I have XL hands and the big old Ruger Bisleys with 5 1/2 barrels fit me perfectly. I shoot duelist and DD and they work great. They are balanced perfectly for my shooting with smokeless and BP. I tried a number of guns over the years and immediately zeroed in on the OMV Bisley in 45 Colt. Built stout and with the occasional cleaning always work great.
I had been shooting "regular" handled Rugers while shooting two handed and they felt fine but as soon as I switched to one handed, the Ruger Bisley was the better choice.
The Rugers are my normal gun but my Cimarron Open Top Armies in 44 Colt are a hoot to shoot and also fit my larger hand perfectly. Style over function yet they function like I need them too.
If you are patient and lucky you can find these for sale on GB in the $450 range.
And you're right when you say, "the CAS guys seems to spend more time smiling and less time scoring targets than the run and gun crowd." I would change that to..."smiling and BSing and heckling and joking around while encouraging the guy they are competing against and having an overall GREAT time. When costuming is as big a part of this game as the guns are for many people, how "stick-in-the-mud" serious can we take this? Fun Fun Fun is this game.
Welcome! Enjoy your time playing cowboy. I know I do.