Comments on: Gun Review: The Governor, Smith & Wesson’s New .410 Revolver

By: joewoodsman

joewoodsman — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:05:33 +0000

The problem with your 6 inch barrel judge is that the extra barrel
length actually makes the shotshells less accurate because the added rifling causes the shot to spread faster than even the 2 inch barrel judge. you can see testing at 410handguns.com.

I also had a judge with a 6 inch barrel thinking that the longer barrel might make it functional turns out it makes it worse when it comes to shot shells. I traded up for a governor and shot a rabbit at 15 yards with 7 1/2 shot 1 round it died. He is very specific about rabbits and birds which have very thin skin and are easily taken with the governor at 10-15 yards that’s not overly impressive but it is enough if your only looking for a meal in a bad situation.

In defense of.the judge I really think its meant to be very up close only by design with the shotshells. After shooting both governor has about 2x the range for shotshells 10-15 yards and the judge groups 45 LC at around 2 inches at 15-20 yards for me vs the governor at 3. Pick your poison you’ll lose accuracy in one or the other.

By: nudiva37

nudiva37 — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:05:14 +0000

Is there a trigger kit available for the governor?

By: timbrand

timbrand — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:41:43 +0000

Man, this thing looks badass. I’ll probably pick one up next week.

By: rcfddsps

rcfddsps — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 03:15:08 +0000

Mr.Workman I enjoyed your evaluation of the Smith and Wesson governor.I had about the same pattern with 71/2 410. it may not kill a bear at fifty yards but it would sure make it hard to see if you were standing out side my car door or coming down the hallway of my house. However my purpose in buying the gun was to carry it in the wilderness. I was stalked by both bear and either wolf or cougar, it was in snow and hard to read. It did speed my heart rate what ever it was . My question to you is how would you load the six chambers.At present I load a 410 7 1/2 and the PDX1 one in every other chamber. I also have 45Colt 250gr.and 410 2 1/2 inch 000 buck. I figured there is a way to load for the back country and home protection. Thanks for your time and consideration. Bob

By: DougGa

DougGa — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:14:55 +0000

Thanks for the level headed review. I laugh at people that see the name Governor and comment. What about the “Black Hawk” or some other stupid names in history. Who cares what the “marketing” people call it to compete with the Judge. The real important data is from people who have actually shot the weapon, not internet trolls. I bought the governor and even my small wife loves to shoot it. Very fun to shoot, versatile and serves a long list of roles. Also people who think a .410 shell is a pop gun need to reconsider. These PDX and 000 tungsten buckshots are nothing short of devastating to a chest sized target anywhere under 50 yards. At 25 yards these 410s tear a water filled metal bucket to shreds. The 45ACP Plus ammo in this 6 round reliable, simple, amateur friendly gun was very attractive and the Long Colt is great if I ever hike in bear country or want to kill and elephant. Glow in dark night sight is excellent, so is the grip and ergonomics. Crisp trigger and double action my wife has no trouble shooting with good accuracy. This gun far exceeds expectations at all the max distances in my home and yard. My wife can absolutely NAIL any target within 25 yards with a nice big pattern. The buckshoot opens to about fist size and penetrates much better than reviewers seem to realize on the web. I could care less about the name, this is one fantastic, very affordable, light weight but very capable belt monster. No hesitation replacing my home shotgun and my wife likes it better than anything I own. I may have to buy one with the laser grip for her. I never realized 110 pound female would take this gun away from me and reap havok on the firing range. 2-3/4″ barrel much more accurate than I expected. Even with the 410 defense shells I can hit things easy at 50 yards. VERY happy customer. Grew up with guns and hunting and I would recommend for a wide range of users.

By: Dr Griz

Dr Griz — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:32:29 +0000

I own a Taurus Judge with a 6″ barrel, using 2-1/2 .410 #7-1/2 birdshot, at just six feet the spread is nearly 3 feet wide. I can’t believe that anyone can get such as grouping as described above at 10 yards, (30 feet), especially with a 2-3/4″ barrel. At 10 yards, any critter would be more than safe, oh maybe one pellet might hit it but kill it, no way. At 10 yards, you’re talking about a 15′-30′+ spread of birdshot.

By: biteme

biteme — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:25:30 +0000

So you need a rocket launcher to take down a Black Bear. I didn’t know that. Back in the 60′s there was a bounty on Black Bear in Maine. A friend dated a girl from northern Maine and her Dad fed his family on the money he made from the bear bounty. They didn’t have much money and he couldn’t afford much of a gun so he did all his hunting with a .38 police special he got used from somewhere. So since that just isn’t possible I guess they all starved before my friend met he.

By: Bruce Redding

Bruce Redding — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:29:12 +0000

Talk about Johnny Come Lately. I understand wanting to cash in on the .410 revolver craze, but the name just smacks of blatant rip-off. I would have thought that S&W could have sold their version easily without the copycat name. Just a model number would have sufficed. I am curious why they did not make this revolver .454 capable, like the new Taurus Raging Judge. I can not see a practical use for this particular arrangement in either configuration, but it certainly would have been that much more versatile.