denster:
Without access to the original pistols, or authoritative information on the point, I suppose it will remain moot.
I do not have your level of confidence in the Italian gunmakers, having seen a number of really odd things in their reproductions: some due to their overall quality control (?), some due to their lack of understanding of the reasons for doing things in a certain way as opposed to the most convenient and/or economic way.
One of my more notable adventures with 'high grade' Italian guns was my attempt to procure one of the Pedersoli double hammer rifles (sold as the Kodiak) in .45-70 as a shooter (sigh). They are not inexpensive, but not as much so as the best Continental DRs. I ordered one. On arrival, it looked like a million dollars, but on inspection, the bores looked like they had been gnawed-out by rats. In addition, the groove diameters of both barrels were .455", rather than the standard for the cartridge (and it is a U.S. cartridge for which our standards for bore and groove diameter should be used) of .457" to .458". To be fair, I shot it, after taking the trouble to determine from Pedersoli exactly what ammunition they had been zeroed with, and at what range (300 grain Winchester HP at 50 meters). At that range, and with that ammunition, both barrels showed tipping of the bullet, and grouped not at all, individually or together - at 75 yards, the bullets keyholed. I conducted an extensive correspondence with both the importer/distributor and Pedersoli in Italy. Pedersoli was not impressed or dismayed. The distributor, to his credit, shipped me THREE more sets of barrels (all his remaining stock) for inspection and measurement (knowing I'm a barrelmaker). Not one of them was any better than the first. Again, the importer, being an honest man, allowed me to return the rifle for a full refund. All of this, plus my full correspondence with Pedersoli was reported on the NitroExpress web site.
Another example of the Italian way of doing things is the recently introduced (and dropped) Beretta repro of the Colt Lightning rifle, which they chose to make without a bolt latch (!), permitting the breech to be opened even with the hammer cocked and a round in the chamber: why did they think Colt (and every other maker of slide-action arms I know of) built a slide latch into the guns?
The fact that your set of the H-B pistols is as high-numbered as they are (and I appreciate the information) makes me think that the condition I object to may be true of all of the type, and that I'll have to give up the idea of buying them once and for all.
I actually have inspected and shot a pair of these guns, but was not aware of the condition I see as a problem until I finally began looking for them seriously.
PRD1 - mhb - Mike