More show & tell. This is a modern reproduction of an 1858 Remington. Originally a black powder cap and ball revolver - meaning you remove the cylinder, stoke each chamber with FFFg black powder and jam a round lead .44 caliber ball down on top of it. That’s what the lever under the barrel is for. Then stick a little percussion cap on the corresponding nipple sticking out the back of the cylinder. One for each chamber. Shot it that way a fair amount and it was fun but really messy.
After the Civil War but not too long, self contained cartridges started coming into general use. The powder, projectile and percussion cap - now called a primer - is all in one nifty package. Since the cylinder can be removed a different one was developed that holds the cartridges. When the hammer drops it no longer strikes a percussion cap, rather it hits a firing pin in the cap that ignites the primer - each cylinder has one. Modern revolvers are different but for a generation or more these things were the technology of the era. I put a modern Howell 5-shot conversion cylinder in it and hand loaded some very, very mild .45 Colt loads with smokeless powder to approximate the originals. Eventually I'll work up a black powder cartridge load for it. This thing shoots like a dream - very accurate at 25 yards offhand and very little recoil. As deadly as a phaser at close range.
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Looks cooler when he does it: