Recommended mods for the CJ

[Oz judge]

Just bought a 2nd hand CJ That's had very little use. Have not picked it up yet & it's sight unseen. I have a r92 in 454 & I did a action job on it my self after getting a stevesgunz DVD . I'm expecting a rough functioning gun , so is there any must do's to get these things functioning well? I bought this to hunt pigs at close range in swampy , thick grass , & ruff bush . Yes the casull is awesome but I loose more brass than I find. Plus the young fella is starting to come with me. I really like the idea of being able to select between 000 buck 5 pellet loads & hard cast rnfp 45's , as the conditions change frequently . Any recommendations with hunting loads or gun mods are much appreciated thanks guys.

[Archer]

My personal uninformed opinion is that I don't think I'd recommend 000 buck from a 410 on anything that might be coming at you in close quarters that has muscle and mass (not to mention teeth/tusks/claws/hooves/horns).

While the brass loss is annoying, chalk it up to part of the price of taking an animal or trying to. If it bother's you that much and there's that much of a price difference switching to .44 Mag or heavy loaded .45 Colt might be an option but I'm not certain I'd switch to the CJ over the 92. (Funny think is retail prices I'm seeing on loaded .44 magnum are getting close to the prices I first saw on .454 back in the late 80s.)

Not enough info about the youngin to make much comment.

[Oz judge]

Thanks archer. Look there's a few reasons for the judge ! Some others was just a fun gun for around the camp , plinking for the kids & the misus & her friends . After smashing a fair few deferent game & pests on my last trip with 45 Colt level loads I thought the judge would be fine . Our young fella is 13 & not overly keen on hunting or camping in 38*~ 40* Celsius heat in western QLD . SO dragging him along last time he was armed with a erma 22mag . That was all we had that was light enough for him to carry along with 3lt of water . Plus he has a bit of a love affair with the 410g ( 1st centre fire he shot ) the CJ meets fun , light & far harder hitting than the 22 mag. We do take our pet dog with us as well & she loves it , she's not a true hunting " lugging dog " she's a border collie / blue healer / kelpie working dog . So that makes her a natural heel biting bailer , so I'm thinking the 000 in the real close range fast shooting grass will be enough , to tag it & keep a strong scent for our dog. It is a little bit crazy action but it's the only action we got & we drive 7 hours to get there. Cause the pigs are heverly hunted by pros with dogs, they corner them selves & don't run away. But we find they rarely charge us & they usually blow the dogs off & are to fast to get a shot off or we never see them. We won't be taking the young fella into that stuff btw. My buddy uses a ou 12g with 00 buck 3" & I usually use the 454 , that makes a good combo but the country changes every few hundred yards from grass clumps to swamps to open & lightly timbered country. That why I'm thinking 000 & wide nosed flat point 45s may do ok .

[Archer]

I'm a fan of the border collie. Had a neighbor with one that was smarter than a lot of two legged folks I've met.

The .45 Colt should be about like a big BB gun. Not sure I'd push the CJ beyond normal factory loadings however.
I looked into 410 000 buck loads and found the Judge compatible Federal load listed at 4 pellets at 850 FPS. That MIGHT go up with a longer CJ barrel not sure. The 12g 2.75" 00 load runs 9 pellets at 1325 FPS. Lots of difference in both mass and velocity/energy there. Hornady has a 3" 12g load at 1300 FPS.
I'd pattern the heck out of any shotgun load especially out of the CJ before I went hunting for real.

[Oz judge]

HAHAHAHA well the 45 is one hell of a BB gun . I swear the hard cast wide nosed flat points make all the difference. The rnfp that I loaded up last time, don't have a very big flat meplat. Even after passing clean through game they still have plenty of wallop when they hit trees 70-100 yards farther out. Hey the Colt killed big game 100 years ago , with the better large flat pointed hard cast I have now I have even more confidence in the combo. I just bought 160 rounds of the federal 5 pellet 000 buck to use. I have watched a lot of reviews on YouTube about the public defender & circuit judge shooting 45 lc & 000 buck , into Gellitin & grouping & patterns ect. I will test it extensively also. But for what I want it for I think it will do well. Hey people use the 357 magnum & I have used the 22 magnum. Our oldest boy got his 1st small pig with a 22 magnum now that more of a BB gun but gets the job done.

[Ranch Dog]

I'm a fan of all three of those dog breeds. The best dog friend I've ever had was a Kelpie. A Heeler resides with us now. All three breeds are generally smarter than the fellows that I hang out with; oh, wait. That probably says something about me.

[Archer]

So I grew up introduced to long guns with a .30-30 Winchester 94 and a single shot 12g with a full choke and a 36" barrel. Both pretty light weight and if you didn't snuggle up to them you'd feel it when you touched them off. Not the heaviest kicking guns out there nor the worst recoiling I've shot but enough to nudge you especially when you are 12 or 14.

By comparison the 92 even with a stout .44 Mag is pretty easy on the shoulder.

.45 Colt factory level rounds out of a ~6 lb gun just doesn't kick that much IMO.
The first one I ever shot was a buddy's 94 Winchester Trapper and at the time I felt like it WAS tossing out a giant BB through the target with a pop at each pull of the trigger and I've never quite lost that impression.

I help out at a gunshop from time to time and one of the things that always makes me cringe a bit is when somebody shows up looking for 'a small gun for the wife' or another inexperienced shooter. People often think a small gun is easier for a novice not realizing small guns are often harder to hold, harder to manipulate, may have small ineffective sights with a short sight radius and recoil harder into a smaller area of the hand holding them compared to a larger gun shooting the same caliber. There are exceptions like the two ladies who were in my college Hapkido class. One must have weighed maybe 90lbs wringing wet and the other looked like her kid sister maybe 10 or even 20 lbs lighter. Both of them shot everything available during firearm range days we had a couple times a year but the younger one LIKED the 4" .44 Mag Smith and the 12g pistol grip shotgun while the older one shot them more to know what to expect if that happened to be what was available to repeal borders in the middle of the night.

So I think you are potentially on a right track with the boy or other young/new shooters with a .45 Colt longarm.

[Oz judge]

I'm a fan of all three of those dog breeds. The best dog friend I've ever had was a Kelpie. A Heeler resides with us now. All three breeds are generally smarter than the fellows that I hang out with; oh, wait. That probably says something about me.

Well Michael! I too am a great fan of those breeds now I have had some experience with them . Kelpies have got to be right up there with with smartest dogs around. My misus had our Jessie before I was on the scene so not my choice of dog . But what a dog she has been , renee bought our Jessie as a kelpie / cattle cross . But I'm sure there's some border collie in there . She has turned out to be a one man dog , & I admire her more the more we go hunting together. She gets right in there, buts she's agile enough to get out of the way. I swear she must of come close to dying from over heating though. She is smart enough though to head off & get her own water & swim to cool down. On our last trip on the 4th day she still " had " to come but could hardly walk, and was lagging 200-300 yards behind me. She slept for 2 days after getting back.