FWIW, if any one has a 1917 Colt or a 45 New Service lying around, please show where at all it has less meat than a SAA or S&W in 44 Special from the same period...also check the bolt notches, where more than a few 44 Specials in SAA were ruined using his loads. Compare the notch location of those guns to the New Service, then compare it to the Smith.
Elmer did what he did for he himself alone "wanted".
His primary reason for going to the 44 Special was shooting at long range and not for killing power alone.
I can pretty much guarantee he would scoff at the LBT WFN's and WLN's because he had already ditched the concept.
He hated the New Service because the gun and grip did not fit him; he liked the size and fit of the SAA and the N frame Smith. he also felt (incorrectly) that the triple lock and ejector shroud and foreward lock of the Smith guns made them stronger.
Another FWIW, the New Service frame is still the largest framed revolver produced by Colt....
If anyone wants to know, the 1917 Colt will eat +P+ all day long.
