but here lately I've been wanting a cowboy style revolver(were break top revolvers around then), chambered in a cowboy era cartridge.
The so-called "cowboy era" or "Wild West" is a very interesting area of firearms history. First off, accept that most of what you learned from movies or think you know about firearms in that era is not true. Secondly, many of the most popular cartridges of that era are no longer available.
First off, the 1866-1885 era, which is what you are typically talking about when referring to the "cowboy era". Remember, we had just finished a major war, which was one of the major catalysts (along with gold, free land, and the advent of transcontinental railroad) for the westward migration seen from 1865 until the 1890s. Many "cattlemen" were opportunists gathering herds that had scattered and gone feral during the war, other "cowboys" were what we would now call migrant workers, day laborers who worked for room and board and little more. Many were fugitives, homeless, or drifters returning from the war, and ranchers were offering a way to feed them and clothe them.
Yes, Smith and Wesson made top break revolvers that were very popular during the later part of that time period, as did H&R, Webley, US Revolver, and a whole boxload of makers who disappeared or were bought up by the big boys. Solid frame revolvers were sold by Remington, Colt, and many imported revolvers were also in the market. Many conversions of cap and ball revolvers were done commercially, as well as by gunsmiths around the country, and several "transition" firearms were sold by many makers (Colt sold a slightly modified 1861 Army revolver as the Model 1871 in .44 rimfire).
Next, early cartridges were fairly low powered by today's standards, many were rimfire black powder rounds, typically loaded with externally lubricated heeled lead bullets, and many did not make the transition to smokeless powder very well, if at all, and disappeared fairly quickly after they did. Also, cap and ball firearms were common. Whole volumes have been written about various makes of rifles and pistols, but there were a few common cartridges that, if not universal, were more common than others. Small calibers were available at that time, but because of the difficulties in cleaning them and the low energy transferred because of light projectiles they were not the first choice on the frontier. So while there were small caliber firearms around, they were not as common as today, think of popular cartridges as beginning with 40 caliber (.400") and going up from there. 41 Remington rimfire (popular in pocket guns and derringers), 41 Colt (both Long and Short), several 44 calibers (Henry, Colt, Webley, and S&W had several, and the 44 Merwin & Hulbert was very popular), and a selection of 45 caliber cartridges (Colt, Schofield, etc) and even some 50 caliber pistols. What we now consider to be "cowboy cartridges" (38-40, 44-40, 45 Colt) were not the only players on the block, just the survivors.
Much like Hollywood movies, CASS shooters are not always a reliable source for historical information. Many firearms popular in CASS were not available until much later than the period they are trying to depict. There are a few sources of reproductions of period firearms, but if you are a stickler for accuracy these still may not be fully satisfactory. Try Cimarron or Taylor' Firearms to start out.
http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/
http://www.taylorsfirearms.com/index.tpl
