The Chippa Rhino is an Italian designed revolver – a spiritual successor in many ways to the similar looking Mateba Autorevolver, which was designed by the same person. Like its predecessor it differs from the traditional revolver in that the barrel is in line with the bottom of the cylinder. This means that the axis of the bore is in line with the shooter’s wrist, making recoil much easier to control. Obviously this has one drawback in that the shooter will need to allow for additional parallax error at close range.
The airsoft iteration is manufactured by BO manufacture (a name you might recognise from their series of Fabarms shotguns in both spring and gas versions) in conjuction with the Taiwanese Wingun company. What adds to the cool factor is that is manufactured in Taiwan and then shipped to Chiappa themselves for final assembly! I’m a fan of the Dan Wesson 715 already despite its limitations. Many sites do not allow its use either with minimum engagement distances or power down shells & its hop can be temperamental.
Using an airsoft revolver is something of a passion of mine. I love the challenge of taking on the field with only six shots. A successful reload running speedloaders, especially under fire, is, at least for me, an unbeatable feeling.
There’s a few airsoft offerings out there along the lines of either S&W M29’s, Colt Pythons or clones offering more than a tip of the proverbial hat to both. Part of the attraction of airsoft is that badass feeling you get wielding a weighty piece and rocking like a Fraggle on PCP – so when I saw there was a new and unusual one on the market I had to bite.
Thanks to a retailer cock up I ended up with two – one in black, one in silver so I can talk about the finish on both.
First off I had to decide on barrel length and of course if I’m going in, I’m going all in. So it had to be the six inch version, the 60DS. The other versions coming in 2,3,4 & 5 inches are of course named in similar fashion.
.: Build Quality :.
The Rhino is full metal aside from the obvious parts – sights, grips and (tiny) safety. Its feels like an absolute beast to hold and look at. Its impossible to wield without a stupid dappy grin on your face.
In terms of finish both are excellent. The silver is more a “nickel” colour with a slightly rough feeling matt finish. The black is a smooth matt which I would say is much less hard wearing, although the plus side being that you will get realistic marks going through to the metal base in some areas with time.
On the right side of the gun are the trades which are absolutely perfect. Laser engraved & filled in white (on the black model) matching exactly that of the real steel.
Following the chamber you have the distinctive Rhino logo, “RHINO 60DS”, “.357 MAGNUM”,”Licensed by Chiappa Firearms Italy” and your piece’s unique serial number. On the other is “6MM AIRSOFT” and “Ⓕ” for our European friends.
The 60DS comes boxed with six shells and a custom wrench to allow you to adjust the hop via a nut on the situated on the frame next to the barrel. Each setting of the hop has a distinct “click” & I quite like this analogue feel with six settings available. The hop worked great with 0.3’s on the third click & .36’s on the fourth.
Like any sidearm that you’re intending to use effectively, I thoroughly recommend spending some time familiarising yourself with the gun and most importantly shooting it. With all my secondaries I know I will be going solo with them as a primary on occasion and this is no exception.
The change in parallax does take a little getting used to – but with practice you soon acclimatise. I can swap between this and the 1911 platform with ease, muscle and brain memory making the necessary adjustments for me.
In terms of accuracy it is obviously helped by being a non blowback platform and I can confidently hit a torso sized target out to 20 metres. In CQB its absolutely lethal. The lack of blowback and “feel” of double action means follow up shots are a breeze with the lack of kick keeping your target on centre. Of course you’ll need to time your shell dumping & reloading perfectly but I’ve found on multiple occasions that a thoughtful, well aimed shot beats someone flailing at you with a GBB pistol.
Its also great to have a revolver that although powerful is site legal for engaging in that wonderful turn of phrase “wet work”. Yes, it may be all in my head but I feel unstoppable bursting through doorways or counter attacking through buildings.
A word on shells, speeloaders & moonclips to clear up some of the misinformation that is out there. The shells which come with it are identical to the standard Dan Wesson ones, although these are marked with “C.” compared to “DAN WESSON”.
As such they are all obviously interchangeable with a caveat – I haven’t tried the “lower power” shells as I don’t own any so have no idea of the power output.
To open the chamber, you depress the catch on the left side, pushing it from the right. There is a working shell ejector which you push back to eject the shells. It feels solid, smooth and definitely brings a smile to your face. It is NOT recommended to slam or flick the chamber closed. The weight of the chamber is likely to bend the axial rod leading to closing issues (just like in the real steel). You can “Bogart” the cylinder – tip the gun back while the cylinder is open and the shells will dump out with only the help of gravity. The tinkle of falling shells is truely lovely.
So onto the moonclips. For a start off, they only work with the shells which come with the “limited edition” Charging Rhino 50DS. Try to use any other shells with them and unless you machine them with a groove for the moonclip they’re useless pieces of flimsy metal.
Is it worth machining your shells? Personally no. I find them fiddlier than speedloaders plus they are so damn fragile. Give them a withering look when you’re trying to line everything up & they’ll bend. A big fat no from me – it has to be speedloaders any day of the week.
The ASG Dan Wesson speedloaders work excellently with her – as indeed do “real steel” HKS 10-A ones. The HKS models are twice the price of the ASG Dan Wesson ones and I actually prefer the latter. I run HKS 29-M’s on my Marushin Super Redhawk. HKS’s require a turn of the central nub to release the shells whilst the ASG unlock and “push” the shells in when the central nub pushes against the middle of the chamber. Its so much easier to do when the rounds are flying at you.
Take down and maintenance is easy enough to get the chamber out for cleaning. Two screws and off it comes, like the real steel. The whole thing just feels so damn solid.
The grips are the only disappointment for me. Yes, they look great but the moment you pick them up … ugh. They feel plastic. I would have much preferred the rubber style ones that the Dan Wesson comes with.
Anyone with previous Wingun experience will recognise the way the grip easily splits in half to come off and allow access to the CO₂ chamber. A single 12g CO₂ capsule is good for at least 100 rounds. The removable grip has a hex key permanently attached to allow the hex nut to be screwed in/out to load the capsule. As with any CO₂ powered RIF I recommend a drop of silicon oil on the piercing valve as there is no lubrication in the gas. On the metal frame is stamped “Manufactured by Wingun, Taiwan.”
I always wrap the grip in some tac-tape. The purpose is two fold – it makes the grip feel so much better in hand and although I’ve yet to experience this – removes any chance of it coming apart when I’m in the middle of a gorse bush.
The sights are bomar style & I find them perfectly suited to the job of target acquisition. If you find them on sale then the fibre optic alternative would look very sweet indeed.
Trigger pull is hard, surprisingly so. The hammer doesn’t actually fire the Rhino – is it merely a lever system which triggers the actual hammer situated in the gun body. Normally, I don’t fire revolvers double action. I prefer single as I’m aiming but something about the setup here means that double action just works and in CQB I have no problems rapidly snap shooting at multiple targets.
Cocking the hammer for single action causes a little red indicator to pop up – aside from looking cute and making the trigger pull shorter and a lot harder it feels superfluous.
At the time of writing (May 2024) my options for holstering here in the UK were limited. Either a custom leather holster (I’m a huge fan of these for ease of use & protection they can’t be beaten) or a Kydex custom. These “tactical” style mounting options are really not my bag, but I have been pleasantly surprised.
The adjustable retention is excellent as is the belt mounting system. You can set it up to fit the width of your belt & I like that you have other options than black. It does rub the gun though – it hasn’t marked the “silver” model I have but I’ve chosen to wait for a leather one before running my black one though, so be aware of that issue. To be fair to Kydex, they do warn you about damage to the gun finish. For me its a great, eminently usable stop-gap until I can sort out a gucci option. My feelings may well have been different though if I only had a black model to run with it.
**July 2024 update – I ran my black version for a couple of CQB games. The finish held up – but until I’ve had a longer run with it I would still apply the above caveats. **
.: Hop :.
The hop is accessed via opening the chamber and adjusting the nut with the provided spanner. It is a proprietary system, I have not been inside so can’t comment on replacement rubbers etc. Fully analogue with six clicks – will hop 0.36s, much more consistently than the DW 715. Approximately 1 shot in 6 will fly off overhopped. I noticed this in both models with it only affecting longer range shots. This was not noticeable in CQB which is where I found this beast the most useful.
.: Power :.
Ambient temperature 13 °C
New capsule, 3 shots fired before, 10 seconds between shots. No hop applied. Blaster Devil. Dan Wesson “high power” shells.
0.2g BBs
323 fps
331 fps
325 fps
319 fps
328 fps
335 fps
6 shot average : 327 fps (Using “Chiappa Rhino” shells – 6 Shot average – 329 fps)
.: Aftermarket parts, recommendations & maintenance :.
Aside from grips, real steel parts including sights will fit. The Rhino comes with 20mm top/bottom RIS rails for red dots, lights, lasers etc.
The Kydex Customs is a decent “tactical” style holster making the Rhino easy to draw holding it slightly out from the belt. For play in dense vegetation, I would recommend a customer leather holster for absolute confidence in retention & protection. *If* you have a black model however avoid unless you want that finish scratched to bits.
Moonclips – without machining shells no. Too thin/fiddly for me to recommend in any case.
“Normal”/”High Power” – Dan Wesson shells with ASG speedloaders function seamlessly.
.: Conclusion :.
The thorny but very clouded issue of sidearm “site legal” always raises its head around revolvers. Everywhere is different, whilst I don’t mind being shot point blank with what some would consider to be a “hot” weapon (mk23’s here’s looking at you!) many people very fairly disagree.
Up until now, I’ve not been able to wield with a clear conscience a revolver in CQB or close up. Some sites allow it, some sites insist they are used like DMRs. That’s a topic for a different day.
What we have here is a site legal revolver regardless of what gas/temperature/shells you run it on. And I absolutely love that.
The hop is a massive improvement on that in DW 715, although still with some niggles that make this more of a close range/CQB/last stand piece. I’m fine with that as it performs brilliantly at 20 metres or less, having put a huge smile on both my face and those of the targets. And I know its not going to put bloody holes in anyone. You’ll certainly get more respect when you get kills in style with the Rhino. At longer ranges I’m not confident in necessarily getting even a torso hit & I will switch to something more suitable.
That said, it does come with a caveat. Six shots, investing in speedloaders, custom holsters, shells etc. is not for everyone. But that’s the joy of airsoft – there are more options than ever before for everyone’s style. If this is yours, then I can honestly say you will love it. The shells & speedloaders for me at least, are the icing on the cake of this particular experience.
Being able to pack a second sidearm with its own unique to style and deciding to wield it when I feel lucky, punk, makes me very happy indeed.
Recommended.
Fraggle, May 2024 🐾
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