General Zod
TGT Addict
Good point and I agree. But...
...whether the recreational shooting was blanks or live ammo probably doesn't matter. Also, we don't know what style of shooting was being used for the camera as the film was being shot.
Typically, what breaks SAAs and their clones is fanning. People who have seen too many 50s westerns are likely to severely abuse those revolvers (and chew up the outside meat of their weak side hand, too) which can result in breakage in a surprisingly short amount of time. Have a look at some of the insane modifications that are done to fast-draw competition revolvers just to keep them from falling apart.
Somehow, though, I think this is all beside the point. The pistol clearly worked when Baldwin killed that woman. I don't understand what was going through the mind of anyone who chose to damage a piece of evidence during testing. There may be a good reason but I can't bring it to mind at this moment.
My understanding is that since he was claiming the hammer dropped without the trigger being pulled, the testing lab first determined that his claim was impossible, then proceeded to figure out exactly what kind of damage would be necessary to make it possible.
Baldwin's lawyers immediately jumped on that as "See! It is possible! It's a broken gun!" and for some reason were given credence...despite the obvious fact that the weapon wasn't in that condition when he killed his victim with it.