Originally Posted By: SuperDave456
A few years ago Taurus announced the release of a "Raging Bull" revolver that fired 28ga shotshells.
Since it only fired shotshells, and not the .45/.410 like the other Judge revolvers, the ATF told them it would not be legal, and the announcement was cancelled.
That wasn't the reason. Even Taurus isn't that dumb. All they had to do is what Bond Arms does with their Derringers. And what they do with their Judge revolvers... Rifle the barrel. They could have easily gotten Federal or Hornady to produce a line of 28 gauge slugs, much like all of the .410 gimmick rounds they now produce for the Bond Arms guns, and the Judge revolvers.
The real reason is more complicated. At the same time Taurus was announcing a 28 gauge shotshell revolver, they were also announcing a revolver in .223. The frame they were going to produce for the .223 project would have been large enough for 28 gauge shotshells. However, they could never get the .223 revolver past the prototype stage. This was because of the cartridge set back they were experiencing from firing the bottleneck .223 round in a revolver. The high pressure .223 round would set back in the cylinder, against the back of the frame upon firing, tying up the gun, and the cylinder would lock up tight.
This is the same exact problem that Smith & Wesson experienced with their Model 53 .22 Jet revolver in the early 60's. The .22 Jet was based on a .357 Magnum case gradually tapered to .22 caliber. The gun also came with 6 chamber inserts that would allow the owner to fire .22 rimfire rounds as well. It had some type of contraption on the hammer to fire both centerfire and rimfire rounds. But they could never get the gun to quit locking up. So they discontinued it. Now they are collectors items fetching well into 4 digits.
Taurus went through the same thing. Another problematic revolver is the Magnum Research BFR in .30-30 Winchester. I've been looking for one for years. I have 2 BFR's, (1 in .45-70, and the other in .500 S&W Magnum), but the .30-30 models are scarce as a Democrat with common sense. Cartridge set back is the reason why, because the .30-30 round is also a bottlenecked rifle case. Magnum Research confirmed this when I called them. They simply don't produce that many because of customer related issues with cartridge set back.