pull the trigger. Problem eliminated. In fact my 21 year daughter just went to the range Monday and shot it. She handled it well. NO semi auto misfires, loading issues etc. it goes bang every time.. Mid home defense is what you want, this gun is what you need!
It’s funny to hear people put down these weapons but often it’s more about what people like to shoot. I own the governor model by S&W and I can assure you at the average ranges in my home of 10-25 feet these PDX 410 rounds or the federal/remingtonHD 00 buckshot X 4 balls rated at max 1300fps are nothing short of devastating and provide a nice pattern for people that are not as good of a marksman. My wife loves this round and she could literally block a doorway with the firepower, or we can dump the load and pop a moonclip of 45 acp P+ in there. I have some 250grain speer long colt 45 rounds that could stop bigfoot but that’s just another option. The concept applied to the better made S&W revolver is solid. And the gun is simply a blast to shoot for recreation, surprisingly accurate on 50yard range. Glad I tried the gun and the ammo before using the web to make my decision.
I remember Guns & Ammo having an article on .38 special & .357 mag versions of this; no buck, but the discs were there. IIRC you could stack something like four or five in a .357 loading.
Problem is this ammo is NOT the reason most people were/are attracted to a .410 handgun. Most people are attracted to these guns because they have misguided visions of wanton destruction since single shot shell will take out a whole room of bad guys.
What this new ammo does turn the Judge into an over-sized (yet under-powered) conventional handgun.
What will this do that a 357 or a 44 or a 45 won’t do?
And the gel does look a little bit off… I think the judge is one of those guns that looks like a lot of fun to have but then when you really think about it other guns fill it’s roll just as well…
This actually makes those 410 revolver rifles actually look like they’re worth buying. Still a fun gun, but actually could be useful. I’m intrigued.
I wonder how a cutshell would do in a Judge.
It has been a while since I’ve checked, but I want to say the penetration of the disks is roughly in the same range as many .380 acp hollowpoint loads, though the .380 tests I’ve seen also had two layers of denim in front of the gel. Back to the .410, while it’s inadequate to the standards of many in terms of penetration, I personally have a hard time arguing with creating three wound channels simultaneously.
If anyone has any imagery or data regarding how Federal’s 2 1/2″ 000 plated buck rounds perform, I’d like to see it.
Wow! I did not think it would be that effective. Just might work for self defense at close range, maybe.
That’s better than I expected too. I’m definitely very impressed by the performance of this round through a short handgun barrel.
The problem is that I see no indication of gelatin calibration. It could be light jello or modeling clay in consistency.
Apart from that, despite it being claimed to offer average terminal performance, the pistols chambered in it are large, heavy, and poor choices for carry –let alone purchase.
I would NOT want to get hit by one of those.
I’m pretty surprised at these good results. I wonder when we’ll start hearing about how these things are serving people “out there”.
finally there’s some valid defensive .410 rounds specifically made for short barrels.
I’m not interested in the Judge though. The Bond Arms Snake Slayer with 2xpdx1 would make a heck of a holdout/car gun. Just need to find something similar in 3″.
Hey, just the round to use for hunting feral nutria and wild hogs in Texas!
Dang!! This blog is starting to chap my hyde. Just as I settle on a Raging Bull 44mag and set the judge aside as my next purchase, this comes along. Grrrrrr. I guess it’s my fault for not looking into penetration of 410 and 45colt rounds.
I’m looking for a trail gun and would love a 6″ 44mag raging bull because I think it’s more adequate for bears/wolves/cougars in my mountains (bitterroot) than a judge’s 45colt.
Anyway, had to vent. Thanks for the article/post.
I like the 22 short for mountains full of bears and lions. But I use the buddy system. Usually an in-law. I find when confronted with a dangerous wild animal one well placed shot from my 22 to my sister-in-law’s kneecap and I can simply walk away.
1655 called and they want their buck-and-ball back.