Chiappa Arms Rhino

     Notes: Chaiappa Firearms is basically a US import company of Italian firearms.  One of these Italian companies is the Kimar Group of Azzano Mella, which makes a brams imported under the Armi Chaiappa name and sold primarily in North America.  The parts are largely made in Italy, but assembled in the US, as to not run afoul of US importation laws, and finishing work is done in the US, again because of importation laws.

     The Rhino is a chunky, slab-sided Revolver which uses a flat-sided and largely-dehorned exterior which makes it useful for self-defense and backup purposes.  The unusual design uses a low-mounted barrel which has a jagged upper frame providing a front sight – no rear sight is provided.  The Rhino has natural pointing qualities due to the ergonomic construction, but the low-mounted barrel requires some getting used to.  The low-mounted barrel causes less muzzle flip than standard designs.  Construction is of a light alloy frame and rubber wrap-around grip.  Two versions exist – the 2000DS, which is double-action on the first shot and single action for follow-up shots, and the 2000D, which is single-action only.  A further 20D and 20 DS provides a blued finish instead of a nickel finish. A manual safety is provided. Barrel length is 2 inches for the base model, but there is a 4-inch-barrel version with a very short length of MIL-STD-1913 rail under the muzzle and versions with 5 and 6-inch barrels with longer rails.  The versions with 4, 5, and 6-inch barrels have ventilated sighting ribs above the barrel.  The versions with 4, 5, and 6-inch barrels also have textured wooden grips.

EAA Big Bore Bounty Hunter

     Notes: This is a Russian-American replica of the old Colt Peacemaker of the American West.  This version is an almost exact copy of that revolver, with walnut one-piece grips (sometimes with ivory-colored grip plates), case-hardened color finish, blued, or nickel-plated, and with a choice of the two most common barrel lengths of the period.  One difference is that the EAA replica is capable of firing both blackpowder and modern loads.  The sights consist of a simple blade front sight and a notch rear sight. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This revolver does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

EMF Dakota 1875

     Notes: Like other several other EMF designs, the Dakota 1875 is made for EMF by Pietta of Italy, and is sort of an amalgamation of several Old West revolver designs.  The original Dakota has a 7.5-inch barrel and a blued barrel with a color case-hardened frame, cylinder, hammer, trigger, and trigger guard; the current production Dakota II has a 4.75-inch barrel and comes in one less chambering than the original Dakota.  Both are single-action designs meant to fire both blackpowder and modern propellant loads. Both have smooth walnut grips with a bird’s head design; the Dakota II’s design does not have a separate cylinder pin bushing.

     The Police 1890 is essentially the same revolver, but has a 5.5-inch barrel with a smaller hammer and hard checkered rubber grips.  Finish is satin stainless steel. It is no longer being sold by EMF or produced by Pietta.

EMF Great Western II

     Notes: Though actually manufactured for EMF by Pietta of Italy, the Great Western II is sold exclusively through EMF in the US and therefore I have included it here.  This replica is sort of an amalgamation of several Old West-type Colt designs, and therefore, while it does not look like any particular Old West-type revolver, it does look like something out of that era, and in fact many of its parts can actually be interchanged with a 1907 Colt revolver.

     The Great Western II is of course built primarily of steel; finishes can be of several types.  The one with the most authentic finish, called the “Californian,” has a case-color hardened frame, trigger, and hammer, with blueing on the rest of the metalwork.  Other finishes include bright nickel plating, or the metalwork can be made from stainless steel.  Grips on the Californian are of one-piece walnut; grips of the others can be of walnut or “Ultra-Ivory” (a faux-ivory plastic). 

     The mechanism is almost identical to those old Colts, including arched/beveled chamber fronts, a rounded trigger guard of the proper shape of that period, a two-notch base pin, and markings which are few and unobtrusive.  The firing pin is on the hammer, and the hammer surface is checkered.  Sights are fixed and consist of a square-notch rear and a half-moon front.  The sights are intentionally made by the factory too high, so that one can easily modify the sights for the typical load and bullet weight he typically shoots with some filing.  Though very well-built, there is the slightest amount of play between the grips and the frame.

EMF Hartford Single-Action

     Notes: Actually produced by Uberti for EMF, these revolvers are faithful reproductions of the Hartford version of the Colt Single-Action Army except for the chamberings, which are greater in number than the Hartford ever had.  The EMF Hartford is considered to be a good reproduction of the original Hartford, with a color-case hardened frame and blued barrel and cylinder.  The fit and finish is superb, better than any original Hartford, and yet they are very reasonable in real-life cost.  The EMF Hartford, however, does have a couple of problems – the fixed sights tend to shoot a bit to the left of target, and one of the two base pins tends to slip out of position.  (EMF later shipped owners a replacement pin that fixes the problem, and newer models are shipped with this fix already in place. Some filing of the front sight fixes the sight problem, but this requires a Formidable: Small Arms (Pistol) roll or an Average: Gunsmith roll to do properly.) The EMF Hartford also has the transfer bar safety required by newer US laws, something the original Hartford did not have.  The backstrap is made of brass, while the frame is steel.  The trigger guard is also of brass.  Both are black nickel plated so that they look like steel and do not spoil the appearance of the gun.  Grips are of smooth walnut. The EMF Hartford has been built since the 1950s and production has only recently been discontinued.

Walther/Smith & Wesson R99 La Chasse

     Notes: Actually manufactured in Smith & Wesson’s plant in Massachusetts for Walther, the La Chasse is a revolver designed for self-defense.  The frame, cylinder, and barrel are of steel, but the grip is made from polymer, and (when bought from Walther) the La Chasse comes with several adapter pieces for the grip to allow it to fit better in different-sized hands. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This revolver does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.