I'm enjoying my copy, especially the reviews of some of the more obscure revolvers.
Be prepared to have some of your pre-conceived notions adjusted about what guns were really effective and those that were not.
If we were to shoot our ACW repros the way they were intended to shoot, they'd be a lot less popular than they are. We've refined the guns and loading techniques to a high degree.
The problems encountered during Schiffers evaluation are exactly the same as those we experience today - fragmenting caps jamming the actions, problems seating conicals, bore fouling, poor quality control of critical measurements, poor sights, poor materials, etc. His examples (more than one in some cases) were in VG+/Exc condition, not beaters.
Apparently a lot of cylinders and barrels did not survive proof testing as makers took shortcuts to meet pressing demands for orders. Another problem was the low quality of US iron at the time - too much carbon. The best material came from England.
All the shooting for the book was done with one paw, as it would have been done in the era. Soldiers then were not given much in the way of training and most had no prior experience with revolvers or repeating arms of any kind. Accuracy expectations were low, despite glowing claims by approving Officers of ridiculous accuracy at long ranges.
One of the myths he dispels is the unlikelihood of a Trooper changing cylinders in combat with any gun. There is no record of extra cylinders being made available and no cylinders floating around minus the gun. No soldier was going to cap a cylinder in combat, on or off the gun. Carrying a capped cylinder would be akin to carrying a grenade with the pin pulled. Some guns tested were very difficult to cap under any circumstances!
Clint Eastwood might have changed cylinders on his Remington, but doing so with a Colt ran the risk of losing the wedge or dropping something critical, like the front end of the gun. Simply not practical.
I have a copy of the NRA "Rifleman' magazine showing an Austrian Navy (!) Colt '51 with it's holster. There is provision on the holster for an inline capping tool and attached pouch with a spare cylinder. This is the only such evidence of issuing a spare cylinder I have ever run across.
Something that surprised me were the guns that had the nipples screwed in from INSIDE the chambers! Just what that was supposed to achieve escapes me. These were also amongst the most difficult to cap, suggesting that Army procurement measures were less than thorough.