This may not be direct answers to your questions but maybe it will help some.
When I started I bought 2 Ruger Vaqueros, a Rossi(LSI Puma) lever gun, and a Baikal double shotgun.
They all functioned well out of the box. The shotgun was stiffer than a board but it functioned well. The only work that was done on these guns ,over a year after I bought them, was lighter hammer springs in the pistols, and some honing on the rifle. As you shoot these guns they will "loosen up" some on their own.
The Italian clones are a little different. They need a little more "smith attention, mainly because QC is not A-1. I don't mean they are inferior to the above mentioned guns , they may need just a bit more attention
(By the way, 3 of my main match guns are Italian).
In my experience, of the labeled Uberti's, Cimmarron, or EMF, seems to be the best when it comes to fit ,finish, and function out of the box.