Hi All,

got a brand new Chiappa Rhino 50DS and took it out to the range.
As you know it's an unconventional design with the barrel lined up with the bottom of the cylinder, for lower recoil. Everyone had a shot at it till the gun jammed up. I was using new Fiocchi 38 Special ammo.

Apparently, after reviewing the videos, there were several squibs. One would get stuck, next one would push it out, a few times. Obviously, i had not noticed it and kept shooting, i was still familiarizing myself with the gun.

Anyways, after several rounds fired, less than 50, the gun jammed when the last round got stuck between the cylinder and the barrel. Now the cylinder is locked as well.

Chiappa service, very rudely, told me  it will be 400 to fix it and they might damage the firearm. It will not be fixed under warranty. They refused to have me talk to the gunsmith. The lady on the phone said,

Now, this is a brand new gun, less than 50 rounds fired. I used good ammo, new, not reloads. Posting this here to share my experience and get some advice. Could it be a defective barrel, bad cylinder timing, something else?

Here's the videos link and the response from Chiappa service:

Videos link Here

Also,

Response from Chiappa Service
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry,
We watched the videos and you can clearly see the younger guy in the video was shooting fine then squibbed a round and then the older gentleman was shooting in the other video was squibbing every round in the firearm.
The ammo was working properly in the firearm  and barrel is at specs for a .357
It will not be covered under the warranty.
If you want we can try to fix it and it will be around $300- $400 dollars and could be damaged in the process ,or
We can exchange it for a new one and the cost would be $933.00
or we can just send it back to you and you can take it up with the ammo manufacturer


Customer Service
Chiappa Group USA, LTD.
1415 Stanley Ave
Dayton, Oh  45404
Chiappafirearms.com
937-835-5000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Chiappas defense, this sounds like an ammo issue.  You should be pursuing a fix/replacement/etc through the ammo manufacturer.  Chiappa providing you any FREE reconciliation would just be based on above and beyond customer service.  That is as long as there isnt a serious manufacturing defect forcing the squib to occur.

Squibs are usually an under-charged ammunition issue.

I would contact Fiocchi.

With that many Squibs they may have had a bad run.

I'm not aware of how squib rounds are a gun failure.

Contact fiocchi, show them the video.

They are 100% right.

i contacted Fiocchi, so far they are offering to exchange the rounds i have left.

not much help from them and looks like i have to cash out to repair the gun.

How the hell did you not notice squibs?



 

first time shooting that gun, felt great and i figured it was the gun design. Was more concerned with keeping the fingers low enough as the barrel is really close to the hand and can burn. Also it is supposed to recoil less so i thought that was the feeling.
Trust me, if i had realized there was a squib i would have stopped.

That's what I'm saying. It is NOT the gun. It's the ammunition.

Also, several (five? six?) squibs in the barrel AND between the cylinder and the forcing cone would make it pretty difficult to hammer the projectile(s) back into the cylinder like it would if it was the only Squib.

Judging from the OP's videos it could be possible that there is more than one projectile stuck in the barrel.

ammo seems to be the consensus. Plus operator fault that made it worse, but hey, like i said first time shooting that unusual piece.

BTW:

Chiappa is singular for Chiappe.

http://dictionary.reverso.net/italian-english/chiappe

so Chiappa would also be 1/2 a$$ or a$$ backwards :)

you learned the hard way about revolvers and squibs.

Send them a demand for replacement of the revolver

The sue them in small claims court

I would demand the ammo manufacturer pay to fix the gun.

If he had only pushed one squib yeah, but to continue pushing them..........
Still, you may get them to.

Is there any actual damage to the revolver?  I would be surprised if there was.  Wrap the barrel in some leather or similar tough material and put the barrel in a vise. Get a 5/16" brass rod and a hammer and drive the squib back into the cylinder.

Not the first time Ive heard of Fiocchi ammo screwing up a pistol.

After the first shot when the older gentleman was shooting, you can clearly see the squib bullet sticking out of the end of the barrel. From 0:03 to 0:08, where he shoots the second round.

My bigger question, is how the hell did that brass tube get into the end of the barrel? Was that a case seperation? Or did you put it down the end when you tried to remove the stuck bullet? Looks like the outside has rifling marks, which would mean it traveled down the barrel somehow.

Looks like the jacket of the first of the bullets sticking out of the muzzle.  The bullet behind it drove lead core out of the bullet but left the jacket in the bore.


The Rhino is a two piece barrel.  You can probably unscrew the nut around the end of the barrel at the muzzle.  Remove the outer barrel sleeve and then carefully unscrew the barrel from the frame.  You could then drive the bullets out of the barrel and reinstall everything.  You would need some feeler gauges to get the cylinder gap set right during reassembly.


 

Did the OP ever get his revolver fixed?