Stanton's advice is excellent. Starr is a great starting point.
I hunt birds and train flushing dogs using a cap lock SxS. Having the caps fall off has not been a problem for me. Once the gun is loaded it really isn't that different from shooting a side by side. The half cock position was designed to be very safe, and it seems to work well, it is also faster to reach full cock from it and you won't accidentally end up on half cock on the shot.
Perhaps because most Spaniel flushes are pretty much snap shots, I have not been successful with cocking both triggers at once. I hunt with my thump on the right hammer and my trigger finger on the side of the guard. At flush, the response is about like pushing the safety forward as you mount the gun. (If the dog is clearly working a bird fairly close I do cock both barrels.) Since loading is fairly time consuming, having that second barrel ready for a follow up flush has often proved to very helpful, much more than two shots on one flush. Most often on woodcock, or preserve birds, sometimes on grouse. The bird will often be obscured by the cloud of smoke, so you may well not be able to make a quick second shot anyway.
Real black powder makes a huge difference for wing shooting. The substitutes lag, and the lag isn't consistent. Obtaining caps and powder is it's own challenge these days. I backed into muzzleloading fowling, but it is a lot of fun.
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