I think Colt was over-compensating for the complaints about the '92 New Army-
"Oh, weak cartridge you say? Fragile lockwork, you say? Well, here, take THIS!"
Id like to score one someday, though my Dad has a nice S&W 1917. The last Colt '17 I saw in person had a "squished" barrel that looked like someone had over-tightened it in a vice.....shame too because the rest of the gun was primo.
I probably still should have got it to rebarrel, but the seller was asking a reasonable amount for a non-squished gun, not one that needed a barrel. Ugh.