If you use a FLGR that doesn't come apart or require a pin, such as a Wilson Combat FLGR, you can break down your gun just fine and dandy, in the field or out, with no tools. Just like with the stubby, you depress the spring end cap and rotate the barrel bushing.
I think the original designers of the 1911 had it right and the full length rod just makes the gun harder to maintain while giving no real benefits.
Actually, JMB used them in several prototypes, but the 1911 really wasn't his gun, but a gun that had the hands of the US Military all over it. They told him what they wanted and he made the changes. It isn't his 'masterpiece' as many claim, an illegitimate child of his. So, JMB did use them, even if they didn't go into 1911 production.