Filipinashooter: Sounds like your friend's revolver was built to tighter than usual tolerances, likely at the barrel gap. This can, and does, happen with Colts, s&w, etc. The cheapness or quality of the steel has nothing to do with the expansion rate; all metal expands when it gets hot. Five minutes at the gunsmith or a call to armscor would have likely solved the problem with that gun.
I've been looking at these for a while, and will likely buy one, but I'm going to get the real colt first. One thing I'm hesitant about regarding these guns is the lockup isn't colt tight. The ones I've handled have the same amount of wiggle at full lockup, or only slightly less, than when they're not in full lockup, reminiscent of a Smith & Wesson. I don't know if this is by design, or a function of cheaper production. However, I have seen some fairly good evidence suggesting that they are built based on Colt specs, so I'm unsure as to why they wouldn't lock up as tight. If anyone has any insight there, please let me know.
The biggest reason I haven't jumped at the armscor, other than being a bigger fan of Colts than of Colt clones, is that they use a transfer bar system. My primary motivation with the armscor would be to make a Fitz special without harming a colt (they aren't making any more of 'em), but with the transfer bar there isn't much hammer sticking out once it's been bobbed.