Never even occurred to me to try this with the 1873 trapdoor Springfield that I grew up with.
Probably thought it was a dumb idea if I had thought of it.
Beware of the words “I wonder if you could...” when uttered by someone holding a firearm.
The Trapdoor would fire a shotgun shell which was issued to the troops for small game hunting so it will do it.
Basically black powder, wad, shot. It was sealed with a substance that hardened into a nice plug.