Yes, I agree not only in not finding the limit of strength but also philosophically.
The thing I like about the .44 Special and that Brian repeats over and over in his articles is the efficacy of a good 250 SWC at a moderate 1000ish fps. He starts off this latest article by relating how he shot an elk with a 7.5" Colt New Frontier using a 429421 pushed to 1200 fps, but in the 2005 article (and others) mentions how a moderately loaded .44 Spl. has much lower recoil and blast while maintaining plenty of power.
When I had my two Flattop .44's I loaded the 429421 up to 16.0 grains of 2400 and they were a lot friskier than I cared for. I never even tried for Elmer's 17.0 grain load. 15.0 grains was established a nice working max which was about as much recoil as I wanted to handle in those guns, but it's always nice to know there is that extra safety margin or a little more oomph if one really feels the need for it. And if one really needs it then one should follow the advice I've seen a time or two, 'just get a .44 Magnum".
My search here is not so much to see how far one can take these GP100's before they blow up but is as much academic as anything else. Just trying to get a feel for how much "extra oomph" is built into these things. I would suspect that in the 5" models at least a 250 grain bullet approaching 1200 fps is doable without danger but not something to do as a steady diet.
