Last night, taurususa.com was down for most of the evening. It’s back up now. And get this: the home page sports a big glossy picture of the Raging Judge [screen cap above]. AND it’s still in their “What’s new for 2011″ brochure. BUT it depicts the Raging Judge as a .410 shotshell/.45 Colt/.454 Casull caliber weapon. It’s that last bit that makes it a ragin’ Cajun . . .
If you thought the Taurus Judge line couldn’t get any better, you have to see this. The new Raging Judge Magnum shoots the .454 Casull round in addition to delivering the same popular combo revolver of the original Judge models, and packs a giant 6-round cylinder. Besides added capacity, the Raging Judge features the famous red “Raging Bull” backstrap for added cushioning and will be available in both 3-inch and 6-inch barrels.
So the gun wasn’t a head fake, but the 28-gauge caliber was. Curiouser and curiouser . . .
Here’s my thinking; Taurus released the Raging Judge to overshadow S&W’s attempts to encroach on their niche. After SHOT, when everyone realized that it was an illegal weapon, they had an “Oh shit” moment. Hopefully at this point they overhauled their legal department. They then downsized it to make it legal and made it able to shoot .454 Casull just to one up S&W.
The other option is they never once intended to release a 28 gauge revolver, it was always chambered .410/.45Colt/.454Casull and they straight out lied to America just to outshine S&W. Honestly I think this option may be less far fetched.
Regardless of what the intent was on the part of Taurus, somebody over there screwed up.
If they were in fact trying to introduce the 28 guage as a pistol, then like Ryan said, the legal department needs a re-org.
If they were simply trying to get more press than S&W to overshadow the release of the Governor, then someone in marketing/PR needs to be “downsized.”
Either way, Taurus seems to be coming out of this with juuust a bit of egg on their face. The introduction of the .454 Casull capability would have been enough to get people talking, preserve their niche, and silently “one-up’d” the .45 Colt firing S&W. Instead, they’ve got people scratching their heads, trying to figure exactly what the heck is going on over in the world of Taurus. Any way you slice it, it looks like somebody made an “oopsie.”
Has anyone ever necked down a 45acp to 40 S&W. Like they did in making the .357sig?
Both the 400 cor bon, and the 40 super are 45 auto brass necked down to 40 caliber, the 40 super being the hotter of the two.
If this new Ragin’ Judge is as inaccurate with expensive .454 Casulls as the current models are with. 45LC, what’s the point? Larger capacity in a gun that can’t hit a trashcan at 30 yards? The .454 is hardly a short-range plinking round, although it would be good for dealing with bears while you’re fishing.
Although if you can’t hit the trashcan at 30 yds than odds are you probably can’t hit a rushing grizzly either.
The raging judge, in 454 casull, has been on the Taurus website since at least sometime last year, it isn’t new for 2011.
I’m of the opinion that the raging XXVIII was a goof. I think someone was not up
on the definition od an sbs. If it had been just a plan to steal some press from
S&W, I doubt they would have gone to the expense and legal risk of crafting a prototype.
To save face, I vote that Taurus RELEASE the Raging Judge as originally described in 28Gauge .. .. with an 18″+ barrel 🙂
Jack Nicohlson’s Joker shooting down the Batwing with a 21″ custom barrel Smith & Wesson 15-3 anyone???
Anyone up for Photoshop???
I’m with Ben on that one!
The page in the What’s New for 2011 catalog now appears to be “locked” – it’s grayed out and the photos and content won’t click and enlarge…
http://www.taurususa.com/2011newcatalog/?catalog_page=6
…not sure what this means, but it doesn’t look too promising.
I watched a video from the 2011 shot show that they showed off the 28g. Raging Judge. The guy in the video said it was only a concept and they were showing it right now and if they get a lot of good reply to it then they would consider bringing it out into the market. Just like how car makers have concept cars, you gotta show off your ideas first, get feed back and then if its good then go with it. I saw one of the 45LC/410/454 casull raging judges at my local gun dealer for about 790, the gun is huge, i have never been afraid to shoot anything before, but seeing that i think i would be a little worried about it.
I am actually more excited about the Taurus Carbine Ct G2. I can’t wait for it to come out. but here is that shot show video on the 28g raging judge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNfZ1Xo_B64&feature=related
Also saw a shot show video that the guy said they were going to make a carbine, like the rossi circuit judge they were going to do one in the 28g. too. so awesome things to come from taurus.
My concern is the length of the cartridge and the length of the cylinder and the distance the bullet travels before it enters the rifling of the barrel, it seems the bullet can start to tumble before catching the rifling and at the velocity of the 454 casull it seems that could lead to problems. I currently own the Freedom Arms 454 and I know they are adament on the cylinder and barrel position when fired.
We are Costa Rica dealers. The 28 Guage is not for sale in the USA. That is all.
So release the Raging Circuit Judge XXVIII, And The Raging Circuit Judge Magnum!
HAVE one what a great pistol, even my buddies who are die hard S & W fans shot it and loved it, now they want one too!
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