The single-action Texican is STI's first revolver, one it hopes will become a major seller in the Cowboy Action market. The Texican's pawl rides on a fixed pivot and a spring designed for extra long life. The Texican promises the best chamber to bore fit on the market.

To achieve the highest levels of accuracy, STI claims it has developed a system that provides a chamber throat-to-bore alignment of less than .001 inch, which is less than any other revolver produced today.

At present the Texican is offered only with a 53⁄4-inch barrel chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge.

I have to admit up front that while I am an ardent fan of the roundgun, I have not been a user of single-action revolvers. I'm not sure how that happened; it just seemed that I grew up with double-action revolver in my hand.

ACCURACY RESULTS| STI Texican
.45 Colt	Bullet Weight (gr.)	Avg. Velocity (fps)	Avg. Group (in.)
10-X Cowboy HBFP	165	558	1.3
Federal LSWCHP	225	913	2.3
Remington LFP	250	835	2.0
Winchester Cowboy LFP	250	721	1.8
Notes: Accuracy testing was performed from an MTM Predator rest at 50 feel and are averages of three five-shot groups. Velocities are average of five shots measured with a Shooting Chrony chronograph with screens set 15 feet in front of the muzzle. Abbreviations: HBFP, hollow base flatpoint; LSWCHP, lead semiwadcutter hollowpoint ;LFP, lead flatpoint.

That being said, I found the Texican to be a finely made piece. Look as I might, I could not find a single defect or blemish in the materials, fit or finish, and traditionalists will no doubt be thrilled to know that when I cocked the hammer, I heard four clicks.

The sights, while traditionally styled, seemed a provide a sharper sight picture than on most "thumb busters" I've handled in the past, and the trigger let-off was short and very crisp.

While we're talking about controls, it should be mentioned that the Texican's ejector rod is 1/4-inch longer than those on its contemporaries to ensure complete ejection of the .45 Colt cases.

Guns based upon the Colt Single Action Army are some of the most naturally pointing handguns ever produced, and the Texican lives up to this heritage. When I brought it up to eye level, it just naturally pointed at what I was looking at, and the sights fell into alignment.

I ran the Texican through my normal accuracy tests from a rest at 50 feet, and as can be seen on the chart below, it showed a definite preference for slow-moving bullets. In fact, the average group size consistently shrunk as projectile velocity fell.

While the sights were well-regulated for elevation, the revolver tended to shoot a bit to the left, forcing me to use a slight bit of Kentucky windage to get well-centered groups. But when all was said and done, it proved accurate for a fixed-sight revolver.

I felt it would only be appropriate if I had serious single-action shooters put it through its paces. Accordingly, I met my good friends and dedicated Cowboy Action shooters Mark and Stephanie Feriante (a.k.a. Jack B. Quick and Jill B. Nimble) at a local gun club, and we proceeded to see if the Texican could do what was needed to be done on the club's steel target range.

Mark and Stephanie each ran the STI revolver through speed drills on steel targets, at distances ranging from eight to 25 yards, firing it with both supported and one-handed grips.

Mark commented several times that a Cowboy Action shooter could compete successfully with the Texican "right out of the box." He told me he had spent in excess of $300 on each of his and Stephanie's revolvers to make them suitable for serious competition.