What’s new about the Chiappa Rhino .357 Magnum revolver? Everything. Forget everything you ever thought you knew about magnum revolvers, or snubnose revolvers, or handgun recoil, or concealable stopping power. If Chiappa can iron-out a few wrinkles in its execution (ergonomics, anyone?), the Rhino could be to conventional revolvers what HMS Dreadnought was to capital ships. Even the Ruger LCR already seems quaintly backward by comparison . . .
TTAG’ers already know that the Rhino’s a small six-shot .357 Magnum with a funky design that puts the barrel at the bottom of the cylinder, instead of the top. Some lucky TTAG’ers got to shoot it at The American Firearms School last month. This lucky scribe got to shoot it yesterday. I think it just might change everything in the revolver world. Did I already say that? It’s worth repeating then.
The Rhio conceals nearly as well as a snubnose .38 Special. It spits out death and destruction like a full-size .357 Magnum service revolver. And it recoils like, well, nothing. I’ve never shot a centerfire pistol that recoils so gently, except maybe my old 6” Taurus Model 66 firing .38 special target loads. Try concealing that. Or stopping an attacker with a .38 caliber lead trashcan poking along at 750 fps.
The Rhino also offers outstanding inherent accuracy—if you can sidestep its ergonomic shortcomings. For instance, if you dab the front sight with Sight Bright and fire it single-action, pretty soon you’ll be rewarded with groups like this:
Except for that one flyer at the top of the X-ring, it just doesn’t get any better than this. In Single Action (SA) mode, the Rhino consistently grouped under 2”, and the sights were perfectly regulated for full-power 125-grain .357s. In fact, the Rhino was more accurate in SA fire than our reference .357, a 4” L-frame Smith & Wesson 686. Yep: the 25-ounce alloy-framed Rhino with inferior sights and a 2-inch barrel was more accurate than the 41-ounce forged stainless S&W with better sights, a bigger grip and a 4” barrel.
Here’s the best group from the 686 [top target]:
Cocking the Rhino’s external hammer is actually fairly difficult; the hammer is small and smooth and the mainspring is extremely strong. We gave up on SA shooting and fired the Rhino a few times using a deliberate, slow, ‘staged’ DA pull. (Just the kind of action that Chiappa president Ron Norton told us not to do.). It actually worked fairly well, although it was neither fun nor practical. The groups opened up to about 4”, and stayed reasonably centered at the point of aim.
Slow shooting is for paper targets and tin cans, however, and the 2” Rhino is meant for concealed carry. So how does it shoot when seconds count? Very quickly; here it is with full-power 125-grain .357s. Muzzle climb? Gone. Target? Shredded.
And here’s our reference .357, a 4” Model 686, with the same loads. Wayne isn’t going for speed with this group, but it does show the difference in muzzle climb. The 686 was considerably more difficult to shoot quickly, due to the increased recoil.
But as we sped things up, some ergonomic problems started to make themselves felt and the Rhino’s groups opened up. Our 2” SA groups spread out to 4” or even 6” when we switched to quick DA shooting, and they started to move downward from the point of aim.
This is partly due to the design of the gun, and partly due to our own erroneous technique. The Rhino’s trigger pull is not straight back, as with conventional revolvers; it is back and slightly upward. Look at the angle of the finger groove in the frame for reference. When you pull back on the trigger (inconsistent and very heavy, at least 15 pounds) it levers the muzzle downward.
Then combine this effect with my own instinct to muscle a big pistol down from recoil and back onto the target. This is probably a bad shooting technique, but when I’m shooting a big pistol quickly it’s what I tend to do.It seems to work with conventional pistols, but with the Rhino it’s just not needed because muzzle climb is nearly nonexistent.
Yanking the trigger thusly, I tended to group low and stay low:
My friend Wayne, however, started perfectly centered on the target and then walked his successive shots downward and off the paper:
This is basically the reverse of what an untrained shooter does with a conventional pistol under the recoil of rapid firing, as the muzzle climbs higher and higher with successive shots. But that’s what you are when you pick up a Rhino for the first time: a noob, with some bad habits to unlearn.
We’d tried to borrow a conventional snubnose .357 (a S&W Model 60) to test against the Rhino, but had to settle for a .38 Taurus snubby instead. I was amazed that the Rhino kicked less with .357 loads than the steel-framed .38 snubby kicked with standard 158-grain FMJs. Watch for yourself:
Conclusions:
Our test gun is pinpoint accurate and built like a brick shithouse. We couldn’t duplicate RF’s accuracy problems, possibly because I have long pianist’s fingers and Wayne is simply a giant.
Reliability was 100% through over 200 rounds fired. (We had planned for a longer shooting day, but the weather went from bad to worse and we bugged out when the drizzle turned into steady rain.) It even ejected long .357 cases with authority, which is extremely unusual for a concealable .357.
The Rhino lives up to its hype. It carries almost as lightly as a steel J-frame although it’s a bit chunkier, and it shoots with the ballistic authority and the accuracy (almost) of a service revolver. And it does all of this with almost no recoil.
It sounds too good to be true, and it almost is. The ergonomics are pretty awkward, and if there’s a single deal-breaker it’s got to be the DA trigger. It’s probably the stiffest I’ve ever worked, and it’s got two or three distinct stages before it stacks up even harder and finally breaks. This trigger pull renders the gun’s outstanding inherent accuracy all but inaccessible for defensive shooting.
And that’s a pity. Such an inherently accurate and mild-shooting gun virtually screams for a smooth DA trigger, even if it’s heavy. The Rhino punches well above its weight, and if Chiappa can smooth out the trigger pull, this will be a gun that truly does it all. Accuracy, ballistics, firepower, concealability and mild recoil. All in one package. If the Rhino is a success, the future might hold a 5-shot .44 Magnum snubnose, that recoils less than an all-steel 1911 and hits like a .30-30.
The Rhino’s unconventional geometry puts it decades ahead of conventional revolvers. The best of the rest, like the S&W 686 and the Taurus .38, are superior executions of an inferior and obsolete design. If Chiappa can get the Rhino just right, and at the right price point, it will eat them alive.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Caliber: .357 Magnum
Barrel: 2 inches
Overall Length: 6 inches
Weight (unloaded): 25 ounces
Grips: Rubberized black synthetic
Sights: Black ramp front, fixed black hammer notch rear
Action: DA/SA revolver
Finish: Anodized alloy
Capacity: 6
Price: $795
RATINGS (Out of Five):
Style * *
Brutal Klingon aesthetics make it cool but still don’t make it pretty. I don’t care.
Ergonomics * *
Low-visibility sights and an inconsistent 15-pound trigger almost cancel the juicy goodness of this recoilless hand cannon. Nothing feels right *until* it goes bang, and then it all feels perfect.
Reliability * * * *
This pistol is rock-solid, but subtract a star because it doesn’t have a production track record. That will probably change.
Overall Rating * * *
Challenging trigger and ergonomics keep it from redefining what a concealment pistol is capable of. It’s only a trigger pull away from greatness.
Sounds like this could be a paradigm-changer if Chiappa can do something about that trigger. For the sake of comparison, I just measured the DA pull of my S&W 686 SSR (which has about as sweet of a DA pull as any stock .357 out there, and as good as any I've ever fired). A hair over 10 lbs, with a crisp, barely staged pull. In SA, 4.5 lbs. with a break that would shame any 1911 short of a Les Baer. Sounds like that's what the Chiappa needs to be a truly killer app.
The grapevine is whispering that Chiappa has developed a trigger upgrade, and I hope it's true. Just as you say, there's nothing inherently wrong with a heavy DA trigger, as long as it's smooth and not *too* heavy.
If the Rhino becomes popular, it's a gimme that Wolff Springs will sell a spring kit (probably not user-installable) that could lighten the trigger pull by a few crucial pounds. Wolff springs can work miracles on pistols with balky triggers.
When we sent my White Rhino back to Chiappa because I could hardly pull the trigger after the 4th shot, they said it was fine and if they put a lighter spring in it, I’d need to use rounds with sensitive primers in them, or it would likely misfire. I have my White Rhino back as it was, wishing I’d not gotten it. I am a senior female and have small hands, so I don’t have the strength it takes to shoot this revolver. It’s more of a novelty and I wish they’d have really engineered this gun to be a smoother shooter because it’s a dream with hardly any muzzle flip at all even with .357 rounds.
Also, Do NOT get your finger over the gap in the cylinder because the gun fires from the bottom of the cylinder and it will bite you with weaker rounds, but would tear your finger open with larger caliber rounds, so watch where you place your thumb of your support hand.
I just picked up a Rhino yesterday. The SA is pretty light. However the DA is pretty heavy. Ilike how ell the gun is made and finished,. Reminds me of the quality of my H&K PSP, Even comes with a quality leather holster. The clock work is very different from Colt or S&W revolver. Not sure how to change springs to improve the DA.
Am an FFL andwould like more info on ChiappaRhino.
Availability, dealer cost etc..
Thanks Mr. Dumm for accurately identifying the Rhino’s appearance:
“Klingon aesthetics”!
I live near Chiappa’s U.S. location and have been waiting for the Rhino to become available for sale. The trigger seemed likely to be the weak point as it appeared there were too many moving parts between it and the striker. Hopefully, someone can simplify the mechanism.
Dude this thing is awesome, just picked one up at kellys pawn in sanchez montana and it rocks, walked out the door with one in a 380 cal for 119 plus tax, must have put like 20 rounds through it at thr range would like to get one in a 22 cal for my wife to carry
Huh….? They don’t make a 380 and they cost over $600
Great gun 2 inch Rhino, I have one, however Distrbutor in Ohio’s lack of customer support will doom the Rhino. They don’t respond to e-mails or phone calls. Unable to purchase support items or ask tech questions….2 thumbs down…Rhino will fail without customer support!
I feel your pain Dick T. The lights are on but no one’s home. It would be a shame if such a spectacular innovation disappeared because the company is too small for the big time. They seem to be resolving things like the trigger, mines pretty smooth. A lot of parts doesn’t bother me, a swiss watch has a lot of parts too. Lets hope they are hireing on more staff to handle what I predict will be the glock of revolver designs.
I agree, I bought my Rhino 2 weeks ago and everyone says the same thing, if the trigger was smoother, this thing will make all other revolvers obsolete. Its dead accurate in SA but when you hammer down it goes down and to the left for me since im left handed. Im untraining my normal grip and stance and its getting better. you have to forget everything you know about revolvers to make this gun work right. But for 357mag power with 0 recoil, im doing it. im able to rapid fire it and hold a 10 inch group at 21 feet now compared to a 16 inch group when I first got it. And thats taken me over 400 rounds to do it. Ive seen it done online and kept in a 4 inch group but im gonna have to practice more to do that.
Since Chiappa is Italian, the style of the revolver has a European set to the grip and you will find you need to hold it differently because if you hold it like a US-made revolver, it will shoot high. You need to hold it with your wrists cocked at an angle to bring the muzzle down. Not too hard to do.
Pretty much right on about factory support. When I got my new DS 200 I loaded it with six rounds of .357 Magnum ammo. Of the six rounds, only two went off. Of the two, one case split the full length. On inspecting the primers, the firing pin strike is off center. Yes it hit the primer but not close enough to center for reliable ignition. I am a retired tool and die maker and have kept my precision measureing tools. Loaded, new ammunition measures .375 in diameter. The chambers of my old Smith & Wesson measure .380 inside, while the Rhino measures .386. No wonder why the case split.
I sent the gun back, heard nothing from them for a bit over a week. Took several calls to have a live person pick up. Was told that the gun was to be replaced. Couple weeks later, called again. Several calls needed, finally left message, was called back. Waiting for parts from Italy. Tried calling four times on May 3rd. four more times on May 4th. answering machine only. Called a couple time today May 7th. Finally left a message, was called back. They hope to be assembling guns later this week. May be getting one in a couple more weeks.
Nice gun, great concept, poorly exicuted. Poor customer support, poor factory support. My advice, wait a year or two till they get the bugs worked out before you buy. With all the monkey business wish I could get my money back and get something from a more reliable company.
Just got mine. The factory trigger pull is smooth as silk; fluid, firm and solid. The SA is is absolutely sublime. Note the cylinder breakover? Maybe they just got lucky. The breakover engineering is second to none. It’s the reason the DA repeating fire stability is so exceptional. The breakover character is the most remarkable feature of the revolver.
It’s the 1911 of wheel guns. Even the manual cocking feels perfectly tuned for the task. The sights are no problem. The weapon presents effortlessly and flawlessly IF you treat it like a pistol and forget about it being a revolver.
Best part of Rhino’s CC advantage is the incredible mass and facial sections of the build with the barrel located on the bottom. It’s the mother of all clubs. One could avoid the aftershot legal mess altogether should they whip out they Rhino and whoop it up the side of they assailant head. “Damn” was the first thing I thought when I picked up my Rhino for the first time. “I may not even have to pull the trigger. They way it fit my hand, my whole body knew I could pistol whip a perp into dreamland — or the afterlife — and never pull the trigger. It’s so solid and so totally locks in the hand, it’s still a lethal weapon when empty. Could this be the first triple-action CC revolver? Maybe so. You’ll know it when you hold it.
It is now 2014 and I haven’t had my White Rhino very long and I wish mine were smooth as silk.
“It is now 2014 and I haven’t had my White Rhino very long and I wish mine were smooth as silk”
Very few revolvers are going to have a smooth trigger pull new. Dry fire all (except .22lrs, use snap caps on rim fire revolvers)
It has been my experience dry firing center fire revolvers will smooth out the trigger pull. Apllies to .22lr revolvers as well, justhave to use snap caps with rimfire revolvers to keep from breaking the trigger. I keep spent shells to usefor drying. It takes at least a 100 trigger pulls to smooth out the trigger. The more you dry fire, the smoother the trigger and the lighter the trigger pull will feel. I have Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Charter Arms and .a Chiappa. Rhino D/S action with 2″ barrell. revolvers. All without exception start out with less than ideal trigger pull, the more you pull the trigger, the smoother it will become, weither live rounds or dry fire.
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I have to say that if you need a gun for ‘retiring’ replicants, this is obviously your first choice. Just make sure they fail the voight-kampt test first.
I have shot the Rhino in .357 Magnum and I like it. My question is, in the interest of my wife, when might the Rhino be available in 22 LR ?
Thank you
My concern is with the complex internals. We could go back and forth about the apparent reliability of the weapon based on torture tests and whatnot, but I wonder how easily, if at all, the internals could be accessed for cleaning. What if mud or sand or all kinds of other crud gets down into the clockwork? Can the handle be removed and all the moving parts be cleaned easily if it gets all dirty down there? Will the gun still fire if it’s less-than perfectly clean? I live in Alaska, and when you’re out in the field you get dirty, wet, and cold real quick.
In my opinion, reliability is more than simply making a bullet come out of the barrel every time you pull the trigger. It’s also about how well the weapon performs in austere conditions.
I just bought a Rhino and I love it. It is the perfect CC firearm for the everyday gangsta. I cannot wait until I can bust a cap in the first fool that steps up at the local wzally M.T. Believe Bruv.
When they say 9mm/357 combo, what do they mean? moonclips for the 9mm? would the 357 rounds require moonclips? This would be the first revolver I plan on buying if I can find it. I like the looks of the big ones but the snub seems more practical.
So how many people are willing to admit they know someone who hasnt been arrested, yet really shouldnt be able to CCW? Maybe that person who has an explosive anger issue, or maybe isnt physically able to control a firearm. As I recall there is no physical exam, so technically a person with parkinsons could CCW.
Let me remind you all, I am referring to CCW, not possession within the home or legal transport.
I have the rhino. 50Ds and I love it shoots smooth and at 20 ft I hit a gatorade bottle all six shots longer barrel is better
You guys act like a”.38 special with 158 gr. lead trash cans plodding along at 750 fps”, wont get the job done. That is the original self defense round,designed over 100 yrs. ago for stopping foolishness from hombres a lot tougher in everyday life than any of you dweebs can even imagine.Of course it will recoil less with a 125 gr. bullet than a .38 with a 158 gr. bullet,most recoil is generated by the third law of motion.Get a life,get back to basic marksmanship.All this crap is, is more marketing for people who dont know anything except what they read on the internet. THE SNAKE
What? Another crappy prototype released as a production pistol? Oh wait, this is old, so it’s just somewhere in the pantheon of crappy prototype pistols reviewed as game changers. Here’s a thought, when it comes back out as a smooth, ergonomic revolver let me know. This thing has down sides so monstrous as to put it in the ‘not a serious weapon’ category.
Then I have to comment on the post just above mine by The Snake:
.357 in a relatively reasonable pistol (not aluminum or scandium) just doesn’t kick much unless you’re afraid of it. As always, shoot it more, then shoot it some more. Air weight snub nose Smiths aren’t cause for concern in .357 even in my piano players slender long fingers and girlish wrists. If you want power AND concealment, expect discomfort. This is the way of things. I think this offering rates right up there with adding garbage to improve ‘accuracy’. (The latter being the failure of the shooter to shoot enough to generate accuracy of the platform involved.)
Maybe I’m an old stick in the mud, but like the judge and governor, it’s just a solution looking for a problem. In this case is a poor solution looking for a problem.
8/26/13
I got my Rhino about 4 weeks ago, since then I have been to the range 2x I fired about 100 rounds each time here is what I experianced.
1, it is a very dirty shooting gun, take rubber gloves if you are going to shoot this thing.
2, for a revolver is is a bit fussy about the ammo you put thru it, typically a revolver is not that fussy at least mine is soon to be was!
3, If you reload shoot ONLY FMJ ammo, leading is a major issue, you will loose your salvation cleaning the gun. I do NOT load anywhere near full loads.
4, The gun is accurate.
5, Firing 357 loads is a pleasure, almost like a 38 Sp.
To sum it up I could put up with the dirty soot from firing, but a gun I have lost faith in is a gun not in my collection esp. a revolver which are very dependable guns.
Sum Ting Wongs parents became concerned because he couldn’t quite master the E flat chord.
I purchased the .387 magnum and I have to tell you how completely disgusted I am with not only the gun but the company! I am a 26 year old female, 115lbs and it is so important to me to carry a reliable handgun. I have never liked automatics so the appeal of the Rhino was great because the recoil shooting the .357 bullets was fairly minor even to someone my size. I paid $1,000 for the gun and have regretted the purchase ever since. I took a 4 day defensive handgun course and it didn’t even make it through the second day. I hadn’t even put 200 rounds through it when it totally locked up. I couldn’t pull the trigger, nor could I get the chamber to open up. The instructors at the course couldn’t either, were baffled, and sent me to a gunsmith. He took the thing apart and put it back together and it seemed okay. So, I went back out and tried again….but every fifth shot would misfire. Every single time. So, I sent the gun into Chiappa. They were such a pain! You cannot call them, they will only correspond via email. After a month or so they sent the gun back, claimed that they fixed it and that the problem was “the cylinder hand was slightly too tall causing offset on the primer strike, he (gunsmith) fit the cylinder hand and tested 100% with Federal American Eagle in .357 mag and .38 spl in both single and double action.” Ok. I received the gun back from them incredibly dirty, which really seemed unprofessional to me, but carried on with the trust that they had fixed the problem. As soon as I could get out to shoot I did. I shot the first six shots just fine, reloaded, and fired two more shots before the gun locked up AGAIN. I was unable to pull the trigger or open the chamber. Yet again I sent the gun back, this time asking for a replacement so that I could take it back to the dealer and get a refund. Chiappa refused. After I sent the gun back and started bugging them, they finally replied with this explanation: ” He (gunsmith) has evaluated the firearm and found that there was an extra roller found loose in the lock work causing the intermittent binding. He removed the extra roller and reassemble and tested good. The only thing he can think of was that the last time he worked on it, he accidentally dropped an extra roller inside the gun.” Obviously, this wasn’t true because it stuck before I sent it in the first time. After that comment, I asked to speak with the manager who promised to call me the following Monday. That was over a month ago and I have heard nothing. I tried contacting them again, and they promised they would talk to the manager and he would call. He hasn’t. He won’t, and I am SOL. The concept of the Chiappa Rhino is awesome, but the product is garbage and the company doesn’t treat their customers with any respect whatsoever. I was incredibly patient and kind with them, but have completely given up hope on getting a new gun to be able to have it refunded. $1,000 down the drain. Save yourself the hassle of this company and go another route!
That’s unfortunate Withanee, I think you should reconsider automatics and give a Glock 19 a try, if you can’t bear the thought of having an automatic, I would suggest a Smith and Wesson revolver in .357 mag, they can also shoot .38 specials if recoil is an issue. Good luck!
You keep repeatedly saying the weapon is “inherently accurate” But to my knowledge this gun at the time of testing was a fairly new firearm to hit the market. Can you explain how you came to the conclusion of “inherently accuracy?” Most people dont even know what “inherently accurate” means, so when you explain it, please break it down so everyone can understand the level of testing thats needed for a firearm to be claimed “inherently accurate”.. We wouldnt want that tearm to be just thrown around by bloggers that dont know what their talking about , ya know?
The Chiappa Rhino has been a montumental failure, built on one good concept – lowering the barrel to the bottom of the cylinder. Other than that, the mechanism is very complicated and poorly designed, quality control is terrible, and Chiappa insults customers with their awful service and excuses. And oh, there’s that little problem of the cylinder gap flame burning your supporting hand thumb in a stressful situation. Oops.
It seems like TTAG hasn’t commented much about this gun in recent years after all their reported difficulties with it in follow-up articles to this review.
We’ll need to wait a few years for a decent company like Ruger or S&W to work the concept out. I’m sure they are working on it. To those posters who bought the gun, beware that you should never buy a newly-designed gun, car, or anything else in its first year or two. And Chiappa hasn’t even been able to get it right after five. Considering all the horror stories from about 50% of Rhino owners, I’d stay away from the Rhino and all other Chiappa guns.
If you bought the gun, I’d try to trade it in now to a gun shop on a real functioning self-defense revolver like an all-steel or S&W J-frame. The Rhino still has some oddball collector value, and a gun shop might have better luck getting Chiappa to repair it for sale to a collector.
Perhaps the salient question is, do you have personal experience with the gun? After considerable research I got one of these about a month ago and find it to be an exceptional handgun. It’s now my EDC. I carried a S&W Airweight for a while and a .357 LCR. I’m a believer in the fail-safe nature of revolvers. The trigger on the Airweight was much heavier than the Rhino and it had no SA capability. My 69 year old wife with some arthritis can manage both the trigger and recoil. This was not the case with the S&W. Six rounds instead of five also appealed to me. Maybe I’m one of the “lucky 50%”….that doesn’t happen to me very often. In a stressful situation I would likely be firing the gun one handed, so the cylinder gap flame would not be an issue. Many years ago, Glock was received with skepticism… Now its design is a standard. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”…. As far as I’m concerned, Chiappa has got it right in 2015….
I didn’t see the follow up comment thing until now…..
Am I the only one that finds it odd that all of Chiappa’s handguns other than the Rhino are .22s? I do not know the particulars they may just be importers. If they are the manufacturer I would have thought they would have started with a couple of .38s before they tried a .357.
I hope some one else revisits this concept. And I hope their gun looks more like this: http://www.rbs.ru/vttv/99/firms/kovrovm/7.jpg
I’ve been carrying this gun for about two months and shooting it quite a bit. Of course, opinions are like Glocks, everybody has one….. I like it a lot! The tooling for .357 is about the same as for .38. I practice with a .38 +p load and carry a self defense .357 round. If you get one, I’d recommend lock-titeing the TORX screws. Two other people I’ve heard of have lost one…..
I bought a 200DS White Rhino yesterday. Took the gun to the range today and fired 2 moon clips of .38 Special ball ammo without any problems. I then loaded up 6 rounds of .357 Magnum JHP and after firing those rounds, I spent the next 30 mins trying to extract the spent shells. Seems the cases heated up and expanded so that they bound up in the cylinder chambers. Eventually, I was able to get 5 of 6 spent cases out.
So that my trip to the range wouldn’t be wasted, I continued firing .38 Special rounds until I had fired the 100 rounds of .38 that I had brought with me. I then thought I’d try a different brand of .357 and loaded up 5 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense JHP (the first magnum rounds I fired were Liberty Civil Defense). Once again the spent cases couldn’t be removed from the cylinder. Once I got home, the gun had cooled down some and I was able to get the spent cases out by pushing them out of the cylinder with a polymer pick.
I don’t know if this is the problem, but the Federal .38 Special rounds I used had brass cases and the .357 rounds I used had nickel cases. Regardless, I filled out the warranty request form on Chiappa’s website and I’m waiting to hear from them.
I’m hoping this gets resolved because I really like how the Rhino tames the powerful .357 round. I had a Ruger SP101 in .357 that was a little heavier than the Rhino and shooting .357 through it was not a pleasant experience. And I don’t want to have to go back to a heavier gun like the S&W 686 PC that I used to own and got rid of because it was too heavy and bulky for EDC.
I never experienced what you’re experiencing…. I don’t think it disqualifies the gun from being an excellent EDC. Good luck with Chiappa . I found them to be uninformed and unresponsive. Hope you get satisfaction.
I bought a Chiappa Rhino 200DS .357 and fired it last week, after 8 rounds of .38 Remington FMJ the gun completely locked up. Could not pull the trigger in DA or cock the hammer in SA. I was, fortunately, able to open the cylinder. I unloaded it, put in snap caps but the trigger nor hammer would not move. I traded that gun in, and got a different brand of gun. I was unimpressed and disapointed.
Hi please tell me if it Can b used by a recoil sensitive Person with weak hands and if wont Hurt with .357 and which rounds are the best.Also tell me if recoil is really inexistant with .38 and if the hammer pull is soft as the Smith and Wesson model 60.Thanx
I can tell you from my perspective this gun is crap. I bought one it fired 7 times before locking up completely. I traded it in for a Ruger LCR. I gave up one round in the chamber but I feel overall I have a better gun.
I’m 66 and have rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve been shooting my whole life, but grip strength and slide-racking capability is now a BIG problem for me. I alternate between an LCR .38 revolver and a Taurus 380 pocket semi-auto and I don’t have any major problem with either yet. If they ever become a problem I’ll switch to one of those tiny Berettas with the tip up barrel, as I’d certainly rather be carrying some handgun, as opposed to none at all – and yes I’ve been a CCW carrier for almost 50 years (so far!).
The author loves Chiappa and Taurus firearms, last name is Dumm,…. I think that says it all.
Yes I’ve seen the Rhino I really like it. And it’s different and has its own style in shape, but it’s bad ass nice piece. I live in Ohio and cannot find anybody that carries the rhino oh, I would like to have a chance to shoot one 357 Magnum.
Yes I’ve seen the Rhino I really like it. And it’s different and has its own style in shape, but it’s bad ass nice piece. I live in Ohio and cannot find a dealer, that carries the rhino, I would like to have a chance to shoot one 357 Magnum.