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Taurus “Cancels” Raging Judge

Robert Farago - comments No comments

From a gunsamerica.com email blast: “Please note that we have taken down the Taurus 28 gauge revolver story. They removed the gun from the booth after a day and have decided not to make it.” So the question now becomes did Taurus ever intend to put the 28-gauge Raging Judge into production or was it a hoax designed to spoil the introduction of the Smith & Wesson Judge?

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Taurus “Cancels” Raging Judge”

  1. From what I can gather, the fact that it was larger caliber than .410 (and thus could not be considered a .45LC gun that just happened to chamber .410 shotshells) was the deciding factor.

    It probably was too close to a “sawed-off shotgun” for the ATF to endorse it, without opening the floodgates of other models. And perhaps a legal challenge to the restrictions on sawed-off shotguns.

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  2. Ah corporate warfare at its best. I for one cannot believe that the lawyers at Taurus would have been dumb enough to not realize that a 28 gauge handgun would be illegal due to a bore size of ~.550 (If they are that dumb, then God help Taurus). So yea, I’m going to go with hoax.

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  3. Everything I’ve heard says BAFTE was claiming it would be a short-barreled shotgun, so it wouldn’t be really salable in the US. That kind of killed the point of making it.

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  4. I think it’s pretty obvious this was an attempt to steal S&W’s thunder. And I’m not that upset about it. Especially when you consider that S&W was jumping on the “me too!” bandwagon – sad, when you consider the storied history of Smith & Wesson. I would have almost figured this was a pattern here for Taurus, given their carbine version of the Judge that was their NRA Show no-show, but they actually produced it and started selling them.

    A bigger question for me, anyway, is if there is a market for oversized revolvers that shoot both cartridges and shells, why not come out with something in a .50 caliber (maybe shoot both .500 S&W and .50 A.E. loads) and get someone to produce what amounts to a .50 cal shotgun shell? It’s not like new calibers are a no-no. And if an ammo manufacturer is willing to produce something in .410 specifically for the original Judge, why would they not be willing to produce something that would fit in a .50 caliber handgun? Maybe they could collaborate with the guys making that bolo round and end up with the Mother of All Gimmick Guns (call it the Judge MAGGnum perhaps?) I hear Yosemite Sam is looking for work…do I smell endorsement deal?

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  5. I was wondering what pistol round they were going to use as the cover guise, Mabe they got 38 ga mixed up with 28ga. 38ga is .50 cal. i bet 38ga is close enough to 500 s&w / 50 ae too get away with it.

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