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by User23 1775 days ago
You load all six chambers, or five if it’s an antique without a firing pin safety. Typically this is accomplished by pouring the powder charge into the front of the cylinder and then placing a lead ball on top of it and ramming it into place, although one can also remove the cylinder altogether with some models and load it externally.

The end result is you can get 5-6 shots off quickly, but reloading will take rather a lot longer than with a cartridge firearm. This is one reason people carried two revolvers in the old West. Needless to say they’re of little interest to criminals, but fairly popular amongst sportsmen and re-enactors and such.