Looking at the photo of the cylinder they are useful for stopping bits of exploded cap from jamming up the cylinder rotation and bits of cap dropping into the mechanism.
Might make a few and give them a go.
hartcreek... how are these illegal for hunting?
Or was it something else you were thinking of?
In New Zealand you can hunt anything with anything or so it seems (bow-hunting fish is the biggie at present), the Kiwi's are very big on trekking up mountains for days to shoot anything with fur or feathers, hell some of 'em even eat what they shoot.
It is very hard here to buy pistol ammo that isn't High Velocity hollow-point, but you can't hunt with a pistol(?).
Cheers
Gaz