It would be safe if shot with waxed bullets, but that's the only way to safely do it, I use to shoot in fast draw comp. years ago, and we had a good time, and became very proficient shooting from the hip, if you had a side gun for this use, and didn't mine getting a little wax in the barrel, it could be a lot of fun, and safe to do so, IMHO I think the 1873 SAA is the best all around natural pointing handgun ever made, along with several of the black powder models and lends its self to point and shoot/ instinct shooting very well, the key here is removing the lead bullets and replacing them with wax.
tEN wOLVES