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Originally Posted by 44 AMP
And I don't think it was used at all, or only rarely back in the cap and ball days. If swapping the cylinders were common, it would be a much more featured item in both the real and fictional histories.
Having and using a second gun was much, much more common, and much more likely.
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This is correct. If you check the records from Colt and what few survive from Remington you well see that very few 'extra' cylinders were sold. Most of the ones that were sold ended up in cased sets.
Swapping cylinders in a cap and ball revolver is a 'Hollywood' phenomenon. It was common practice to carry as many revolvers as you could if you thought you needed the fire power.