I will disagree that the cylinder latch acts as a brake for the cylinder. There is very little friction between that small point of contact and the cylinder, at least until it actually wears a groove in your cylinder. A more effective brake for the cylinder is a greased (instead of oiled) basepin. If, when cocked rapidly the cylinder latch skips the ramp/notch, then that is an indication of a weak latch spring, or other problems.
There is no reason for the drag mark other than poor timing, and I would also not advise making the timing adjustment unless you, or someone you know knows absolutely what is required and is properly equipped to do the procedure. In fact, there is at least one aftermarket manufacturer of parts to help remedy the built in timing problem on New Model Ruger single actions, and these are the same parts they use in competition tuning of revolvers.
On my Vaqueros, I did the modification of lengthening the back ramps on the cylinder latches by adding additional metal and then carefully filing the back ramp for proper timing and height, so the plunger in the hammer does not catch on firing. I also have a New Model SBH that has had a slightly different mod done, but to the same end. The Vaqueros are stainless, but they still got the drag marks, and I didn't like it, so I fixed them.
If you don't like the drag marks, the fixes are out there, and they are out there because someone other than yourself was disgusted by a marred cylinder.
