Okay. Okay. I’ll admit it. I might be a little crazy.
Why in the world would I, or anyone for that matter, want a single-shot derringer chambered for .45-70? It has no practical application. It’s asinine. And I’m here for it!
I probably shouldn’t be so harsh. There may be a practical application for this hand cannon, but I can’t think of one. In my eyes, it’s a novelty gun that inflicts pain on its user. It punishes wrists and helps one develop a flinch. That said, the build quality is excellent, and for those who aren’t faint of heart, it’s a whole lot of fun.
Why a .45-70 Derringer Is a Bad Idea
Let’s back up a smidge and get a little context. The .45-70, which is shorthand for .45-70 Government, is a rifle cartridge the U.S. military adopted as its official service cartridge in 1873. It served for 19 years and became a popular sporting cartridge along the way. Fast forward roughly 150 years, and the .45-70 is still with us as a popular short-range cartridge capable of dispatching anything from deer to grizzly bears. Modern loads charged with generous amounts of smokeless powder launch a 300 to 400 gr projectile at around 2,000 fps from a lever action rifle. That works out to somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 ft-lb of energy. It’s more than fair to say that it’s a stout cartridge.
Now consider that the Bond Arms Cyclops is a derringer. That is, a small pocket-sized single-shot single-action pistol. Sure, the Cyclops is a hefty derringer compared to other derringers, but it is still a small pistol. The combination yields, by a large margin, the most punishing recoil I have ever attempted to manage in my hands. It’s elementary physics. A big boom in an itty bitty gun is very spicy. We will circle back to how the gun shoots later in this post, but for now let’s take a look at the gun itself.
What’s in the Box
The Bond Arms Cyclops carries an MSRP of $699, and the street price usually lands well under that. Today’s best price is on the deal card at the end of this post. For that scratch, one gets:
- a cardboard box with bold instructions pleading with the owner to read the manual before use,
- the instruction manual,
- an internal lock key taped to the page in the manual covering the internal lock,
- a small Bond Arms catalog,
- one “join the NRA” advertisement,
- a foam pad,
- and the Cyclops itself.
Reading the manual is usually a good idea. It’s also something I would guess most folks who own several firearms don’t do. I will point out that there are a few nuances to this derringer concerning how it should be gripped and how the trigger is actuated. I can’t say whether those nuances exist in other derringers, since this is the only derringer I’ve personally handled. Regardless, I’ll get to those nuances soon enough.
Let’s walk the pistol.
The Cyclops Barrel and Sights
Starting with the business end of the Cyclops, we have the muzzle of the 4.25 in stainless steel barrel. An engraving of a cyclops decorates the muzzle, which I found quite amusing.
A tall fixed front sight sits atop the barrel. I didn’t find it particularly easy to pick up visually when aiming, but it worked nevertheless.
Picture the profile of the barrel as the offspring of a one-night stand between an octagon and an oval. I found it pleasing to the eye at first glance, partially thanks to the polished finish on two of its sides. However, the light engravings of the brand, make, logo and chambering on the right side of the barrel are too large, unnecessary and a bit off-putting. The true-to-size engraving of a .45-70 cartridge on the left side did catch my eye. It puts into perspective how little rifled barrel a fired projectile travels through before exiting the muzzle. Even so, I think the Cyclops could have gone without the engravings along the side altogether. The saving grace is that the engraving is light, and I suspect a little refinishing could remove it.
Rear Sight and Sight Radius
Continuing back along the top of the barrel, we find the hinge that connects the barrel to the frame. It also serves as a notched rear sight. The notch is shallow and narrow, which makes it particularly difficult to achieve “equal height and equal light” sight alignment. In my opinion, that matters, because the sight radius is rather short for a pistol with a 4 in barrel. Shorter sight radiuses are generally less forgiving of rear and front sight misalignment than longer ones. Couple this with recoil anticipation and the aforementioned nuances, which I promise we will get to shortly, and the result is a pistol that is difficult to shoot precisely.
The Cyclops Frame and Safety
The frame, which I suspect is also stainless steel, is the largest derringer frame that I know of. However, it is still a small frame compared to other pistols. In fact, the overall dimensions of the Bond Arms Cyclops are very similar to those of a snub-nosed J-frame revolver like my Model 640 Pro Series, which is a small and difficult gun to shoot well.
At the top of the frame, we find the hammer, which you must thumb cock in order to shoot the Cyclops.
The falling block manual safety sits in the frame right in front of the hammer, visible from either side. When you engage the safety, it protrudes on the left side of the frame. When you disengage it, it protrudes on the right side and a red band becomes visible. That red band indicates the firearm will fire if there’s a round in the chamber, the hammer is back and you press the trigger. This type of safety doesn’t stop the hammer from falling when you press the trigger. Rather, it stops the falling hammer from striking the firing pin.
Grip
A B6 resin grip wraps around the two sides and the back of the gun’s small stock. I have no idea what B6 resin is, but it has a soft rubber feel and provides a fair amount of friction, which helps one hang on to the pistol during recoil. There is a large undercut between the stock and the trigger guard that is reminiscent of early production small frame revolvers. That undercut created a market for grip adapters from companies like Pachmayr and Tyler T. I’m not a big fan of this, as experienced pistol shooters will intuitively use the entire undercut to get their grip as high up on the pistol as they can. This is a common grip technique used to recover from recoil quickly and consistently.
Unfortunately, that high grip leads to a couple of problems on the Cyclops. First, it results in an improper grip on the derringer, as documented in the manual. Next, it forces an unnatural angle between the trigger finger and the trigger, which makes it near impossible to actuate the trigger. I’m not kidding. I watched a GM class USPSA shooter, who is incredibly fit and has very large hands, attempt to shoot the Cyclops and fail to actuate the trigger. Lastly, the hammer rests on the web of the hand and can lead to hammer bite that will draw blood.
The Proper Grip
This leads us to the first nuance documented in the manual: the grip. The “proper grip” requires that at least a quarter inch gap remains between the hand and the hammer when the hammer is cocked. This helps correct the trigger finger angle so you can actuate the trigger, and it minimizes the risk of a nasty hammer bite. However, it’s also disconcerting, because it generally results in a two-finger master grip. That leaves the shooter unable to use pinky pressure to help manage the recoil they know is coming. Given the angles and grip position, I’m not sure a grip adapter would help folks achieve a better grip. I could be wrong, but it’s not something I can easily test, since grip adapters for the Cyclops don’t exist to the best of my knowledge.
Before turning the discussion to the trigger, I want to mention that the locking lever sits on the left side of the frame, between the trigger and the falling block safety. Pushing the lever down when the hammer is not cocked unlocks the hinged barrel. The barrel then swings upward and away from the frame, which allows one to load or unload the chamber of the Cyclops.
The Cyclops Trigger
Now back to the trigger. It’s heavy. According to Bond Arms, the pull weight is 7 lb. I had a hard time actuating it with the trigger gauge and got some variance, but the average worked out to a couple of ounces north of 7 lb. The trigger is also the source of the second nuance documented in the manual. It requires a downward motion, as opposed to the press-to-the-rear motion most handgunners know. You need that motion because the pivot point of the hinged trigger isn’t at the top of the trigger, as it is in pretty much every other pistol design. Once again, we have yet another feature that increases the difficulty of shooting this gun well.
Shooting the Bond Arms Cyclops
So, in review, we have a small 28 oz gun chambered for a stout rifle cartridge. You hold it with a two-finger master grip and aim it with difficult sights while attempting to apply 7 lb of pressure on a trigger at an awkward angle. It’s a sketchy and scary ordeal that gets one’s heart racing fast. When it recoils, the muzzle snaps upward forcefully with a generous amount of recoil that is somewhat painful and may draw a little blood from the potential hammer bite. Even my Smith & Wesson 329PD, a featherweight .44 Magnum, is tamer than the Cyclops. Nevertheless, it’s exhilarating and puts a smile on your face. It’s completely ridiculous, and I love it!
Closing Thoughts
At least in my eyes, the Bond Arms Cyclops is a novelty gun. Yeah, I suppose in a pinch it could serve as a last-ditch defensive tool, but I can’t imagine any sane person picking one up for that purpose. At least, not one chambered for .45-70 Government. I will add that this is not a pistol for novices. The GM class shooter who struggled and ultimately failed to fire the Cyclops wasn’t the only skilled handgunner who struggled with it. Everyone struggled with it. That said, I will encourage competent pistoleros to give one of these a try if presented with the opportunity, because shooting the Cyclops is a unique and thrilling experience. Nevertheless, I’m going to keep it around and shoot it from time to time, since it puts a smile on my face every time I manage to actuate its trigger.
