My belated comments on one of my favorite movies:
Lee Van Cleef used a Remington New Model Army 44 and several scenes showed caps on the nipples.
The main reason the actors were using cartridge guns (conversions) is because the directors & producers wanted the guns to RELIABLY fire in each scene. There are not that many people that are really schooled in proper loading of the C&B revolvers and the movie makers did not want to have to reshoot an expensive scene because the gun didn't go off as planned.
It has never been documented that anyone in the Civil War ever carried loaded cylinders and swapped them out. The Union officers were to draw their sword if the shot the pistol dry. The Confederates just carried 1 to 4 more pistols in various holsters. The concept of a double gun rig (two holsters) probably came out of the fact that the pistols were slow to reload so either carry more pistols or carry a fighting knife or sword.
If you want to see realistic usage of the percussion revolvers you should see the movie "Ride with the Devil" by Ang Lee. There was plenty of frantic pouring powder and ramming balls during shootouts. Other than using brass framed revolvers, the realism of the movie was outstanding including the saddles, accoutrements, clothing and period dialog.
Lee Van Cleef used a Remington New Model Army 44 and several scenes showed caps on the nipples.
The main reason the actors were using cartridge guns (conversions) is because the directors & producers wanted the guns to RELIABLY fire in each scene. There are not that many people that are really schooled in proper loading of the C&B revolvers and the movie makers did not want to have to reshoot an expensive scene because the gun didn't go off as planned.
It has never been documented that anyone in the Civil War ever carried loaded cylinders and swapped them out. The Union officers were to draw their sword if the shot the pistol dry. The Confederates just carried 1 to 4 more pistols in various holsters. The concept of a double gun rig (two holsters) probably came out of the fact that the pistols were slow to reload so either carry more pistols or carry a fighting knife or sword.
If you want to see realistic usage of the percussion revolvers you should see the movie "Ride with the Devil" by Ang Lee. There was plenty of frantic pouring powder and ramming balls during shootouts. Other than using brass framed revolvers, the realism of the movie was outstanding including the saddles, accoutrements, clothing and period dialog.
