Calmex, that is one cool looking revolver!
WHO CARES wrote something about cylinder length on L frames versus N frames. I don't have an L frame, so I cannot measure it. Are L frame cylinders longer?
I had heard the "mud in the trenches" explanation for the elimination of the shrouded ejector rod, but realistically that was probably 20th hand at that point. The cost explanation makes more sense given how governments often work.