Mule brain,,the question remains,,are there children in your home? If there is it's probaly a bad idea to leave loaded c&b revolvers laying around even stashed up high where you think they can't get to. If you don't have any kids around then by all means do what you want. Me personally I've got kids,so if I've got an auto I don't keep a round in the chamber,safety on, revolver (empty but with a speed loader nearby).........as for using a cap and ball for self-defense ,home protection (great,better than nothing),,,personal carry, like in CHL (bad idea). If used for home protection and there's no kids around I'd have more than one,2 at the minimum, .44s , and have something else stashed elsewhere if you run out(like a shotgun)forget about a fast reload,,,,the guy talking about a pair of walkers sounds like more of a man than I am. 1860s would be more like it. Here's another idea I bet some of you never thought of, but you will if your house has ever been broke into and your stuff taken..........Which would you rather have stolen,, a $150 dollar 1851 Navy or a $1,000 dollar custom 1911? or a nice glock?? Keep something cheap for home protection like a .357 revolver (rossi or cheap Smith, there still out there.) That way if it does get stolen ,you haven't lost much. Keep your really nice stuff secure and hidden away. Don't kid yourself a cap and ball .44 will kill you just as dead as a hi-cap 9mm. Ask all the people that have been killed by them over the last 150 years.