What should I know about single action revolvers?

to fire:

cock hammer back 1/2 way

open loading gate

load desired number of rounds

close gate

fully cock hammer

fire

repeat last two steps till the cylinder is empty

to unload

cock hammer back half way

open loading gate

move cylinder in line with ejector rod

eject the casing

repeat last two steps

to clean, follow this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxlxhy_UsGY

you should clean your gun before firing it for the first time

Good points above.

This isn't a "before you start" thing, or even something you want to try until you've fired it enough to be familiar, but......One of the joys of a SA revolver, if you're using it for hunting, is that you can pull on both the trigger and the hammer as you c0ck it (Don't let your thumb slip!!) and take your finger off the trigger while still holding the hammer back. That'll muffle all those clicks that you otherwise get when pulling back the hammer on a SAA.

Does the hammer have a pointy firing pin? I as because many of the replica's actually have a modern 'transfer bar' - and this means you do not have to carry the hammer on an empty chamber. You can tell this - if the hammer is flat and stikes a bar that sits between the hammer and firing pin - it's modern. If the hammer has a point that actually hits the bullet primer - yeah - you want that chamber empty.

Get some dummy rounds [ aka snap caps ] and pratice loading fireing and unloading in a safe manner. This will get you fimmiler with proper opperation .Make shure you have no real live ammounition anywhere near.