Chiappa Rhino Kaboom= injury.

There was a THR thread like 2 years ago regarding a Rhino with a catastrophic failure. The story was enough to make me black list the company. I guess I've just heard too many internet tails of "This thing is a POC." regarding Chiappa products.

That really sucks that someone was hurt. Think I'll stick with Smiths and Rugers.

Analogkid said:

Poster says factory ammo was used and revolver was about 50 rounds old if I am not mistaken.

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In the interest of full disclose, the blogger is posting the info 4th-hand, and also indicated a "suspected squib load" was involved*.

True, handguns ought to (and do) generally survive squibs without blowing up, but if it's true a squib was involved, it suggests the Chiappa might not have KB'd strictly from normal usage.



* From the above link:

I stumbled upon the above pic on r/guns where a poster shared a picture from a friend of a friend who had their Chiappa Rhino 200DS blow up in their hands from a suspected squib load.

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So a kaboom after squib load leaving a bullet in the barrel = injury risk with almost any revolver (including Chiappa Rhino).

Would potential injury from a Chiappa Rhino kaboom after squib be greater than that from a conventional barrel-on-top revolver kaboom after squib?

Would barrel-on-top lower hand injury risk and raise eye injury risk?

I have seen Smiths and Rugers blown up here too. My personal opinion? Semi autos are more likely to hang up than revolvers but a revolver failure is more likely to be seriously dangerous because if everythig isn't lined up perfectly you have a revolving grenade.

In the comments of that link some acute observer noticed the off center primer strikes on the brass in the corner of the pic suggesting the timing was off. I can't gather much from that pic myself but it certainly seems plausible.

@ Carl Brown:
I would think a conventional design would tend to blow up through the top strap, and they do, because that is the weakest part of the frame with the least metal.
Chiappa Rhino, seems like it has to go down into the hand. But thats my feeling and it would take an engineering study to confirm that.

I shot one of these, didn't really care all that much for it but oddly enough, I recall the bottom of the cylinder is where the cartridge fires from in these and not the typical top cartridge in a cylinder.
I think the design was to reduce recoil but having one blow up from the bottom end and not the strap on top might explain that.

I never thought of where the rhino kaboom would blow...wow! Good info

One more reason to prefer shooting my Blackhawks!

... the off center primer strikes on the brass in the corner of the pic suggesting the timing was off.

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If that revolver with normal timing struck dead center, the off center strikes visible in the photo would indicate the chamber was not aligned with the barrel at firing, multiple times apparently; that would stress the barrel and frame as the nose of the bullet forced cylinder alignment in milliseconds under high pressure.

I have seen off center primer strikes on an auto pistol simply due to alignment of breechface to firing chamber under normal conditions, with timing not an issue. I went and checked: fired .38/.357 casings from my three revolvers are all struck center.

Personally, I look at the Rhino and I do not like the idea having the cylinder/barrel gap that close to my hands (two handed grip). But I would like to see some objective data on Rhino failures.

The weakest part of the chamber will be what fails and ruptures, which is almost always the side of the cylinder. In a conventional top-firing revolver it blows up and through the top strap. In a Rhino, the side of the cylinder is pointing down into your grip because the Rhino fires from the bottom of the cylinder. All that energy will go down towards your hand and body.
At least in a semi auto it will usually blow down the magwell. In the Rhino it will be deflected by the grip frame and vent to an angle to the left and right but down.

I would think a conventional design would tend to blow up through the top strap, and they do, because that is the weakest part of the frame with the least metal.
Chiappa Rhino, seems like it has to go down into the hand. But thats my feeling and it would take an engineering study to confirm that.

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I agree with you evan.

I have personally witnessed several revolvers blow up in Cowboy Action Shooting.

The worse incident was a copy of the S&W Schofield. (It is a top break design for those that are not familiar with it). The sides of the top three chambers lifted off in one large piece and launched like a rocket. I am still amazed to this day how close it came to hitting the person running the timer in the head.

I saw a Colt SAA clone blow up taking the top strap completely off with the top of the cylinder.

The one I am most thankful for is I was timing a shooter at a match when his Colt SAA clone blew up. The top strap held keeping cylinder in one piece. The top strap was badly bend and the top three cylinder cylinders were bulged and cracked. Of course the gun was toast but I sure was glad it stayed together. Without the top strap the top half of the cylinder would have launched to who-knows-where possibly the side of my head.

When shooting ISPC I saw a occasional out-of battery discharge or overly aggressive cutting and polishing the feedramp case blowout. The blast went mainly down the magazine well splitting the grips and giving the shooter a painful though not serious lesson about making modifications.

With the Rhino both of these safety designs are ignored.

As the OP stated, his Ruger SP 101 - a gun reputed to be very solid - also blew up. I think this could happen to lots of guns, under the wrong circumstances. And squibs qualify as the wrong circumstances. Though permanently injured, I'm glad the Rhino shooter wasn't hurt more than he was (and the OP wasn't injured too bad with his Ruger.)

I've had a Rhino 2" 357 since their introduction. I like it, although a 357 and I
have shot 357's through it, mostly I shoot 38 Specials.

A weird looking handgun till you hold it, the grip feels just fine in your hand.

The bore is inline with your extended arm and you could shoot 357's all day long comfortably with it. (note! If you could afford to shoot 357's all day long).

I've never liked the Rhino. For about the same price you can get a new S&W Combat Magnum, and the Rhino's build isn't anywhere near as good.

That Rhino is a great reminder that if you're trying to shoot rapidly....if you pull and don't get the normal BOOOOM! with recoil to S T O P!!! It can be hard to do, but if you squib one then put another down the tube behind it...things can come apart in dramatic fashion.

I looked at the fired cases in the pic, and they don't look so bad to my eye. My Delta Colts strike much farther off center than that...and of course is not a timing issue, which I also suspect is not the case in that picture. We've no way of knowing if they're slightly left or right...or up and down which is what I'd suspect. Probably (guessing) that it had no influence on the KaBang if a round just squibbed and the guy didn't stop shooting. Happy he has as much hand left as he does! That's merely a scratch...

I don't remember if it was here or another forum, but several years ago I predicted that someone would eventually get seriously injured by a Rhino kaboom. Stuff happens and eventually you'll get someone with a squib or a double charge, or just a fubar situation, and the gun goes kaboom.

With a normal revolver the top strap lets go and the top half of the cylinder goes up.

With the Rhino design, flip it and the "bottom strap" will let go and the bottom of the cylinder will go down -- right into your hand.

I stated then that I would never purchase a Rhino. I'm an engineer and have much experience in FMEA and recongnized the design flaw immediately.

I also caught some flac for stating this.

I've seen VERY EXPERIENCED shooters not recognize a squib. I don't and can't blame the shooter. A revolver will give some significant noise just from the cylinder gap. The design of this gun is seriously flawed.

After this incident, I would expect a responsible company to recall all the guns. I would also expect the plaintiff's lawyer to subpoena the test results of squib and overcharge testing the company did during the development of the gun.

ETA: yup it was here... I copied the email I sent to American Rifleman.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-593792.html

Squib??? What squib???

A squib load basically turns your gun into a pipe bomb.