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Peter,
I think what your particular examples demonstrate is that there are a number of variables that affect the final velocity of a particular load. Barrel length is just one of them. Others might be cylinder/barrel gap, barrel diameter, chamber diameter,...and so on
I don't think your conclusion regarding the load is valid because you didn't (couldn't) control the other potential variables when testing that load in a variety of different guns.
In order to determine the 'optimum' barrel length for a load (in terms of velocity), you'd almost have to use a single gun, cutting the barrel between each test string and checking the results.
Even this would be of questionable use, since the optimum barrel length may (almost certainly does) vary from gun to gun for a particular load.
Of course the other problem with determining your optimum barrel length by cutting down a single gun, is that by the time you've figured it out, you've already chopped the gun too short.
Given the notable velocity increase in carbine's chambered for most handgun rounds, I'd venture to guess that ANY of the handguns you listed would demonstrate higher velocities if you screwed on longer barrels.
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