Was it safe to carry the S&W Model 3 with all the chambers loaded?

[Old Henry616]

Or was it generally carried with the hammer on an empty chamber like the Colt SAA usually was?

[RoyceP]

The S&W Model 3 can be closed with the hammer resting between cartridges. So you can carry six cartridges.

[Drydock]

You can do the same thing with a cone firing pin Colt.  But in neither case would I consider it "Safe" by todays standards.  It was the #3 and the Richards conversions that showed the Army the need to carry 5.  With the relative ease of reloading no one thought much of it back then.