Pretty neat that Corrections still uses wheelguns! Any particular reason why?

I am also curious if these were 2-piece barrels.

Thank God no one was hurt, that could have been catastrophic. My question is how do you shoot a revolver after the barrel has fallen off and not notice it

Looks like all the guns came from a bad lot, pretty discouraging that two guns that could have been used to save someone's life would fail like that. If I were shooting a S&W and the barrel fell off, it would take a LOT to restore my faith in S&W.