Local Farm & Home store sales circular has a listing for the Chiappa 1873 22lr/22wmr blued convertible revolver on sale for $169.95 (regularly $189.95).

Anybody have any experience with one of these.

Good price?

Thanks!

John

I've had one for 8 years and never had a problem. I like that it is chambered for 9 rounds and fits my hand better than the Heritage SSA's. I paid $230 new back then.

Thanks for the response, Jim!

I would have thought that this pistol and question would have engendered more opinions, as there are very strong feelings posted on the net.

I had wanted something chambered in 22 mag since the late '80s, when I got a big quantity of 22 mag ammo at a 22 lr price.

My first and obvious choice was the Ruger Single Six convertible in stainless steel.

I'll be darned if, for all this time, the Ruger price didn't manage to stay about $150-$200 more than I was willing to spend to burn up some cheap ammo.

I eventually scratched that itch a couple of years ago when I was able to snag a new Savage 93 rifle in stainless for a great price.

In my heart of hearts, I truly believe the 22 magnum advantage over the 22 lr is wasted in a handgun, but my wandering eye for a single action convertible never truly went away.

The price of the Ruger stubbornly remained out of my self imposed reach, but the Heritage Rough Rider combo looked interesting.

Unfortunately, the recoil shield mounted manual safety, the odd relationship of the component sizes (as compared to the SAA), and the blued steel cylinder (it gets mighty sweaty during the summer around these parts) on the Heritage, was off putting for me.

Then this Chiappa 1873 combo appeared on my radar.

About the only thing I knew about Chiappa was the Rhino, which was visually hideous, but very well made.

Taking a closer look at the Chiappa 1873 (and comparing it to the Heritage Rough Rider) showed me that Chiappa had done a very good job of honoring the Colt SAA in size and heft.

The Chiappa 1873 is built from an aluminum alloy (ZAMAK?) which many don't like, but I discovered that all the "rustable" steel parts (the barrel and cylinder chambers) were encased within the alloy shield.

Even the hammer and trigger are alloy!

Remember what I said about sweaty?

So I made the short drive to the Farm & Home store to make the purchase.

Mine is the six shot model with black plastic, checkered grips, but the counterman offered me the option of wood grips at the same price.

The wood was an unexceptional, completely unfigured, uncheckered, "poopy" colored, dry looking "wood" of some unknown species.

That grip was unappealing (to me) and I could just imagine how it would look after soaking up a combination of gun oil and dirty palm sweat. Ugh!

The NICS zen was with me as the whole transaction took less than 30 minutes, with the filling out of the forms requiring more time than the NICS check.

I'll take it out in the back yard in the next couple of days and let you know how it shoots.

For $182.00 out the door, so far I'm happy.

By the way, it is pronounced kee-ap-pa (like chianti) and not chee-ap-pa (like cheap).

We'll see.

John

The Ruger Wrangler is only a few dollars more at $199 on sale. Well worth the extra money. What good is expensive .22 Magnum out of a fixed sight cheap single action revolver?

Brother alwslate, I may never shoot more than a cylinder full of 22 mag ammo out of this pistol, but it's more about fulfilling a want than a need.

John

Not a 22 cal but I had a warranty issue with the trigger on my Chiappa 45LC revolver. Their customer service was excellent issuing a return label and repaired my revolver in a week. My revolver had a hair trigger and was dangerous. The repair was carried out to my satisfaction and even the original parts were returned with the gun.

The few dollars more that you spend on quality, the Ruger, will soon be forgotten. But the sting of poor quality will last as long as you own the gun

Find a used single six. Higher quality, looks better, very good support from the factory if you ever need it. Adjustable sights. If you get sick of it, sell it for what you paid for it

Ruger(R) New Model Single-Six(R) Convertible Single-Action Revolver Model 0624

This one is sweet! 9.5” barrel would make good use out of the Magnum cylinder.

Great advice, guys!

I can and do appreciate the perceived higher quality of the Ruger product.

I've had a few Rugers for quite a few years:

Stainless MkII Target 6 7/8" tapered

Blue MkII Government Model Target 6 7/8" bull

10/22 with stainless barrel

Stainless Mini-14

I also have a nice rifle to seriously fire 22 magnum:

A stainless Savage 93

So like I said, my bases are covered.

I always wanted a Single Six convertible, but I have a strict dollar to value (to me) standard that the Ruger couldn't meet.

And I don't like to sell guns, even at a profit.

I'll probably get flamed for this but, I'm not exactly a big fan of the single action revolvers.

I'm more in to modern guns, although I appreciate their place in history.

No, this Chiappa was just about scratching a very old itch (a Single Action Army style revolver 22lr/22wmr convertible, which I've never had) for short money.

Kind of like a food you always wanted to taste, but you weren't sure you would like it.

So you only buy a small quantity.

If I start liking SAA's, maybe I will buy the Ruger.

And who knows?

The Chiappa could turn out to be a fun plinker, and considering how rarely it will probably be shot, it could last a long time.

John

Range report:

I set up some targets in the back yard.

2" circles at 7, 15, and 25 yards.

Grabbed an old box of Winchester "Wildcat .22" out of the cabinet and proceeded to enjoy the afternoon.

One cylinder full at each range.

6 o'clock "lollipop" sight picture.

A couple shots from each group were touching, a couple more actually were POI=POA.

2" group at 7 yds, 3" group at 15 yds, 4" group at 25 yds.

I didn't try the 22 mag cylinder because, as others have said, 22 mag is too valuable. (22 lr is almost that way. )

More than acceptable accuracy from a $170.00 gun and fun to shoot and easy to clean.

I liked it enough to order a $15.00 "Sidekick" holster from Uncle Mike's on e-bay.

Should be here in a day or too.

And I'm certainly not sorry I paid $170.00 for a new gun with 2 cylinders when I could have paid 3 times as much for a used Ruger with only one cylinder.

John

I have the Chiappa 17-10. That's a 10 shot, .17 caliber with 7.5" barrel. The revolver has been SWEET since new! Out of the box the action was bit balky, but that smoothed out with a just little attention to the internal surfaces. The .17, being a bottleneck, tends to set-back against the recoil shield on firing and so the entire circumference of the shield should be rebated to allow the cartridges to revolve without binding, save for precisely under the hammer.
I've shot for groups at 100 yards using the Chiappa 17-10 with not-surprising results - decent groups in the 6" range, standing fire.
Ruger makes NOTHING on par with the Chiappa 17-10, or 22-10 series. Ruger is just looking for the next buck with a puny 6-shot.
The Chiappa uses a Zinc-alloy frame, and barrel shroud, with steel cylinder and barrel. Chiappa uses steel where it's needed, and Zinc-alloy is no "worse" than Aluminum alloy, only a bit heavier. A genuine 10-shot beats a pretender 6-shot everyday of the year.

It was a warm , humid, yet breezy day up here on the ridge and with the coming of the Independence Day Holiday, I felt compelled to burn a little powder.

So I sauntered out to the back yard, grabbed a comfy chair, hung a target on a dead tree, tossed an old 50 round box of Winchester "Wildcat 22" and my trusty Chiappa 1873 in an old Doskosil plastic case, and had me some fun.

Eight times around the cylinder (plus 2) and the Italian stallion did not disappoint.

50 shots with 50 pulls of the trigger.

Loading and ejection were flawless.

A fun way to spend part of a hot, lazy afternoon.

Still waiting for all that "low quality" I was thoughtfully warned about to show itself.

John

Thanks for the thread follow-up John.

In those few years since your first post, it sounds like you’ve already had a few hundred bucks worth of enjoyment out of that wheelgun! Sometimes, it’s nice to enjoy something different, just for fun.

Keep enjoying it in good health!

__________________
Best Regards,
Mark

You're welcome, Mark!

And thanks for the kind words.

I'm all about having fun!

John

There are no pictures in this thread!

Thank you for the Reviews. Sounds like you
found a Revolver you enjoy shooting.

The Best to you and your Endeavors.

Thank you, Norseman!

I have other S&W modern style revolvers I also enjoy shooting, but they are all center fire which tend to make shooting a little more expensive.

Of course my preference is for auto pistols as I have a bunch more of those.

This Chiappa 1873 is the only "SAA" style gun I own and the grip is different from everything else that I shoot...

But you're right.

It is a whole lot of fun.

And the very best to you and yours on this Glorious 4th.

John