Best Of The West

Cimarron Evil Roy Model P With Kirkpatrick Holster

Let's face it. Single-action shooters have never had it so good. Regardless of your game, there are single-action revolvers to meet your needs. We have heavy-frame, big-bore sixguns for handgun hunters and standard size guns for cowboy action shooters and general plinkers. There are also several really good pistolsmiths who make their living customizing single actions for every need imaginable.

If you're a single-action shooter, things just couldn't be better, and an example of this fine state of affairs is the gun designed by cowboy action shooter Evil Roy.

Evil Roy is the SASS alias of Gene Pearcey of Durango, Colorado. In addition to being a top contender at all the cowboy matches, Pearcey is also an excellent shooting instructor who has established his own school for those interested in getting started in cowboy shooting or for current competitors who are interested in improving their shooting skills.

Some time back Pearcey began to consider the guns available to cowboy shooters. Many of these guns did not have the reliability of function or quality of sights that are important to competitive shooting. He talked with several companies about his ideas of improving the single-action revolver before settling on Cimarron F.A. Inc., Dept. ST, P.O. Box 906, Fredericksburg, TX 78624; 830-997-9090; www.cimarron-firearms.com.

(Left) The Evil Roy revolver is a very faithful rendering of the traditional single action all the way down to its Colt-style hammer. (Right)The Evil Roy Model P wears Cimarron's Special Gunfighter one-piece walnut grips; they can be had smooth or checkered.

Speaking of Cimarron, Pearcey said, "...their guns are built on the best gun steels using state of the art CNC machines in an ultramodern factory. They were also willing to spend the time and money to develop what I wanted. The result is their Evil Roy version of the Cimarron Model P. Wicked Felina and Holy Terror [Pearcey's wife and daughter] and I have many thousands of cycles of dry and live fire through our prototypes with no match failures. Our guns have been subject to more use in one year than the average shooter will have in a lifetime."

SPECS CIMARRON EVIL ROY MODEL P .45 COLT SINGLE-ACTION REVOLVER
Manufacturer:	Cimarron F.A. Inc
Model:	Evil Roy Model P
Operation:	Single-action revolver
Caliber:	.45 Colt (also available in .357 Magnum and .44-40)
Barrel Length:	4 3/4, 5 1/2 inches
Overall Length:	10 1/2 inches (4 3/4 inch barrel) inches
Weight, empty	38 ounces
Safety:	Two-position cylinder pin
Sights:	Fixed
Stocks:	One-piece walnut
Cylinder Capacity:	6 rounds
Finish:	Blue/color-casehardened
Price:	$719

At the 2005 S.H.O.T. Show, Mike Harvey (owner of Cimarron F.A. Inc.) told me that Evil Roy was a great competitor and a very knowledgeable handgunner, in addition to being just a nice fellow. Harvey was pleased that Cimarron could work with him to design a gun especially for cowboy action shooters.

So let's take a look at Cimarron's Evil Roy Model P revolver.

Cimarron's Model P is a very faithful rendering of the traditional single action manufactured by Uberti in Italy and imported by Cimarron. It comes in .45 Colt, .357 Magnum, and .44-40. Available barrel lengths are 4 3/4 and 5 1/2 inches. The revolver's weight is approximately 38 ounces. The grips are thin, one-piece walnut that Cimarron calls the Special Gunfighter grips and are available either smooth or checkered. The guns are finished with a deep blue finish on barrel, cylinder, and grip strap while the frame and hammer have an attractive color-casehardened finish.

Import regulations require that guns coming into this country have some sort of safety device to prevent them from firing if accidentally dropped. Some companies meet this requirement with a transfer-bar system installed in the gun's hammer; a feature that I think detracts from the traditional looks of the gun. I was pleased to see that Cimarron met this requirement on the Evil Roy sixgun by installing a two-position cylinder pin. Pushed in all the way, this pin keeps the firing pin from coming into contact with a cartridge.

All six factory loads test-fired in the Evil Roy Model P showed good accuracy. The best 25-yard groups measured a tight 1.50 inches.

According to Pearcey's specifications, the Evil Roy gun has a wide, square-notch rear sight and a wide, constant-width front sight. In addition, a Cimarron gunsmith goes over each gun and polishes the action, installing a lightened triggerspring and hammerspring, and adjusting the gun for a no-creep trigger pull. Each gun is laser engraved with Evil Roy's signature. (A photo from Cimarron's website shows this signature on the butt of the sixgun while my test gun has it engraved on the left side of the barrel.)

My test gun was the 4 3/4-inch version in .45 Colt. It also had the checkered, one-piece grips. My first impression was that the blue and case-colored finishes made for a very attractive handgun. The one-piece, checkered walnut grips were quite attractive. In addition, their slim design and dense checkering felt great in my hand. I also have to say that these grips are mated to the grip frame as nicely as I've seen in some time and way better than the wood-grip fit on most American-made handguns. The fit of the various steel parts is also very good, too, and much better than one would expect from a single-action revolver with a suggested retail price of only $719.

The action of this Evil Roy Model P is pretty impressive right out of the box. It is perfectly timed; so much so that the cylinder shows no telltale ring around it after all the test-firing I have done. The case-colored hammer and trigger are buttery smooth, and the hammer shows no drag marks from improper fitting to the frame. This Evil Roy sixgun looks so good and functions so smoothly that you just naturally expect good things from it the minute you take it out of the box.

A Gun That Really Shoots!

As nice as the Evil Roy gun looked, I was even more impressed when I took it to the range to see how it performed.

In testing the .45 Colt Cimarron Evil Roy Model P, I utilized six different factory ammunition selections. These included the .45 Colt 250-grain lead modern blackpowder load from CorBon, the .45 Colt 250-grain cowboy ammo and the .45 Schofield 230-grain load from Black Hills, the 225-grain lead semiwadcutter load from Remington, the 250-grain cowboy load from Magtech, and the 255-grain lead load from Winchester. The fastest load tested was the 225-grain Remington SWC (847 fps) while Winchester's 255-grain loading was the most accurate (averaging 1.50-inch groups). However, all of the ammunition that I tested showed good accuracy and reliability with velocities ranging from 710 to 847 fps.

The Sheriff likes how the Evil Roy Model P revolver worked during his speed drills. The gun is well-made and reliable and should give years of good use.

During my test-firing I found that the Evil Roy Cimarron functioned reliably and smoothly. I particularly liked the square-notch rear sight and the thick front sight, a combination of which gave a good, clear sight picture. The lightened mainspring gave a buttery smooth performance, and the crisp, clean-breaking trigger added to the gun's practical accuracy.

Shooting Cimarron's Evil Roy Model P
Factory Load	Muzzle Velocity (fps)	Standard Deviation (fps)	Extreme Spread (fps)	25-yard Accuracy (inches)
.45 COLT
Remington 225-gr. Lead SWC	847	17	48	2.25
Black Hills 250-gr. Lead	739	16	36	1.75
CorBon 250-gr. Lead	760	33	73	2.00
Magtech 250-gr. Lead	710	34	91	2.25
Winchester 255-gr. Lead	781	9	27	1.50
.45 SCHOFIELD
Black Hills 230-gr. Lead	763	17	43	2.00
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest at 25 yards. Velocity is the average of 25 rounds measured 10 feet from the gun's muzzle.

While I am not a competitor in cowboy action shooting, I did have a chance to visit the first annual Trail Town Roundup shoot in Norco, California. This great event drew hundreds of cowboy shooters from all over the country. In addition to the usual cowboy action events, Trail Town Roundup also featured cowboy 3-gun competition and cowboy fast-draw competition. While wandering around and visiting with a number of the competitors, I noticed Cimarron's Evil Roy Model P was riding on the hips of several of these shootists.

Too often when we are reporting on a particular gun we tend to focus all of our attention on the workmanship and reliability of the product. And, certainly, that is expected by our readers. However, the joy of shooting is equally as important. So I have to tell you that Cimarron's Evil Roy Model P is a well-made, reliable product that should give years of good use. But I also want to tell you how much fun I had in using it. A day spent with a good single action and nice leather is a day well spent. That's what I love about single actions.

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