Letter Re: Chiappa Rhino Revolvers

James,

You regularly publish Pat’s Product Reviews and very rarely do I find any reason to complain. But today’s column did little more than make me roll my eyes. Revolvers today have two advantages over autoloaders: Higher calibers (like the .460 and .500) and utter reliability. There are significantly fewer moving parts in a revolver than an autoloader and therefore fewer things that can break. Unfortunately, the Rhino fits neither of those two. The .357 Magnum is no longer that impressive and the Rhino has by far the most moving parts of any revolver out there. I too was originally very excited about the Rhino because it has less felt recoil on a .357 load than most other revolvers have on .38 Special +P. But I am now on my third repair, after firing less than 3,000 rounds through the gun.

If you want to buy something different, then go for it. If you, however, are looking for a reliable self-defense gun, go for a traditional, proven design. – Peter