Austin Miller, contributing editor for Gun Tests magazine and a contributor to GunReports.com, traveled to Tactical Firearms in Katy, Texas, to begin testing a unusual trio of handguns for an upcoming issue of Gun Tests.
We compared three guns with different chamberings, but, amazingly, almost the same size, height, and weight profiles.
The test guns start with this Chiappa Firearms Rhino Revolver, on loan to Gun Tests from Fountain Firearms in Houston. Chambered in 357 Magnum/38 Special, the 200DS model has a counter price of $795 at Fountain, and Cheaper Than Dirt! sells it for $765.
The second gun is the new Springfield Armory XD-S single-stack .45 ACP. Springfield’s MSRP for the black XD-S is $599, and the suggested retail for the bi-tone unit is $669, according to Springfield’s customer service department.
We saw a factory new XD-S with a “buy it now” price of $475 at auction recently. A common counter price seems to be around $500 to $510.
The third pistol is a pocket 9mm produced by Kahr Arms, the CW9, which lists for $378.
The Gun Tests story angle will compare these three dissimilar — but similar — self-protection handguns for accuracy, recoil control, and concealability. We were surprised to see how they compare in size:
The Rhino has a 2-inch barrel wrapped inside an aluminum-alloy frame. It’s 4.9 inches tall and 6 inches long, overall. At the widest point, it’s 1.42 inches across its flattened six-shot cylinder. It weighs 26 ounces empty, and with six rounds of 125-grain 357 Magnum rounds, it weighs 29.2 ounces.
The XD-S holds 5+1 rounds of 45 ACP, equalling the capacity of the Rhino. It measures 4.4 inches tall with a magazine inserted.
It’s 6.3 inches long, and Springfield says the overall width is 1 inch. However, we measured the thickness across the takedown lever to be 1.07 inches.
Dry, it weighed 22.6 ounces, and loaded with six 185-grain hollowpoints, our scale read the gun’s weight at 26.4 ounces.
The Melonite-treated barrel is 3.3 inches long, and it resides in a steel slide and polymer frame.
The Kahr Arms CM9 9mm has a 3-inch barrel and, like the others, a 6-round capacity. It measures 5.42 inches in overall length and stands 4 inches tall.
It’s only .9-inch-wide across the slide and weighs a paltry 17.6 ounces with an unloaded magazine and 20 ounces loaded with six rounds of 115-grain ball.
Like the XD-S 45, the CM9 fires double-action only, while the Rhino fires both double action and single action. The CM9’s black polymer frame is topped with a 416-stainless-steel slide.
So that sets up the three-way comparison we’re working on, but today we’re going to examine the unusual Rhino more closely.
The design is the fusion of ideas from two Italians, Emilio Ghisoni, the deceased designer of the Mateba revolver, and Italian competitive shooter Antonio Caduzzo.
At first glance, we thought the Chiappa Rhino could be cast as a gun from a sci-fi action flick. Its unusual appearance is due largely to lowering the barrel of the revolver to the bottom chamber instead of the customary alignment with the top chamber.
The idea is that by lowering the barrel in the hand, muzzle flip is reduced, allowing the shooter to execute follow-up shots with magnum rounds faster.
Introduced in 2010, the Rhino is now available in 2-, 4-, 5- and 6-inch variants, in .357 Mag., 40 S&W, and 9×21. One model, the 2-inch-barrel 20DS, comes in a hard-chrome finish.
Our shooters wanted to see if the Rhino lives up to its promises of reduced muzzle flip and faster reacquisition of the target with magnum loads in an aluminum-framed, 2-inch snubby without a muzzle brake.
At the range, we chose to test the Rhino at 7 yards, a reasonable distance for a 2-inch revolver.
We started out with 38 Special to get a feel for the single-action trigger pull and grip angle. The first shot shooting supported off the bench was a surprise.
Expecting some muzzle flip, we instead tracked the sights on target and were able to pull the hammer back with the off hand and fire off five more rounds quickly and accurately.
Moving up to .357 Mags, we noticed a lot of report and more felt recoil increased, but it was surprisingly easy to track the sights and reacquire the target.
A six-shot double-action group measured 3 inches, which is respectable for any snub-nosed revolver.
The double-action trigger pull is smooth but weighs in at a pretty heavy 11 pounds. The trigger was flat and broad and pulled at just 3.8 ounces single action with a tiny bit of creep.
So that’s our initial look at the Rhino 200DS 357 Magnum revolver from Chiappa. Look for the full comparison of the Rhino versus the Springfield XD-S and the Kahr CW9 in Gun Tests magazine.
