I bought the same revolver as my first foray into BP a few years ago. I have never had an interest until I saw one dirt cheap on Armslist. That one Armslist add was the bug that bit me. I read up and saw that brass frames could be a problem, so I passed on the used one and found a brass frame .44 “Navy” on sale for $150 at cabelas. I originally bought it as a wall hanger that I would occasionally shoot, but fell in love with BP shooting. I’ve several hundred rounds through it now. 20 gns of 3f, with the occasional cylinder of 25 gn loads, works for me. At least on my revolver this leaves no deformation of the recoil shield, and both loads are accurate but the 25 gn charge is most accurate (I don’t use a wad or filler is probably why).
It’s a cheap enough gun. Do what you want with it I say. I’m actually a fan of the 8” barrel but to each their own. I wouldn’t think twice about cutting the barrel if that’s what you want. It’s literally the cheapest C&B pistol there is you’re out almost nothing. Im looking at getting a Dragoon repro when I get back to the states so I can launch some real C&B loads.