I'd carry a well made 1800's revolver like a SAA, Remington 1875, S&W Model 3, or a Merwin and Hulbert or a cartridge conversion of one of the C&B revolvers. I'd draw the line at using unmodified C&B revolvers unless that was literally my only choice. Cap jams are a bitch.
My 5 1/2" Colt mdl 1917 .45 acp revolver is the oldest gun I own. I wouldn't be afraid to carry it for defense - if that was the best I could come up with.
I carried my 2" S&W Model 12-2 Airweight .38 Special (shipped 1963) for years in the pocket of my uniform as a backup and off-duty gun. I finally retired it to the safe, but still carry my 4" S&W Model 65-1 .357 Magnum (shipped around 1977) which is the last revolver I carried on duty for my last week before retirement in 2017. (I had already cleaned the 4" S&W Model 686-6 that I was issued for turn-in.)
If I wasn't afraid of something happening to it I would still carry the S&W Model 1917 that my grandfather brought back from WW1 and my father carried while flying bombers in WW2.