You probably have done it but make sure the end of the cylinder pi and the cylinder pin hole in the barrel are completely clean of oil - no different that someone oiling the chambers of their 22 revolver and then wondering why they have trouble getting the casings out.
All of my Uberti's have had tight cylinder pins - I bought a more vintage '60 lArmy this past winter that was "new" that Uberti made for Navy Arms - the same issues. I removed all of the oil and just did an easy buffing on the pin and inside of the barrel pin hole and it works much better now.
Can't answer your question on the pricing of them and the imperfects you mention - all of my Uberti's - and I own six of them have all been very nice with excellent fit/finish as far as assembled. I know nothing of Uberti's marketing as far as selling what we would cal "seconds" - maybe they do or maybe their quality control varies enough that some things pass through? I bought a Uberti 1859 C& B 44 "carbine" that was Nib - a 2002 production. I have no rea complaints on it at all but when I got it in my hands, my first impression was that it was not the quality of their handguns that I have purchased in the last ten years. It's nice and function perfectly - my 45 Colt conversion cylinder slips in with tight tolerances and works fine so no real complaints that I ca put my finger on - I just felt that it wasn'the same as my newer handguns 0 ossify it was the wood 0 OK but not much grain pattern on it but that has nothing to do with the functionalists or enjoyment of it. In the one run though, I have no issues or complaints on my handguns and would buy ore . . . will buy more . . in the future. Just like other brands of guns - pistol, rifle, etc - sometimes you have to do a little bit of work to get them up to what you want.
Good luck with your brace of '60s - enjoy and have fun!
