At the time [early 1970s] a couple of pals of mine were big-time experimenters with the .45-plus concept, which to my mind mostly resulted in a .45ACP that recoiled more, had more muzzle blast, and was harder on brass. I got to do a good bit of the testfiring, using both handloads made from 7.62 Nato brass and factory experimental loaded ammo from Shelbyville, IN coincidental to Lee Jurras' .44 Auto Mag development.
Upon being asked what I thought of the hotrodded .45 round, I admitted that it worked to a reasonable degree of reliability, but the only serious use I could think of for it was as a carry handgun in bear country for someone who preferred a semiauto to a revolver or [better!] shorty shotgun.
On being asked *if you could have anything you wanted chambered in this caliber, what would it be* [they were pushing for a factory .45 Super chambering of the Ruger Blackhawk at the time] I thought a bit and came up with two picks: the 1950's.45 NAACO Brigadeer pistol design, which was a sort of 4-pound .45 version of the Browning Hi-Power, and for a bottom-barrel chambering of the old .22 Hornet/.410 shotgun Ithaca M6 survival rifle/shotgun combo, now made by Springfield.
I really couldn't come up with a third choice in which the cartridge would be a particular asset, though a .45 Sooper Luger and the .44 Auto-Mag actions were kicked around. I went back to work in bear country, armed as the law required, and my answers for bear problems varied from 83/8- barrelled S&W .44 magnum M29 revolvers, the 4-inch barrelled M57 or M58 in .41 Mag, or a short 12-gauge shotgun, usually a Remington 870. In 1988 gun writer Dean Grennell did a couple of articles on his own .45 Super, [he used .451 Detonics brass] and around 1994 Ace Custom .45’s in Cleveland, Texas filed to trademark the .45 Super as a brand name designation.
Flash forward to the mid-1990s, and Indiana okayed deer hunting with handguns IF the weapons had a 4-inch barrel AND used a cartridge over .357 diameter and longer than 1.6 inches in length. .45 Super didn't make it, but .45 Win Mag did, and .45 Win Mag cases cut down to 1.1635 were both legal and were short enough to feed in a M1911 pistol magazine- now known to Hoosier handgunners as the *.45 Whitetail.*