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A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to find a Cimarron 1873 Peacemaker at my local gun shop. As usual when I find a nice 1873 clone it is hard to pass up. This particular model is called the “Evil Roy”. For those not familiar with Evil Roy he’s THE man in cowboy action shooting. His real name is Gene Pearcey. Gene was inducted into the SASS Hall of Fame back in 2006.
He consulted with various manufacturers of those guns from the 1800’s that are in use by competitors in the numerous SASS competitions across the country. In this case it’s the 1873 Colt Peacemaker clone sold by Cimarron. The Evil Roy is a competition revolver in your choice of .357 or 45 Colt. Of course it’s available in several barrel lengths. My example has a 4.75 inch barrel in 45 Colt.
It’s available in color case hardened/blue finish as well as polished stainless steel. You may not know that all Cimarron guns are made by Uberti to the specs dictated by Cimarron. Several changes are made which separates the Evil Roy model from the El Patron Uberti. The Cimarron competition revolvers such as this model have all the springs changed to Wolf brand springs. Another custom feature is all of the revolvers that leave the factory are examined and given an action job by one of two nationally known SAA gunsmiths before they are ever shipped. No Cimarron doesn’t share who those gunsmiths are.
“Evil Roy” engraved on the barrel.
When I got home with my new Cimarron I gave it a cleaning and lube then checked the trigger pull. The trigger pull on my example is 2.6 pounds. The trigger job they do on these is fantastic and smooth as butter. Bear in mind this is a competition gun so the standard models have trigger pulls that average about 3 1/2 — 4 pounds. They do have smooth actions so the pull doesn’t feel like 3 1/2– 4 pounds.
Cimarrons are made like the old Colts and can be considered true clones right down to the four clicks when the hammer is cocked. One small change of significance is the hammer has what Cimmaron calls a 1/4 cocking position which is closer to 1/8th inch. What this does is allow the shooter to load 6 rounds rather than the recommended 5 rounds on Colts. At the 1/8th position the firing pin does not protrude so there’s no way to fire that round under the hammer should the gun be dropped.
One complaint shooters have always had with the SAA and it’s clones is sight adjustment from the factory. Getting the sights zeroed used to be a chore on some guns. These days Cimarron has each revolver laser sighted and adjustments made at the factory. I found this true on mine which shot to point of aim and needed no additional adjustment. These revolvers are more accurate than most shooters can take advantage of.
There’s no doubt about it I do love the 1873 whether it’s a Colt or one of these high quality clones. I can’t leave out many other handguns from the mid to late 1800’s. Of course that also applies to the old lever actions like the Henry and the Winchesters that dominated in the later part of the 1800’s. Lastly I have to include the coach guns of the era.
I’m always encouraging fellow shooters to consider getting involved in shooting these old guns. They not only show the development of firearms during that time period but they are just plain fun to shoot. The MSRP on the Evil Roy is $908.00 but can be found on the street in the $800.00 range.
