Steel Horse,
I would want the 1st Model, 'cause my NCOWS personna would be that of my great grandfather, who MIGHT/COULD have bartered into one (they were actually issued to the 1st Mississippi Cavalry), and it seems that the Confederates lacked the capability of making cartridge weapons that used primers ... which for both reasons leaves the 1st Model in .50 cal. I understand, for instance that they could not reload Spencer ammo, which mens that that they only could get ammo for them through 'battlefield donations' ... IF the unit they fought had been issued Spencers (or Sharpes). A dicey situation I don't think a normal soldier would rely on ... like carrying a Kalishnakov in Afghanistan and relying on ammo from 5% of the enemy fallen troops
It will probably be next spring before I could even find the money for a down payment, which is much like buying a used car ... and then it will be another $1K when the weapon is done and ready to be shipped ... but I have thought this through, and the only options for a 2nd Fla. Cavalry would be a some kind of muzzleloader, probably a shotgun or rifle ... and muzzleloaders are not my favorite thing ....