The White Rhino is dead!

[buddydog]

I've been reading some great (and a few of not so favorable) reviews for the Chiappa White Rhino 200DS and thought to add a .357 to the collection.

This is the way it arrived last week (not my photo):

Well, I went to the range today to try it out. It ate up 50 rounds of .38 Special with no problem. Super accurate and muzzle flips were less than my 9mm.

Next up was 125 grain .357s. I managed to fire five rounds of fireworks then on the sixth round the gun broke. I was shooting in single action and the trigger was completely disengaged. The hammer wouldn't disengage and I couldn't release the cylinder. Yep, it was cocked on a live round and I couldn't let the hammer down.

Thanks to the Terry at Family Indoor Shooting Range and his MacGyver skills, he was able to wedge a piece of paper in between the cylinder stop in order for me to rotate the cylinder off the live round.

When I got home, the first call went to Chiappa US repair center and I spoke with Brent, one of Chiappa expert gunsmiths. He walked me through the process of taking this brand new gun apart in order to remove the live round. Everything is now in ziplock and will be going back to Chiappa for repair. Anyone else with experience with Chiappas???

 

[DanO]

Dude, you bought a Mexican wheel gun.... IMHO, the only wheel guns you should buy in Mexico are old American revolvers that are collectible.

I just see so many great revolvers made here that I do not see the need to spend serious money on a "fad" gun. Buy hey, if you like it, knock yourself out!

 

[DanO]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I just finished looking at the lockwork on that Rhino, and it is SCARY intricate. Looks like it was designed by an Itallian sports car / Espresso designer!!

Look at the lockwork on a Colt, S&W, or better yet - a Ruger and you will see simplicity, strength and elegance. This translates to reliablity.

 

[Tombs]

I'd love to see what's going on internally with that one.

It seems this is fairly common and I'd like to know what's up. It looks like something has sheared off in the linkage in the 3rd picture.

I was about to buy one of these but decided to go with a 686SSR instead, for my futuristic revolver bug.

 

[randygun]

thanks going to tell my son about rhino junk

 

[Gunaria]

Sorry but after seeing that gun without her top on, she is fugly.

 

[45fan]

The idea of firing off of the bottom hole instead of the top is a sound one, keeps the recoil more in line with your hand. Taking that into consideration, any Kframe sized revolver, even in .357, isnt going to recoil enough to start drastically changing the way things have been done for over a century for the sake of a little less recoil.

 

[SkullDaddy.45]

If ya don't mind revealing, what ya pay for it?

 

[Erich]

I've had my Rhino since December '10, and I've shot the rear end off it with all sorts of warm handloads (so many people have remarked on its straight-back recoil on shooting it - much more controllable in rapid fire than any other .357 I've had). It's holding up great - sorry to hear that yours didn't.

 

[bob_dolemite]

Looks like you're missing the pin than joins the connecting rod and the interlink lever. I'm talking about parts 13, 18, and 31 on this diagram:

http://mkschiappa.com/PDFs/Rhino_exploded_view.pdf

Good luck with CS.

 

[buddydog]

I've had my Rhino since December '10, and I've shot the rear end off it with all sorts of warm handloads (so many people have remarked on its straight-back recoil on shooting it - much more controllable in rapid fire than any other .357 I've had). It's holding up great - sorry to hear that yours didn't.

Hey Erich, it was your review and threads that encourage me to buy the Rhino. No worries...I still have high hope for this one. Customer Service has been great so far...

Heck, the last two Sig Sauer that I had purchased have gone back for service already. I hope this is not the trend with gun mfgs.

 

[buddydog]

Looks like you're missing the pin than joins the connecting rod and the interlink lever. I'm talking about parts 13, 18, and 31 on this diagram:

http://mkschiappa.com/PDFs/Rhino_exploded_view.pdf

Good luck with CS.

Good eyes...I think that's what the Chiappa gunsmith said that's what might be the problem....the connecting pin.

 

[dbrier]

Our Rhino 40DS has not had any issues yet. My wife and I love it.

 

[Kagnew]

Dude, you bought a Mexican wheel gun.... IMHO, the only wheel guns you should buy in Mexico are old American revolvers that are collectible.

I assume that you meant to put this in purple. You realize, of course, that Chiappa firearms are made in Italy.

 

[armyvet209]

Sorry but after seeing that gun without her top on, she is fugly.

^^this^^
i'll stick to my smiffs, but hope everything works out for you

 

[Hookeye]

Pin or screw breakage could be a supplier or design issue.
Kinda tough to hang a company over something that can happen outside of their control (supplier stuff).
Yeah, it could be an "in house" part and of a bad batch.
Give 'em a chance to fix it, document it, see what others experience.

 

[Dave Doehrman]

Anyone else with experience with Chiappas???

My 200DS has been flawless with the exception of one ammo related failure. I bought some Sellior & Belloit JHP ammo and started having issues with the bullets backing out of the cases and becoming too long to allow the cylinder to rotate completely into position. Same issue, I couldn't get the cylinder open until I took a small screwdriver and forced the bullet back into the case, allowing the cylinder to rotate and open.

I'm sure this isn't your issue, but that is what happened to mine. Other than that, everyone who shoots it is amazed at the accuracy and lack of recoil from a snub-nosed .357.

The weapon is heavy, but that may be by design to help absorb some recoil. I also own a S&W 8-shot, titanium .357 with the 2" barrel and it is not fun to shoot. The weapon came with the Performance Center wood grips. The muzzle flip was so bad that the revolver was rocking back and tearing up the flesh on the top of my thumb. I had to install some Houge rubber grips to be able to shoot the thing without bleeding. I'm not a wuss, I have two S&W .460s and the .500 S&W ES and have never had problems shooting them.

I like my Rhino and hope things work out with yours.

 

[Erich]

Hey Erich, it was your review and threads that encourage me to buy the Rhino. No worries...I still have high hope for this one. Customer Service has been great so far...

Heck, the last two Sig Sauer that I had purchased have gone back for service already. I hope this is not the trend with gun mfgs.

Oh no! I owe you a beverage!

Best of luck with it - glad to hear that CS has been good to you.

 

[buddydog]

Pin or screw breakage could be a supplier or design issue.
Kinda tough to hang a company over something that can happen outside of their control (supplier stuff).
Yeah, it could be an "in house" part and of a bad batch.
Give 'em a chance to fix it, document it, see what others experience.

Agreed....no problem in a second chance. I'm still hoping this weapon will work out. It went out yesterday for repair. I'll update this tread with progress to advise other potential Rhino owners.

My 200DS has been flawless with the exception of one ammo related failure. I bought some Sellior & Belloit JHP ammo and started having issues with the bullets backing out of the cases and becoming too long to allow the cylinder to rotate completely into position. Same issue, I couldn't get the cylinder open until I took a small screwdriver and forced the bullet back into the case, allowing the cylinder to rotate and open.

I'm sure this isn't your issue, but that is what happened to mine. Other than that, everyone who shoots it is amazed at the accuracy and lack of recoil from a snub-nosed .357.

The weapon is heavy, but that may be by design to help absorb some recoil. I also own a S&W 8-shot, titanium .357 with the 2" barrel and it is not fun to shoot. The weapon came with the Performance Center wood grips. The muzzle flip was so bad that the revolver was rocking back and tearing up the flesh on the top of my thumb. I had to install some Houge rubber grips to be able to shoot the thing without bleeding. I'm not a wuss, I have two S&W .460s and the .500 S&W ES and have never had problems shooting them.

I like my Rhino and hope things work out with yours.

That's exactly what the guy at range thought...ammo backing out of the cylinder. He's seen two other Rhinos and both had the ammo issue as you had described. He did try to push the ammo back but the the trigger was still completely disengaged.

Appreciate the info and support. I'm certain customer service will have it resolved.

Oh no! I owe you a beverage!

Best of luck with it - glad to hear that CS has been good to you.

No beverage needed...just more pics of your wonderful Rhino

 

[Dave Doehrman]

No beverage needed...just more pics of your wonderful Rhino

I converted the factory belt holster that came with my Rhino into a wallet holster for back pocket carry. I had an old wallet holster laying around and used the leather plate to attach the modified Rhino holster. It carries well in my hip pocket, right where I would carry a wallet. I prefer a front pocket wallet and the Rhino works well when I don't want to belt carry.