Colt SSA are the best. Italy uses inferior metal is what I heard. The colts hold their value.
Howdy
I don't give a whole lot of credence to somebody who can't even get the initials correct. It is Single Action Army. SAA, not SSA.
For what it's worth, I have four Colt Single Action Army revolvers; two 2nd Gens and two 1st Gens. I currently only have one Uberti replica SAA, I used to have another but I sold it years ago, and I have several Ruger Vaqueros, and one old Blackhawk, and a few old Three Screw Blackhawks.
I prefer the details on a real Colt to an Uberti, there are several places where I feel the Colt is superior. The most important is the hardened insert that is pressed into the recoil shield of a Colt. This hardened insert is there to prevent the firing pin from peening over or raising a burr around its hole in the recoil shield.
As the firing pin 'finds its way' through the recoil shield, it can displace metal and raise a burr on the inside of the recoil shield. As I said I used to own another Uberti Cattleman. I bought it used, and it had such a bad burr raised around the hole that the first time I loaded live ammunition into it the cylinder jammed as the burr scraped across live primers. It was really pretty scary and I had the dickens of a time getting that revolver unloaded safely. That one had other problems so I eventually sold it. This photo is of the recoil shield on my remaining Uberti Cattleman. You can see where I have removed a little bit of metal to prevent a burr from rising again. I'm not saying that all Ubertis will have this problem, but the hardened insert of the Colt prevents a burr from rising at all.
Colt hammers are machined parts with the knurling applied the traditional way as a secondary operation with a knurling tool. Uberti hammers are castings, and the knurling is a cast in detail. To my thumb, the knurling tool leaves a sharper, crisper knurl, less likely to slip out from under my thumb if I get hot and sweaty. In this photo, the Uberti hammer is in the front, the Colt in the rear. For what it's worth, the cam on a Colt hammer is a separate part pressed into the hammer body, while the cam on the Uberti hammer is a cast in detail. If the gun is shot enough to wear down the cam, it is simpler to replace it on the Colt. (Yes, you would have to shoot it a great deal to wear down the cam)
Uberti rear sights mimic the old 1st Gen Colt 'V' groove. 2nd and 3rd Gen Colts have a squared off rear sight. My old eyes find it easier to use the squared off rear sight.
Colt still uses old fashioned bone Case Hardening for its frames. Yes, the colors do fade over time, this gun is over 40 years old. The protected area around the spring loaded cylinder latch shows how brilliant the colors once were.
Uberti does use a form of Case Hardening on the frame, but it is not the old fashioned bone Case Hardening. Bone Case Hardening is a labor intensive process, accounting for some of the extra cost of a Colt.
Yes, I admit these are fussy details, but they are part of what sets a Colt apart from an Uberti in my mind.
But I can certainly understand somebody not wanting to spend the money for a Colt. Uberti makes a solid, respectable pistol. No, the metal is not inferior, it is good arsenal grade steel.