As a fan of Terminator 2, I knew the moment I saw Cimmarron releasing a gun they called the Terminator that it would be some form of the Winchester 1887. I was right, but surprisingly, this wasn’t the pistol grip-only version we see in the film. The Cimarron Terminator features a 20-inch barrel and a full wood stock. It’s fairly far from what we saw in Terminator 2.
Still, I didn’t care. As a shotgun enthusiast, I’ve always wanted an 1887 of some kind, preferably a clone, since the originals only worked with black powder loads. If you’re not familiar with the design, it comes from the mind of John Browning; admittedly, it was reluctantly peeled from his brain.
He wanted to make a slide action, but Winchester wished to stay on brand with their lever action designs. He made the lever-action shotgun, and eventually, he got to make his slide-action shotgun, which became the 1893 and later the famed 1897. The 1887 shotgun never really took off, but it’s an essential part of shotgun history.
What’s the Cimarron Terminator
The Terminator 1887 is a Chinese-made shotgun that’s surprisingly well-made. It looks drastically better than the previous Chinese variants imported by Century Arms. The wood looks fantastic and feels solid. It’s smooth as a baby’s butt, so don’t expect any texturing to grip back. The finish is a matte black that I wouldn’t call a rich blue, but it looks great.
It doesn’t look or feel made in China, either. The Cimarron Terminator has a surprisingly slick action that only got better the more I shot with it. The action is clunky, but all 1887 actions feel somewhat clunky. It’s a lot of moving mass for a lever action design.
The gun features a 20-inch barrel and a five-round magazine tube. If you feel inclined, you can load one in the chamber and one on the carrier to get seven rounds. Seven rounds isn’t bad by any shotgun standard. The barrel has a standard cylinder bore choke, and your sight is nothing more than a bead.
It’s plain but a great representative of the Winchester 1887 in what’s not necessarily a sporting configuration.
Shooting the Terminator
The Terminator delivers the same lever action sensation that every lever action delivers. It’s chunky since it has to deal with the hefty shotgun shells, but it’s still so overly satisfying. It’s fun to rack the lever back and forth as you disperse lead like a machine. The action feels super smooth and provides positive ejection and extraction.
That leads us to reliability. The Cimarron Terminator chewed through a lot of birdshot without any problems. I shoot a lot of Monarch because it’s cheap and never challenges the gun. Even the Monarch buckshot, which absolutely sucks, worked fine through the Terminator. I could almost feel the extra effort the gun put into extracting and ejecting those gummy Monarch hulls.
The feeding and extraction weren’t an issue, and the gun always went bang. The hammer sits almost flush with the frame, and a bit of dry fire made it clear that it springs forward with some serious force. It always ignites those primers and ensures the big bore spews its lead.
I’ve shot this gun a ton. In fact, I’ve probably fired its MSRP worth of ammo, which isn’t tough when shotgun ammo is so expensive, and this gun is so cheap. No particular round gave me noticeable trouble or performance issues in that practice.
Riding the Recoil
You will notice that the 1887 was not built for the modern push/pull style of recoil control. The thin foregrip makes it difficult to press forward, and pulling back with your hand in the loop isn’t intuitive. You have to ride the recoil with this gun. That’s not a big deal to me since this is purely a fun gun for me.
Working the action is fun but admittedly slow compared to a pump gun. Even without a shot timer, the 1887 comes up quite slow compared to a Remington 870. This isn’t the fault of the Terminator; it’s just a problem with the gun’s overall design, which dates back to 1887.
Make sure you watch your fingers on the forend. It’s easy to hit the barrel, and the barrels get hot awfully quickly. Loading the gun is also not super straightforward. The magazine tube sits under the barrel, which makes it tougher to access. You won’t reload anything but the chamber quickly.
The bead puts the shot at your point of aim. The patterns aren’t bad; they are just typical cylinder bore patterns. Your shot selection will have more to do with your patterns than any other factor. If you point it at the target, it will hit the target. You are limited to 2.75-inch rounds.
The Lever Action Shotgun For You
The Terminator is likely best suited for shooters who will participate in SASS-style matches, but it is also just a fun experience at a low price point of around $500. At that price point, you are getting a faithful adaption of a platform long out of production.
