Chiappa Build Quality

[D.B. Cooper]

So this is coming out of a separate discussion, but I think I like Chiappa's "Double Badger," which is their knock-off of the Savage 24 over/under combo gun.

Those of you who own Chiappa guns (either the Badge or any of their other guns), what is the build quality like? I know they make a lot of historical replicas; do they match up in quality to say the pre-1964 era guns from Winchester, Colt, etc?

Apparently, they used to be Armi Sport Italy, and I had one of their Enfield 1853 rifeld-musket replicas. (I was doing Civil War reenacting back then.) Great gun, but hard to mess up a muzzle loader. Does the company today turn out guns that I can hunt with year after year after year, and then pass down to my son, or are they mostly for show/reenactments etc?

 

[Dog Soldier]

I bought a Chiappa 1911 .22 Long Rifle some years ago. It was in my opinion to be a of very poor quality. It would not feed or eject properly. The slide was poorly fit and the springs were weak. This was just one experience with their guns. That said, I will not buy another one.

 

[Ed Ames]

I have a double badger. From the factory it had two issues.

1) It didn't lock properly. It would feel like it closed but a thump on the top of the barrel would knock it open. The issue was that the lug was oversized and would not engage with the latch.

2) It didn't cock properly. After issue 1 was fixed the gun would unlock and open up well before it was cocked, meaning that if you weren't careful it would open up and allow you to load it with the firing pins protruding, at which point best case it wouldn't close but I would guess that if you tried to slam it closed you would have a bad day.

I assume they would have taken care of the issues but I was too lazy to call them or deal with shipping it back. I fixed it myself, though I would not recommend that to sane people (it involved carefully removing metal in some places and adding it in others...).

On the plus side, once sorted out it became a fun little gun.

Oh, I also have a little badger. It is basically junk but worked perfectly from day one and has a surprisingly good trigger.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

This video basically warned me off.

Check out 39 seconds into it. Apparently, the Badgers come with the Remington 700 safety that fires both barrels when you take the safety off. No thanks. I'm done.

 

[Ed Ames]

Apparently, the Badgers come with the Remington 700 safety that fires both barrels when you take the safety off.

Well, his specific gun was that way. My double badger is not.

 

[LoonWulf]

He does address the problem in his vid, so atleast we know why its doing that.

 

[Havok7416]

I have one of their Rhinos and I use it frequently with no issues. It is well constructed.

That said, I owned the 1911-22 they make and my sample was terrible (as many others have also reported). Generally I hear bad things about their .22 replicas, but decent things about their centerfire offerings.

 

[Davek1977]

expecting a budget gun like a chiappa to reflect the quality of a pre-64 winchester or the like is asking A LOT, since many guns costing several times that cannot match the same quality. Most 'replicas' are usually cheap knock-offs of low quality, not actual ''reproductions''. chiappa is no different in that respect. you may get what you pay for if lucky, but you won't get a heirloom quality firearm at a bargin basement price.

 

[VThillman]

My Rhino 357 had no issues. my Chiappa-built version of the Winchester 1892 was an externally beautiful, internally semi-functional gun. A gunsmith made it functional for me, but by then the dew was off the rose.

 

[boom boom]

Caveat emptor with Chiappa. Some are okay and some are junk--avoid their .22 M1 Carbine knockoff.

 

[horsey300]

Dealt with a chiappa 1911 .22lr and with several types of ammo had the same dysfunctional troubles as @Dog Soldier and kinda swore them off afterwards.

 

[Dog Soldier]

expecting a budget gun like a chiappa to reflect the quality of a pre-64 winchester or the like is asking A LOT, since many guns costing several times that cannot match the same quality. Most 'replicas' are usually cheap knock-offs of low quality, not actual ''reproductions''. chiappa is no different in that respect. you may get what you pay for if lucky, but you won't get a heirloom quality firearm at a bargin basement price.

I doubt many gun buyers expect high quality firearms for these budget prices. we do how ever expect them to function. The Savage and Mossberg lines were budget priced for many years. Many young hunters had $33 dollar bolt action Mossberg shotguns. They were very dependable shotguns. These imports are advertised to be reliable??

 

[stoky]

I know someone who wasn't happy with one of their .45-70 lever guns, it had numerous malfs. IIRC it wasn't real inexpensive either, cost more than a Marlin at the time.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

expecting a budget gun like a chiappa to reflect the quality of a pre-64 winchester or the like is asking A LOT, since many guns costing several times that cannot match the same quality. Most 'replicas' are usually cheap knock-offs of low quality, not actual ''reproductions''. chiappa is no different in that respect. you may get what you pay for if lucky, but you won't get a heirloom quality firearm at a bargin basement price.

I understand this. As I sometimes say: "You always pay for what you get; sometimes you get what you pay for." I think your comment, however, reflects consumers' acceptance of poor quality as the norm, and consumers' not appreciating the value of money.

I'll also respond to Dog Soldier's comment here as well: I agree. I have a Savage 110 "package gun" that was basement priced in the 1990s. It's a phenomenal gun. The only non-Winchester rifle I ever loved. I'm actually searching for another one in the used market. It was literally the cheapest gun available at the time

At any rate, manufacturers (of ay product, not just guns) should not be turning out junk under the cover of providing a low price point. (And we should not accept junk under the same.) I get that finish won't be the same. Stock wood will not be as well polished. (Or perhaps not even be wood at all.) I get that hand forged receivers are a thing of the past, that MIM parts are the way of the future. I get that blueing on a $300 gun will not be as beautiful as that of a $600 gun. But guns should not fire when the safety is clicked off. (That gun should never have left the factory. I can't believe their Q.C. dept. didn't catch that. What else are they letting through?) Guns should shoot MOA. They should be reliable and have a low failure/malfunction rate (aside from ammo problems which is beyond their control). Conversely, we consumers need to be willing to pay a minimum price for functional reliability. I don't expect to buy any gun for a hundred bucks-unless it's stolen. But when I pay $300 for a gun, it better be right. Maybe I just put too much value on my money, or the time required to earn it. There is a lot of things I can do with $300, or I could do (instead of working) with the time required to earn $300.

 

[wally]

I bought a Chiappa 1911 .22 Long Rifle some years ago. It was in my opinion to be a of very poor quality. It would not feed or eject properly. The slide was poorly fit and the springs were weak. This was just one experience with their guns. That said, I will not buy another one.

Big 10-4, My Chiappa 1911 .22lr has been my worst purchase ever, wouldn't empty a magazine without a stovepipe or feed failure. Sent it back and it came back if anything even worse. Terrible customer service along with questionable quality guns. I'd say stay away unless you can shoot a few hundred rounds through it first to be sure what you are buying actually works.

 

[LoonWulf]

But guns should not fire when the safety is clicked off. (That gun should never have left the factory. I can't believe their Q.C. dept. didn't catch that.

Just wanted to point out, that in the video the guys said clearly that it did not do that till he took it apart.

He identifys the problem caus d by disasembly, and the root cause of the poorly installed hold down screw.