THIS^^^.
From reading a number of the threads on this site regarding buying from Midway (either Uberti or Pietta) vs buying from Taylor's, Cimarron, or DGW, I have come away with this little nugget: extra money will get you a seller that will likely inspect the weapon before shipment and get you better support after the sale (especially for returning/replacing a defective weapon). Other than that, you are getting the same weapon as shipped from the factory (although there may be an increased chance of finding a defect on a purchase from Midway). I seriously doubt that any of these sellers have QC inspectors embedded at the factory (onsite inspectors aren't cheap, so you better have the volume and margins to pay the cost). From my own very limited personal experience, my Pietta 1860 from Midway had a very small burr on the loading plunger. Other than that, the fit and finish was very good (no defects visible to the naked eye) and there were no discernible mechanical issues.
If someone thinks these companies are manufacturing different quality versions of the same pistol, then they have never seen a production machine shop in operation. None of these companies have the volume to justify it. Having spent decades selling CNC equipment to manufacturers - from small mom & pop shops to automotive, aerospace, and in-between, you get an understanding of their operations and production requirements to meet their customer needs. Producing identical parts is the one and only goal. It's the same everywhere - setup time, labor, and out of spec parts are big cost factors. It's not just QC for meeting buyer part specifications, it's QC feedback for machine programming, part fixturing/setup, and operator training. Programming a machine to make a lower quality part is a real production killer - in fact it's nuts. Even having the QC dept sort parts to "A" parts, "A-" parts, "B+ parts", etc., is a production killer. What we don't know is the capability of the CNC machines being used. That some sellers feel the need to do their own QC on what the manufacturers ships them is a good indicator.
Lastly, CNC machines that will produce and QC each and every part to under 0.001" (with closed loop feedback for process adjustment) have been around for years. If you have the right equipment (and operator training), you can in fact produce duplicate CNC parts that are better than what the finest craftsmen can make. But... you have to justify the equipment cost. If "close enough" meets your market requirements then it's going to be hard to spend the extra money. So, in our hobby we pay the price for the ticket and see how the ride turns out, and we sometimes have to do repairs for defects that the factory missed.
