‘It was a cap and ball revolver. “
I wasn’t aware that cap and ball revolvers used cartridge casings. Thanks for the update.
For films, they usually use a cartridge conversion cylinder installed in a cap and ball revolver to easily load it with blank cartridges instead of loading it muzzle loader style with black powder and a paper or foam wad in place of the bullet. To fire a cap and ball pistol, the hammer hits the cap igniting the powder inside the cylinder. It’s where the term “Pop a cap” came from, a phrase used as far back as the Civil War.
I have a number of cap and ball revolvers and have fired thousands of rounds out of them, but rarely have had a misfire, which means the cap (primer) failed to ignite and discharge the lead ball (bullet).