So initially I wanted a ruger blackhawk .45 then decided I was going with standard loads and looked at replica 1873s', saw a conversion and was tempted an 1860ish sort by Uberti, then read up on BP ballistics and decided to go with bp after hours and hours of reading about different cleaning tricks, different loads, target range accounts, plinking videos, yada yada...
For what I was prepared to spend on a nice new/barely used .44 mag or .45 sa or if a deal had been found a super redhawk or raging bull .454 I have a pile of revolvers and leather for all of them.
So after I acquired two 1858 Piettas and one 1851 pietta I scored an 1860 Pietta on sale at the big C. Four holsters and one belt, lead, caps, powder, wrench, caps, powder measure/funnel all for about what one .44 mag would set me back.
What about power? Personally I'm going with a 30/30 and hopefully trading out my work scattergun for a single shot exposed hammer break open shotgun. Really want to find an old topper with a long snout, full choke, raised rib, and 3"chamber... but that's me.
Point being that the 1858 is to this enthusiast a must. The ONE to have and most of the time I'm not willing to tote more than one without a conveyance of some sort. At these prices the replicas allow a much broader economic strata access to collecting.