Unless you plan to be national or world champion, I wouldn't worry about what they are using. When and if you get that good, you will have gone through a lot of guns (and money), so you will know what really works for you. As for starting out, I just went through all this to get a full complement of guns to start cowboy shooting. I found after weeks of looking at sites such as gun broker .com, that the good Marlins (JM) stamped and pre Remington, were way over priced. (1500.00+) The 1873s by Uberti were and still are priced reasonable. I just paid $1080.00 for my new 1873 case hardened 20 inch octagon barreled short rifle. I then had almost $500.00 in an action job, short stroke kit and leather wrap. I have seen on some web sites like pioneer guns that they offer the same rifle I have with an action job and short stroke kit along with all the goodies, (less leather wrap) for the same price. If I had it to do all over again, I would go this way to save the headaches and cost of shipping it all over the place to get the work done. Believe me, if you get a new Uberti without an action job, it will break your fingers after a few quick cycles with the leaver! I sent my rifle to the best and believe me, you WILL want an action job. If the serial number on mine wasn't the same, I would not believe it was the same rifle.
Either way you go, good luck and happy shooting! D. D.
PS. I just noticed a post about this further down the page. It is "Uberti's new competition ready rifle" take a look. D. D.