Not a stupid question at all.
They work like stink, however when you get a dummy or drill round in the chamber it just stops firing.......obviously.
For the punter it will work as you can open the drum to load it if need be and then just insert 3 , 4 , or 5 drill rounds and "Bob's yur uncle".
I suggested it to the owner, who is a first class machinist, but he had no idea of what the follower looked like and he had already sent me the drum to look at and see if I had the parts.
You can also use the drum without the follower but then you have three or four live rounds rattling around in the drum feed lips