Anyone seen a Chiappa Rhino???

Hi would like you to elaborate on your findings - they are convoluted and misleading.

LOL. How is it that shooting factory loads are unpleasant?

Ive shot round after round of factory loads and never once noticed a recoil problem.
In fact here is a vid of it when it was shot for the very first time out of the box.

Note that its a 5" barrel and NOT a 2" yet there is little to no flip.


Also you mention that its overly complicated - to whom ? you - me ? Ive had this for over two years without issues. What reliability issues did you have ?

You claim that it cratered on you ? ??? what does that mean ? what actually happened to the refunded pistol ?

If there are any issues with the pistol its that getting the better sights - lighter trigger from the manufacturer is the problem.


It was fun for a while until the reliability issues cropped up. The frame is pretty lightweight for firing .357mag and it got to be a bit unpleasant shooting magnum rounds after a while. Add in the overly complicated internals to allow for it to fire from the bottom cylinder, you're looking for trouble if you enjoy shooting it often.
When mine cratered and it was sent back in to the importer, they couldn't fix it and simply gave me a refund. I enjoyed it a lot while I had it, but I won't buy another one.

chiappa_rhino_trigger.jpg
 
The only other revolver I have to compare it with is my current S&W 686, I can shoot magnum rounds out of it all day without any problems, but I would rarely finish off a full 50rd box of .357 with the rhino. It's personal preference as well as a weight and grips issue more than anything.

As to the complexity angle, take a look at the exploded diagram of the internals and contrast it with other revolvers. It can be a positive or a negative depending on how you want to look at it.

I started to have a few problems with being able to open the cylinder and the mechanism that rotates the cylinder failing. When it 'cratered' I was two rounds in when pulling the trigger would no longer rotate the cylinder at all and I was completely unable to open the cylinder as well. I didn't want to try and force the cylinder out when I was on the firing line with four rounds still in it, so I had to use a knife to manually depress the catch to rotate the cylinder and fire off the remaining rounds so I could take it to the gunsmith. It was still under warranty so he sent it off to the importer, they said they were unable to fix it.

By that point I had only fired off around a thousand rounds of .38 and 400 or so .357 out of it.
 
The thing I like the least about the rhino is what happens in the case of an overcharge causing catastrophic failure?

And ANY gun can fail, no gun is immune

Most revolvers are designed so if it has a catastrophic failure the top cylinder ruptures (usually taking the two beside it with it) then the top strap rips free and the force of the blast is directed up and away from the shooter

The rhino will blow all that force down and if your lucky will only blow your hand off.

food for thought.
 
The thing I like the least about the rhino is what happens in the case of an overcharge causing catastrophic failure?

And ANY gun can fail, no gun is immune

Most revolvers are designed so if it has a catastrophic failure the top cylinder ruptures (usually taking the two beside it with it) then the top strap rips free and the force of the blast is directed up and away from the shooter

The rhino will blow all that force down and if your lucky will only blow your hand off.

food for thought.

Good point. Some cut resistant gloves shooting gloves might be a good idea........
 
Good point. Some cut resistant gloves shooting gloves might be a good idea........

that sounds like taking a knife to a gun fight, If someone filled a 357 case with bullseye by accident in sted of 2400 or 296 or something that then yuo would be looking at at least a double if not tripple charge.

current specs for 357 is 44,000 psi (used to be 50,000) for a regular charge, now doube or tripple that,you would be looking at upwards of 100,000 to 150,000 psi. a 338 lapua magnum is about 60,000 psi now double that and figure out the kind of penetration the shrapnel from that cylinder would have. those gloves would not do anything.

but still WAY better then having none at all
 
that sounds like taking a knife to a gun fight

Yea so? I can do that...
bdqngcwcqampwps.jpg


On another note, if you're reloading and fail to keep things organized and use the wrong powder, I'm sure you shouldn't be reloading in the first place if you can't do it right. Use factory reloads or don't be an idiot when reloading.

If someone's that dumb, they're going to wind up having a catastrophic failure with another firearm regardless, and most likely blow off their hand as well.
 
There is no guarantee it can never happen. We are all human and no one is immune to mistakes,It even happens to experts and people that have been reloading for decades. it only takes once.

I am sure some factory some time has made double charges too.

hot loads are just one of the reasons for failure, unless they did xray inspection to every single cylinder the possibility is always there that there is an internal crack, or metal fatigue or one of many reasons it could fail

The point is that regardless of the reason for the failure that a rhino would blow down and everything else blows up and away from the shooter..
 
There is no guarantee it can never happen. We are all human and no one is immune to mistakes,It even happens to experts and people that have been reloading for decades. it only takes once.

I am sure some factory some time has made double charges too.

hot loads are just one of the reasons for failure, unless they did xray inspection to every single cylinder the possibility is always there that there is an internal crack, or metal fatigue or one of many reasons it could fail

The point is that regardless of the reason for the failure that a rhino would blow down and everything else blows up and away from the shooter..

There's no guarantee I won't get in a traffic accident tomorrow and die tomorrow. Pretty sure it's more likely for and automobile related injury than a revolver made by a reputable firearms manufacturer exploding in my hand.

If you think about it, it's the same any other firearm having a catastrophic failure. We are making explosions after all. There's always a chance of injury if something goes wrong. You could be aiming with a SxS shotgun and the chamber blows up in your face.

Regardless, there's nothing in life where there is no risk. Lifes too short to worry over everything. If I was so scared about risks I wouldn't ride a motorcycle, or even shoot as a hobby. I'd wear a helmet, LVL 4 ceramic plates and padding wherever I went.

Just my two cents.
 
I agree there is risk in everything we do. there is just more risk with a rhino then the standard design.

the standard design is engineered to fail in specific ways to protect the shooter. the rhino is not.
 
that sounds like taking a knife to a gun fight, If someone filled a 357 case with bullseye by accident in sted of 2400 or 296 or something that then yuo would be looking at at least a double if not tripple charge.

current specs for 357 is 44,000 psi (used to be 50,000) for a regular charge, now doube or tripple that,you would be looking at upwards of 100,000 to 150,000 psi. a 338 lapua magnum is about 60,000 psi now double that and figure out the kind of penetration the shrapnel from that cylinder would have. those gloves would not do anything.

but still WAY better then having none at all

My hands are pretty callused as well which should help.... :)
I was shooting a Rhino 5 Inch today but forgot my gloves..... shot pretty nice with noticeably less flip then a Ruger 4.2" SP101 I was also shooting.
 
For anyone who thinks that they are immune to catastrophic failures because they shoot factory roundsfrom major north american companies.

http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?s=american+eagle+recall

http://www.winchester.com/library/news/Pages/product-recall-556mm-m855.aspx

http://www.ammosmith.com/forum/index.php?topic=7199.0;wap2

http://community.statesmanjournal.c...2/12/10/remington-recalls-handgun-ammunition/

http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=12525&urlarea=npsnews

For anyone who thinks they are immune from catastrophic failure because they load there own and are careful

http://www.lasc.us/RangingShot14-5.htm

Mislabeled powder is MUCH faster then the bottle it is in. so that case full of powder......guess what? triple charge causing catastrophic failure

http://www.accuratepowder.com/consumer-alert/recall-notice/
 
Back
Top Bottom