I made this shitty image on paint just to give you an idea...

The top breaks open to reload. The Schofield used in the OP is one such design. The Webley I posted above being the other most notable one, though there are others out there. It isn't used much because it's not as sturdy a design. The Dan Wesson I posted with the large barrel weight uses a swing-out cylinder, which is what you're probably more familiar with. There are other designs, but they're all far more obsolete than top break and swing-out cylinders.

Attached: NAA top break.jpg (1600x1200, 1.19M)

I always thought they went to the side

You would not believe the variations in form and function that have been created over the centuries.
What used to be more common was loading gates, like the one seen on this one:
youtube.com/watch?v=glK-IWYBuJU
This one is actually neat because when you open the loading gate, the trigger will rotate the cylinder but not actuate the hammer, so it's actually faster to load and unload than most others of that kind (where you'd have to manually turn the cylinder after putting it into half-cock).
Others, like the (shit) Rohm revolvers, you remove the pin from the center of the cylinder and then take the entire cylinder off the gun to punch out the spent casings and load in new ones. One such revolver is what was used in the assassination attempt on Reagan which left James Brady paralyzed and eventually claimed his life.

Attached: Rohm revolver.jpg (1280x720, 124K)

Attached: 1541450469356.gif (240x176, 912K)

Jesse James would make that ugly fucker no problem. Probably cost you 10K but hey it's expensive to be a pretentious asshole.

He said it's for a fantasy film... Just make a shroud. Unless you plan on putting a LOT of rounds through it in a very short period of time (I hope not, otherwise that's a lot of reloads) aluminum should do just fine. Find someone with a 5 axis mill.

Attached: Score S&W 686-629 revolver muzzle weight.jpg (729x1023, 83K)

thanks my dudes

put it in the barrel

Then that would just make the hinge just for show.

why does sticking a big metal chunk to the barrel improve shooting?

Shouldn't a big iron like that weigh plenty already?

It'd be better for pistol whipping people, like the pommel on a sword, the poity bit at the bottom of the wing would crack skulls.

A couple reasons:
1. More mass means more energy to move it. All those small muscle twitches as you look down the sights end up causing less movement for the same amount of energy transferred into the pistol away from what you're aiming at.
2. Reduces felt recoil and muzzle flip.
It's not something you see too much anymore, but it used to be really common. These days, you mostly see it on super high end .22 pistols used for Olympic-style shooting sports.

That looks ultra retarded.

>OP not knowing how the fuck guns work.
Is he Californian?

Not everyone is born knowing this shit, user. If you're explaining gun related stuff to a total noguns, then act like a proper ambassador and try to take advantage of "teachable moments", rather than taking potshots.

you simply unscrew the pivot pin

Attached: pic unrelated.jpg (800x1200, 299K)

I thought that was asparagus.