Weird .410 revolver question....

[MischaBurns]

why aren't they considered SBSes? i mean technically, something like a Judge is just a really itty-bitty one-handed shotgun. or is it not a shotty because it also fires .45LC?


as an afterthought, does anyone know if a normal .410 shotty can fire .45LC?

[Steve_NEPhila]

Most likely because they do not exceed .50 caliber. However, that is a guess without research.

I do not know why one would want to shoot 45 LC through a smoothbore. If you want to waste ammo just send it my way.

[JonnyBeGood86]

All Judges have rifling, which is what makes them legal. As far as a regular .410 shotty firing .45LC, I'd check with the manufacturer, but like Steve said it would just be a waste.

[JonnyBeGood86]

Oh, here is a quote from Wiki.
"Though Taurus deliberately designed The Judge to fire shotshells, The Judge does not qualify as a "short-barreled shotgun" under the National Firearms Act of 1934 as its rifled barrel makes it a regular handgun.[2] The rifling is more shallow than normal, giving single-projectile loads less stabilization than they would receive in other handguns, but reducing the rapid dispersion of the shot from shotshells.[2] Taurus developed the shallow rifling after numerous experiments to find rifling that worked well with both types of ammunition.[3]"
I think I actually first heard about this subject on one of the shows on The Outdoor Channels Wednesday Night at the Range. Hope this helps.

[knight0334]

As the other guys have pointed out, it's rifled.

.410 handguns are far from a new thing. T/C's Contender's have been chambered in 45/410 for 30-40 years. American Derringer 45/410's for 20-30 years. FMJ/Cobray/Leniad derringers for 20+ years. Magnum Research BFR's for 10 years. Comanche 45/410 for years. ....the Judge is an infant in the .410 handgun field, and if they had been a SBS all the predecessors would have been flagged by the ATF loooooooooooong ago.


Remember, its not the cartridge that makes it the type of gun - its the gun itself. Otherwise your Ruger 10/22 rifle would be a shotgun if you used shotshells, or your .38/357mag would be a SBS if you shotsells as well - which we all know isn't so.

[WVBob]

The main point is, it was not made as a shotgun. One of the federal laws is, you can't cut down a shotgun. Rifled and not made as a longgun makes it legal. Some shotguns are made with a rifled barrel and that's OK. The main thing is how it came from the factory.