I have had my hands on several Colt SAAs made in the last decade. Not a whole lot of difference between them and a Uberti. At least not enough to justify (for me) paying three-four times the price of a Uberti for a gun that will do the exact same thing.
well, we should compare the finish, like the sanding in the steel, for instance, between COLT and UBERTI:
in modern Uberties, I can see today obvious sanding paper marks, and unpleasant tone, in blued parts like Cylinder and barrel, when compared to excellent COLT ROYAL BLUE, whose main characteristic today is not the polishing, but the sanding, or more exactly, the lack of sanding marks, giving a delicious umblemished soft touch in the finish, with a very deep deep deep BLUEING, that in my opinion only COLT gives to their Royal Blue Finish.
the COLT case hardening, is also years apart from UBERTI, which, by the way, has improved in the last years, but that just cant compare with COLT´s, though I prefer the old Colt casehardening to the new one.
the steel is excellent in both COLT and UBERTI, though, in my opinion, Colt gives less troubles in the bolt stop and hammer notches. I had to replace my Uberti internal parts, but never had to do it with my many times shot 3rd generation COLTS.
I wont repeat the many problems with the rifling in UBERTIS, but some shooters here were so desperate with the poor results in accuracy terms with BP and lead bullets, that they started using balls, that solved the problem and were accurate. I am talking about people competing in 25 meters bullseye historical matches. Very serious matter, no smokeless, no jacketed bullets allowed.
so you are not just bying a brand, by buying COLT. You are buying, specially today, excellent AMERICAN CRAFTMANSHIP. And believe me, that the "MADE IN USA" logo, is still very respected in the World today.
Americans are still known the world over today for their excellency in manufacturing, specially, hand tools and complicated machinery.
pd: Uberti has improved greatly chamber dimensions differences in the last years, but I still dont trust them for top accuracy.