I have bought, used and worked on replicas by most of the major makers. Uberti, Pedersoli, and Pietta are considered to be top notch by most folks. ASM was always hit or miss and Palmetto is a pariah.
As for the various models, none are perfect but the closest are the various Colt models. With the exception of the Patersons and Roots, I have worked on evry model of Colt available and they are all close to the originals and easy to get working or repair. The Remington copies are about the same. It is not a question of new vs old steels or manufacturing techniques, it is a question of design. The design is the same whether the steel is new or old and as such has some drawbacks. If a design is weak, ie open top revolver, than it will be weak no matter what it is made from. Granted, harder steels will allow it to wear better but eventually it will need retiming or repair if it is used much. (The same can be said of S&W or modern Colt revolvers, the ones that get used, wear out - eventually.) The Colts sopies are for me the easiest to work on, they come apart well and go back together easy. Parts are well made and can be fitted with ease. The few Remington copies I worked on were a bit harder for me but I was using Colt techniques and trying to adapt them.
The biggest problem I find with the Italian copies is the cones, getting replacement cones is a pain and I wish they would tighten the QC so the problem would go away.
My favorites are the various models of the 1860s. I consider them my go to clones but I also have and use others. The Dragoons, as has been pointed out, were and still are heavy hitters. They went through a series of variations starting in 1847 and continuing through about 1860 when the belt model 44 was introduced. The 36s came out with the 1851, the first practical belt model revolver, and culminated with the 1861. The pocket models on the 31 frame were the most numerous of all the Colts and were built from 1848 through the 1870s. But with all the variations, Colts used the same basic action in each of them. Once he got away from the V mainspring they are all about the same and many parts are usable in a variety of models.
The Colt factory was trying to get military contracts and became responsixe to compliant from the people who used the revovlers. The fragile Patterson was supplanted by the larger Walker, The Walker, which got Colts back on their feet as a manufacturer, recieved a lot of complaints from the field and was improved to become what we call the Dragoons. And the Dragoons were changed over time.
Enough rambling, some of the Italians make a good product and with some work they are a lot better.
