I recently bought a brand new Chiappa Little Badger and last night for the first time I got a chance to get it out and start to put it through its paces. It's a break action single shot 22lr and when closing the action to be ready to fire we had SEVERAL misfires/slam fires. I don't know if others have reported similar problems with the rifles but I wanted to at least get the word out in case anyone was considering buying one.
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Public Safety announcement - Chiappa Little Badgers may not be safe
- Thread starter teddy12b
- Start date
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The ammo I used was all federal bulk 36gr from wally world. I have fired a few rounds of wolf through it, but not enough to have had the accidental discharge.
I will be contacting Chiappa immediately.
Indy_Guy_77
Grandmaster
- Apr 30, 2008
- 16,576
- 48
I'm sure there are exceptions, but I put Chiappa a giant step below Taurus.
Probably still above Diamondback, though...
Cheaply made guns. The Rhino certainly is innovative - but they have all kinds of problems with that beasty, too.
Probably still above Diamondback, though...
Cheaply made guns. The Rhino certainly is innovative - but they have all kinds of problems with that beasty, too.
I'm not doubting you story at all.
But how does a slam fire happen on a manually hammer-cocked single shot? Is the firing pin not returning? Does it have a transfer bar? Is the extractor not returning? Can you tell from the cases whether it's the firing pin or the extractor hitting the rim?
But how does a slam fire happen on a manually hammer-cocked single shot? Is the firing pin not returning? Does it have a transfer bar? Is the extractor not returning? Can you tell from the cases whether it's the firing pin or the extractor hitting the rim?
I used the term slam fire, because I didn't know a better way to describe what's happening when I "slam" the break action together with a loaded round and the round fires. It's a terminology thing and I'm not describing it correctly. After the first accidental discharge we took a hard look at it and some times the firing pin doesn't return, sometimes it returns just enough to be flush. I know it had also happened other times when the firing pin was confirmed to be flush before closing the action. I'll double check the transfer bar, I want to say it's likely because there isn't a pin on the hammer, but until I confirm it with my own eyes I don't want to just guess. The extractor seems to be working perfectly. The empty brass has shown firing pin strikes and also not shown firing pin strikes. There's a couple things going on with this rifle that could be causing this and I'm not really 100% sure that it's a single issue. All I know is that the gun going off by closing the action happened many times by more than one person who's thoroughly experienced with firearms.
Sounds like the same sort of setup that is in a derringer, only in a bigger action that would have more momentum when shut. I didnt realize this about derringers when I first started shooting them, but noticed the issue quickly, and only close them on the half cock notch now. Is there a safety on this gun? I saw something about the recall, but honestly did not pay much attention, as I have yet to see a Chiappa anything that I would own. Every one that I have ever handled felt more like a cap gun, or BB gun than an actual firearm.
I've had to deal with Chiappa before on one of their 1911 22's. nothing but a horror story and will never deal with any Crappa product again!!! I will say that the girl who answers the phone in OH is pleasant enough and works hard to help but,just getting someone to answer the phone is a chore in itself.
I have a 10 gauge side by side that was given to me because it would discharge the left barrel when you closed the breech. No one wanted to work on it. When I got into it I saw why. Very complicated. Fixed now but what a chore.
Stop using the gun. Should have stopped on the 1st or 2nd discharge. Get it back to the manf. or to a good smith. The firing pin is protruding from its perch and is striking the shell. Very dangerous.
hoosierdoc
Freed prisoner
They're at the NRA show. Bring it to 'EM 
Update, I've received an email response from Chiappa. They are sending me a shipping sticker and all I need to do is send along a proof of purchase with the rifle. It's getting mailed back to them and I'll update the thread as I hear more.
I have an update. I was the guy who cranked off a round while closing the action. We were able to repeat it several more times, as often as we wanted to. I spoke with a buddy who also has a Chiappa Little Badger, and he was able to induce the same conditions. This is not a defect or broken gun. This is a design flaw, and its not cool.
I went to the Chiappa booth at the NRA convention last weekend, and talked to the rep behind the table. I told him about what I'd experienced and how it happened. He seemed to not give a flying rip. At. All.
I'll be interested to see how they "fix" this issue.
I went to the Chiappa booth at the NRA convention last weekend, and talked to the rep behind the table. I told him about what I'd experienced and how it happened. He seemed to not give a flying rip. At. All.
I'll be interested to see how they "fix" this issue.
- Jan 12, 2012
- 27,286
- 113
If they maintain this level of indifference you described, I recommend that you lawyer up and smack them before the morons get someone killed.
I'll have the rifle in question in the mail to them this week. If I had to guess I would think that they'll do a quick chamfer near the firing pin and put a better spring in there. That was a fix I had done to some Taurus revolvers many many years ago and if worked perfectly. I'm interested to see how this rifle gets "fixed". If Chiappa doesn't do it right, I'll just take the loss. I'm not going to pass along an unsafe gun to someone else, and I'm not going to get a $400 an hour lawyer involved for a rifle I spent $130 on.
The real disappointment that I see in all of this is that Chiappa had an opportunity to knock this rife out of the park. There's nobody out there with anything like this in current production. They could have owned the market share and built their name on it. Unfortunately, they didn't put the rifle through enough quality control tests to truly judge it's quality. I genuinely hope that they weren't just trying to get something cheap out the door in order to make a quick buck. I really wanted to like/love this rifle, but as it is right now it's a danger to myself and anyone around it. When it gets back, I'm going to test the heck out of this rifle like nothing I've ever owned before.
Your use of the phrase "$400 an hour lawyer" induced a spit take.
In any event, I agree with you. It's too bad. It looks like a fun little rifle.
