Every once in a while a new firearm will enter the market which challenges our expectations, being designed in ways which seem completely foreign to those of us who like to think that we know our stuff. Oftentimes these will be very niche markets, change can be scary and there are often reasons why such radical new concepts never make it very far. However, sometimes these “reinvented wheel” designs really gain some traction and we’re left with an item which is unlike anything else available.
Hats off to Chiappa, they’ve made it happen.
Chiappa is a family owned Italian company which has been around since 1958, originally known as Armi Sport. They make some interesting stuff including a M1 Carbine chambered in 9×19 and their “Triple Threat’ tri-barrel 12 gauge which curiously seems to be absent from their website as of this writing. It’s a beast, alright!
This review focuses on their “Rhino” line of revolvers which are so unique to anything else on the market that once you’ve seen one you’ll always remember it. If I have my facts in order, the Rhino’s lineage can be traced back to a very similar revolver known as the “Unica” which had been produced in very limited numbers by another Italian company called Mateba. As it turns out, an individual named Emilio Ghisoni had been behind both of these designs and a side by side comparison reveals quite a few similarities.
Currently the Rhino can be had in .357, .40 S&W, and 9mm. Barrel lengths can be had from a stubby 2″ to a properly mean looking 6″, the latter with Picatinny rail sections along the top and bottom. The 4 and 5″ models just have the lower rail. Fiber optic sights seem to be standard to the series. Standard finishes on the alloy frame are black and silver, however in looking on their website I am also finding an OD green in their “Hunter” line, a Gold PVD finish, and a dazzling Mutli Color PVD finish in the “Nebula” model which has a whole rainbow of colors and a unique blue laminate grip. Some may find the Nebula to be rather gaudy. I am not one of those people.
They also list a six inch “Match Master” which looks quite different from the others, however this model is not currently available in the U.S.
Relocating the barrel to the bottom rather than up top means that the entire gun needed to be redesigned from the inside out. This has led to some unique characteristics within the Rhino. The cylinder eject is a lever on the left side of the frame which is easy to reach and is unlocked with a downward motion. The grip angle is, as can be expected, ridiculously high.
The hammer was a little awkward to reach and can be thumbed back for single action fire but it doesn’t stay cocked back as you would expect. Rather, the thumb part returns to its resting position once the hammer is set. The way to tell if the hammer is back comes from a small red button which lifts up behind and to the left of the rear sight, offering some much needed visual confirmation that the trigger is ready on single action. This is particularly helpful as the single action pull on this gun is quite light.
The Rhino is one of those guns where the trigger has to be tried to be believed. The double action felt a little on the heavy side but very smooth, I felt as though it would ‘stage’ four or five times through travel before cleanly breaking. But, as is so often the case, single action is where it’s at.
Getting to this amazing single action pull leads into my first complaint about the Rhino. Due to the complex redesign of the action, the hammer has some added trickery over traditional revolvers. It has a shorter throw and less leverage to operate which results in a very heavy draw. Sometimes I had to get both of my thumbs in on the fun in order to lock back the hammer.
Another small gripe I had is that the cylinder can be difficult to eject. The 9mm model uses moon clips to hold the rimless cartridges, though even with the cylinder empty and no moon clip present it can take a bit of force to pop the cylinder out of the frame. Despite this, a full moon clip of spent 9mm brass effortlessly fell out of the chambers. While the cylinder is out it spins like it’s running on well oiled ball bearings, too. Beautifully smooth construction here. Chiappa has also shaved the sides of the cylinder flat to give it an overall slimmer profile which also happens to look quite good.
How’s it shoot? In a word: “Interesting.” This isn’t bad!
The sight picture was quite good and seemed to do the job well, a red fiber pipe up front is nested in a pair of green pipes in the back for a sharp and clean presentation. Testing for the 6″ barreled Rhino involved four groups of single action fire at fifty feet and two groups of double action at twenty five feet. At both distances with their respective trigger pulls I managed to put three rounds into nearly the same hole. The accuracy is there! Both of these groups did had three outliers, proving that I’m still getting a feel for it. Also at the twenty five foot mark I had an interesting string of shots which you can see here.
There are a couple of details to consider with the Rhino. The body is alloy and thus very lightweight. Due to being a revolver with a manual action there aren’t any mechanical bits to soak up recoil energy. In addition, the incredibly low bore axis puts the full recoil energy straight back into your palm. This gun highlighted just how potent the tiny 9×19 cartridge really is! It’s best described as a backward push with minimal rise. Because there is next to no upward motion you get to experience almost all of the recoil straight back into your hand. It’s not uncomfortable but it is absolutely a different sensation. One which may take some getting used to.
My next complaint is in regards to the grip, itself. The angle is, again, “interesting.” Not bad, but somewhat awkward. I’ve never been a big fan of how the Rhino felt in my hand. There also wasn’t a lot in the way of grip texture, the walnut which they used on this model felt quite smooth to me. Maybe having that extra traction isn’t so important with the lack of muzzle flip to fight against but it didn’t feel entirely secure in my palm. Checking out the accessories page on Chiappa’s website shows some promising developments here as they have rubber grips, G10 grips, laminate grips, grips with finger grooves, wood blanks for grips, and Hogue competition Micarta grips. Good stuff! Those G10’s probably would have left me feeling a lot more confident.
Speaking of the grip angle, there is something else to pay attention to with the Rhinos. Any revolver aficionado is familiar with cylinder gap, the tiny space between the front of the cylinder and the back of the barrel where hot gas vents every time the gun fires. Because the Rhino’s barrel is that much closer to the hand you really want to pay attention to where all of your fingers are at. If you look at a Rhino there is a small L-shaped channel in the frame at the lower front of the cylinder area. I’m pretty certain that exists in order to redirect the energy. While the 9mm isn’t nearly as potent as a magnum cartridge I did witness one shooter get a little dusting on a thumb from being too close to the side of this channel.
Unfortunately, I do have one final concern to voice. Between the grip angle and the straight back recoil it took less than fifty rounds before my ring finger was starting to issue a formal complaint. The top of the trigger guard would push backward and bump against me with each shot. Maybe the grips would benefit from additional texturing, after all? Or maybe I don’t know what I’m doing since I’ve never fired a gun like this before. Change is weird, right? Practice practice.
Overall, I do enjoy the Rhino. I can’t help but smile whenever I see one. This is the revolver which is cool enough to have brought the six gun back into science fiction movies. It makes me happy that something which is so different from the norm can not only exist but thrive. Chiappa has quite the following because of the Rhino series and I fully support them for bringing this unique experience to the shooting community.
For those in the Richfield area you can also try one out for yourself, as this 60DS is brand new to our ever growing collection of rental guns!
