The most obvious feature of the pistol is the barrel which appears to be positioned, relative to the hand, at least as low as in the Laugo ALIEN, possibly even lower. Indeed, Invenzioni Italiane claims that dropping it further down would generate a negative muzzle jump upon firing. While we can argue that the Chiappa Rhino may actually have a lower bore axis, we can agree that the prototype reaches the limits of what is physically possible in a semi-auto pistol.

The pistol appears to adopt the rather uncommon blow forward operating principle, where the breech face is solid to the frame and the barrel is free to move forward, pushed by the friction of the bullet against the rifling. This allows the spent casing to eject from the chamber and a new round to be chambered when the barrel is brought back by the recoil spring.

The photos shown here depict a homemade, non-functional mock-up, fully compliant with the Italian laws. However, over the years, Invenzioni Italiane was able to test with licensed partners the principles of his designs and he now has a product ready for manufacturing

Read more: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/04/22/low-bore-italian/