.45ACP Ammo in a Taurus Judge?

[Dirty Dan]

My oldest son has two Taurus Judge revolvers. There is nothing in the information for these two revolvers alluding to the use of .45ACP ammo, however I am being told it is acceptable and safe. What I am not being told is do yo have to use half moon clips to fire the .45ACP, or is the revolver designed to be fired without using a clip?? Because of the ammo shortage, .45 ACP ammo is easier to find, and is much cheaper than .45 LC..Someone clear this up for me. Thanks, in advance for sharing the information...DD

 

[Hillbilly77]

I would say NO, you can't shoot .45ACP out of the judge.

A quick search turned up an online Taurus manual.
http://www.taurususa.com/pdf/revolver_manual.pdf

A quote from the manual:
NOTICE
You can use .38 Special ammunition in all Taurus revolver chambered for .357 Magnum; .44 Special ammunition in Taurus revolvers chambered for .44 Magnum and .45 Long Colt in Taurus revolvers chambered for .454 Casull. It is important to note that these are the only caliber substitutions that will function. Attempting to substitute other calibers can damage your firearm and may result in accidental death or serious injury.

 

[Rule3]

You would need moon beam clips for 45 ACP and I do not believe the cylinder on the Judge is set up for them. Or read above

 

[Andy Griffith]

I would contact Tom Killhoffer at Moonclips.com and find out what he charges to machine your cylinder to accept moonclips, then it will accept .45ACP, .45 Colt and .410. I also believe Clark Custom will do it also. Just need to send in the cylinder and yoke assembly- not the whole gun to get it machined.

It has been reported that factory Taurus tracker moonclips for .45 ACP will work without modification on the Judge, but I have not verified it on mine.

Don't try any other hotter .45 ACP "based" cartridges in it though, such as .45 Super, .45 Win Mag or .460 Rowland, otherwise a catastrophic failure will result ending in disfigurement, dismemberment, disembowelment, disenfranchisement from the living or even worse.

 

[amazingflapjack]

I would think, based on my experience with shooting ACP's out of my 25-5, that the rounds would tend to key hole, and the accuracy would be inconsistent at best. It is a long haul down the cylinder bore to the throats for a 45ACP. Why not just reload the 45 colt's?

 

[bluegrassarms]

"Can" it be done? Yes, it can, using after market moon clips, there is even a youtube video of it working, but....

Taurus doesn't recommend it, they weren't designed for it, and as has been said there are potential questions re accuracy, damage/malfunction issues with the forcing cone. If you do use it I'd use standard pressure FMJ only, but ideally (assuming he doesn't reload) maybe go to reman 45 LC or something along those lines to keep costs down.

FWIW the S&W Governor IS specifically approved for 45 ACP using moon clips that come with it.

One note on moon clips in case you or your son aren't familiar with them -- some of those things can be a complete pain to unload. They have tools for it, but I had a guy take the carry class and use the moon clips for a Governor for the first time and I'm not sure blasting caps were going to get the shell casings out of it when he went to reload. Regardless, he may find them to be something of a pain to use.

 

[snake803]

I recently had a customer bring me an out of time, generally all screwed up judge... I sent it back to Taurus...When I received it back, there was a description of what was done to correct the problems.. Also the letter stated that the revolver was test fired using 10, 2-1/2 .410 rounds AND... 10, Winchester ,45 ACP rounds... Don't know why ACP and not .45 colt, but that's what Taurus said...
JIM...................

 

[wbraswell]

Strange, here in E. Tex. I've found more .45 Colt on shelves than any other pistol caliber.

 

[Babalooie]

I wouldn't do it.

 

[Gunsnwater]

Not approved, I wouldn't either. .410 slugs are available around here and cheap.

 

[CatSnipah]

One of the 146 reasons I bought the Governor and not the judge. And, of course, it's an S&W.

 

[CatSnipah]

One note on moon clips in case you or your son aren't familiar with them -- some of those things can be a complete pain to unload. They have tools for it, but I had a guy take the carry class and use the moon clips for a Governor for the first time and I'm not sure blasting caps were going to get the shell casings out of it when he went to reload. Regardless, he may find them to be something of a pain to use.

Exactly why I use the two-slot clips and leave the 6's at home!

I found some great 45 LC reloads at LAX, and have taken to shooting those and 410 mostly, and not much 45 acp lately.