Chiappa Rhino 200DS - 2" .357 Magnum Revolver with Black Finish

The Chiappa Rhino is one of the most revolutionary revolver designs ever seen.

Chambered in the powerful .357 Magnum, the Rhino has the barrel aligned with the bottom of the cylinder to drastically reduce recoil and improve natural pointing.

As a self-defense revolver, the Rhino offers great concealability thanks to a very unusual profile. The flat cylinder grants maximum comfort and reduces the bulk typically associated with a revolver.

Featuring both double and single action characteristics, the single action is actuated by a hammer cocking device that engages the unexposed hammer to prepare to fire.

Chiappa Rhino Review
by: Richard

Felt recoil from .357 Magnum loads is almost non-existant.

Sounds like a pretty bold statement, I suppose. But after shooting the Chiappa Rhino at the 2011 Media Day at the Range, that sums up my feelings exactly. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning…

Rhino Background

The Chippa Rhino is a rather unusual revolver, and by now I expect most readers of this site are familiar with it. But to recap, the Rhino is a six shot revolver chambered in .357 Magnum. Unlike the classic lines of a Smith & Wesson model 19 or 586, the Rhino looks more like a sexy handgun from a steampunk fantasy.

The grip looks all wrong, the cylinder has all those flat spots, and the barrel has that huge underlug. Only that underlug isn’t an underlug – it’s the barrel.

If you haven’t heard about the Rhino before, you are probably wondering why the barrel is installed wrong. But it isn’t installed wrong. The barrel is purposefully aligned with the bottom of the cylinder to move the bore closer to alignment with the hand and arm, thereby improving the natural point of aim and reducing recoil.

Depending on who you asked, you would wind up with a range of opinions on the design’s potential to reduce recoil. Some observers claimed it was all smoke and mirrors, while others attempted to calculate the reduction in felt recoil using the latest physics models run through supercomputers. I, like most people, thought it could work, but largely took a wait and see approach.

At the Range

At the 2011 Media Day at the Range (the pre-SHOT Show play day for writers), I spent some time with the Chiappa revolver and Charles Brown of MKS Supply. Brown was very happy to show me the guns and keep me supplied with ammo.

When I was at the Chiappa display, it was later in the afternoon, so the guns had been shot hundreds (thousands?) of times already in the day. That meant a few things. First, the triggers and cylinders may have been smoothed out by the repeated shooting. Second, any “problem” guns could have been identified and removed from the line-up (I doubt there were any). Lastly, the guns I was shooting were very dirty.

While I cannot speak to the first two items, I can say that even as dirty as they were, the Rhino revolvers I shot were 100% reliable and very smooth shooting.

When I had a chance to play with the Rhino prototypes at the 2010 SHOT Show, I felt the triggers were too heavy and not very smooth. Well, on these production guns, the triggers felt very smooth and not very heavy at all. As a pure guess, I’d say the triggers were in the 8-10 lb range.

What I was completely shocked by was the lack of any significant recoil. There were two ammo loads available at the shooting stall: the .357 Magnum Blazer 158 grain SJHP and some forgotten .38 Special. Shooting the .38 Special loads was akin to shooting a cap gun, and I didn’t do more than six rounds of that.

The .357 Magnum loads out of the 2″ Rhino had very little recoil. The recoil felt less than that of standard pressure 148 grain .38 Special wadcutters out of a 4″ K-frame. Seriously, the recoil was that light!

I’ve spent a lot of time shooting standard and +P pressure .38 Special loads out of my S&W 642. The recoil from the S&W is a beast compared to the Rhino.

In all fairness, the Rhino is heavier than the J-frame Smith, which accounts for some of the recoil reduction, but I have to believe that the lower barrel is a significant reason for the markedly reduced recoil.

The Blazer rounds are slightly less powerful than other .357 Magnum loads in that bullet weight, but not much less. The Blazer clocks at 1150 fps from a 4″ barrel as compared to the Speer Gold Dot at 1235 fps, Federal Hydra-Shok at 1240 fps and the Winchester Super X at 1235 fps. But, I put the felt recoil at less than that of a lighter wadcutter bullet moving at a mere 750 fps.

Accuracy was also very good with the Rhino. I put cylinder after cylinder from the 2″ Rhino onto an eight-inch metal plate at about 12 yards with no problems whatsoever.

The Rhino ships with a concealment holster, which is good news since the revolver’s design isn’t likely to work with many off-the-shelf holster solutions.

Bottom Line

I like the Rhino – a lot. When I first saw the gun, I thought the Rhino would be more of a gimmick than a tool. I was wrong.

The Rhino is an excellent choice for anyone wanting a .357 Magnum with very little recoil. For home defense, a fun shooter or to carry afield, I would have no reservations in choosing the Rhino in any of the various barrel lengths.

For carrying concealed, I think the Rhino is a great choice with the caveat of needing a good holster. The 2″ Rhino is heavier than other snubnose revolvers, so a good holster choice is important. Without the ability to try the included holster, I don’t know how the Rhino will fare for all day carrying under a t-shirt or jacket. With a good holster, the Rhino will be a superb CCW gun.