After James R posted up his Chiappa Rhino 200DS review, I felt the need to share my thoughts about the bigger version. The White Rhino. The White Rhino is Chiappa’s 60DS. It is the same gun just with a 6 inch long barrel. The White Rhino is the stainless hard chrome version of the Rhino 60DS. They do make the 60DS in black just like the one James’ reviewed.

I put the Rhino 60DS up against an old Taurus Model 66. Both are stainless finished revolvers with wood grips. They each hold six rounds of .357 MAG.

Like what James noted in his video, the Rhino shoots from the bottom cylinder. What he did not mention was that the Chiappa Rhino was designed by none other than Emilio Ghisoni, the father of the Mateba. The Unica 6 is the most iconic of the Mateba Revolvers.

According to Metabafan.com the Chiappa Rhino was:

Ghisoni’s last design, although much of the design work was done by architect Antonio Cudazzo. Produced by Kimar in Italy, then imported through Chiappa in Italy and Chiappa’s American branch. DS stands for “Definitive Series

As a competitive shooter, I am not interested in short barreled revolvers. I was interested in the long barrel of the 60DS as well as the integrated rails on the 60DS. While the five inch 50DS has a bottom accessory rail for a light or laser, the 60DS has a top rail for optics.

Trying out the Trijicon MRO. While it looks silly, it works very well. Kinda like KC Eusebio and his Trijicon SRS mounted on his Glock.

As you could see in the top photo, I also tried the Meopta Meored micro red dot with QD rail mount. After shooting pistols in USPSA with red dots in Open Division, I prefer shooting hand guns with red dots. So shooting the Chiappa Rhino with a red dot was very easy. The direct linear recoil helps to minimize muzzle jump and the red dot does not move far off target.

I shot the Rhino and the Taurus using the same ammunition. American Eagle Lead Round Nose .38 SPL and Remington UMC .38 SPL. As expected the Taurus muzzle flips up more than the Rhino. Making the Rhino easier to shoot and aim for follow up shots.

The Rhino 60DS came cut for moonclips. Something the Taurus is not. For those not familiar with revolver moonclips, the rear face of the cylinder is machined to allow a thin sheet of metal. The thin sheet of metal is called a moonclip. The cartridge is snapped onto the moonclip and acts almost like a magazine. You simply open the cylinder and drop the moonclip in. Compared to tradition speed loaders where the shooter must insert the rounds and twist the loader to release the bullets into the cylinder. The use of moon clips also means the spent brass stays clipped and drops out as one piece. This makes reloading much quicker and easier. The Rhino 60DS came with three moonclips.

I definitely prefer the Rhino 60DS over the Taurus Model 66. However there are some issues I have with the Rhino. First of all the wood grip does not feel comfortable. The front strap has 90 degree corners that do not feel good when holding and shooting the Rhino. The accessory rail should be full length or moved rearwards. While it is nice to have the bottom rail positioned near the muzzle so that flashlights mounted there will not cast barrel shadow, it makes it harder to activate the weapon light as it is out of reach for my thumbs without breaking my grip. Another issue is the top rail. I like that it has one, but I rather have the rail be modular. Cut the rail out and have different thickness spacers to mount the rail lower or higher. That way you could counter sink small red dots like the Meopta Meored and co-witness the irons. Right now the optic sits higher than the iron sights. The Rhino 60DS does come with fiber optic front and rear sights and are better than the red plastic ramp on the Taurus. As my fried Greg, a compeitive revolver shooter, noted, Chiappa needs to make an 8 rd rhino. If they did he would trade one of his competition revolvers. An 8 rd rhino would be fantastic in the world of competitive revolver.  Another note is that the Chiappa Rhino comes in 9mm. Now on their website they list a Rhino 20D and 400DS combo.  They come with two cylinders, one in .357mag and one in 9mm. I would have liked a spare cylinder to shoot the 60DS in 9×19 with moon clips. I think the recoil would be even softer and make for a very fun and fast revolver.