I don't think people realize how innovative this was at the time. The .454 was a brand new cartridge and it was still 65,000psi, not the watered down 50,000psi it is today. The push for cartridges more powerful than the .44Mag was really just beginning. The big compensator and under-barrel weight were intended to combat the as of yet unheard-of recoil. This was a heavy duty critter defense tool made 20yrs before Ruger made the Alaskan. Judging history by modern standards is like thinking the chariot was silly because it's not a Camry. Those "quaint" relics from the past are what made the world we live in today.