Sorry for the late reply; I hadn't expected many comments. This board has been getting little attention lately, which is sad; I've probably learned more on CASCity than any other "cowboy gun" forums. Sorry to say I'm part of the problem; I haven't been posting much on here lately. The Coffinmaker must think me quite the fair-weather poster of late.
Interesting question by jd45 on the size of the chambers on Uberti vs. Standard, USFA, Colt, etc. I SUSPECT that Uberti's chambers are reamed a little larger than Standard and USFA. I say this only because, despite the high level of polish on both the Standard and the USFA premium chambers (shinier and arguably a higher standard of polish than Uberti used on that "Rooster"), the "Rooster" cases did fall out almost every time on their own, while the cases on the other guns were more reluctant to fall. I don't have PIN guages. I'm beginning to think I should attempt to acquire some with the zero money I have left in the bank (acquiring a Standard, two USFA Rodeos, and a USFA Premium in the space of a few months have wiped me out). I have received more questions via PM and email about chamber, throat, and bore diameters than about any other question. Unfortunately jd45, due to my aforementioned "damn the torpedoes" attitude towards high-priced single actions, I have no facts yet--just conjecture. But I surmise that the Uberti had more generous chambers than the other revolvers on the table that day.
That "Rooster" and the Uberti .44 were borrowed guns. The owner has had very good luck with every Uberti he's acquired over the last few years. I have not. My Cimarron (Uberti) Thunderer was made more recently than that "Rooster", and it was out-of-time as received. And even after getting that mostly situated, I was never able to get the chambers to line up properly at half-cock. Its predecessor, a Cimarron (Uberti) 7th Cav that I traded for the Thunderer was also poorly timed and rough as-received. I have the same problem (half-cock timing not lining up the chambers centered enough in the loading gate window) on that 1983 Colt 3rd Gen. I only say this to illustrate that I've received more than my share of misbehaving SAA-style revolvers, and it was a real pleasure to discover that my Standard and all three recently-acquired USFA's were perfectly timed with tight lockups and close barrel/cylinder gaps.
VAplinker, if I had been you, I'd have gone with the late series USFA too. Hopefully, Standard is in it for the long haul, and you can always (at least for now) save up for one. The late series USFA's were great guns. It is almost a toss-up between my Standard and my USFA Premium in quality, but they don't make USFA's any more. Ironically, I only ordered the Standard because I had "missed the boat" on USFA's back when they were still being made, and all the ones I'd seen for sale since USFA shut down were outrageously priced. So I resigned myself to never getting a USFA, but I didn't want to make the mistake again of passing on another all-machined, all-USA-made SAA-style revolver. So I quit even looking for a decently-priced, late USFA, and as soon as I got an email that Standard's SA was "available for immediate delivery", I fired off an order. I had no sooner done that when two all-USA-made USFA's at decent prices crossed my path in short order. So I bought them. And not long after the Standard arrived, a late USFA Premium was posted for sale on this very forum, again at a very reasonable price. So I bought it. And some of the stuff that I anticipated selling to offset this buying spree did not sell. And that's why I sit here typing comments on forums instead of measuring chambers with nonexistent guages---a broke (but not broken) man. Enjoy that USFA!