When S&W came out with the .38/44 and the Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman designed and marked for it, Colt announced that their Official Police .38 would handle the new .38/44 load, which was just a super hot loaded .38 Special approaching what would later be called the .357 Magnum, but not quite. Anyway, it wasn't marked on the gun or in the manual, but Colt said it could handle it.
Not 100% relevant to our discussion, but just a side note that I was reminded of by this conversation.
