The 2025 edition of IWA OutdoorClassics marked the sixth anniversary of the first launch of the Chiappa Firearms CBR-9, also known as the "Black Rhino", a gun that redefined the concept of PDW for civilian users, private security, and law enforcement.

Since then, despite the arrival on the market of other PDWs, the Chiappa CBR-9 still turns heads and catches the attention of potential customers – particularly in the professional markets – owing to its peculiar layout and its mix of practical and familiar and innovative features that make it stand out amidst the clout.

The Chiappa Firearms CBR-9 is a semi-automatic Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) chambered in 9mm Luger and largely manufactured out of lightweight aluminum alloy and black polymer, featuring a two-position collapsible stock and underfolding foregrip, a full-length top Picatinny rail for optics and two side rails for accessories, a set of low-profile fixed fiber-optic emergency sights, and proprietary 15-rounds or 30-rounds polymer magazines whose peculiar design ensures they'll keep working even if a feed lip breaks.

The mechanical layout of Chiappa's CBR-9 is quite unique: the rectangular breechblock, with its twin return springs and guide rods, is built in such a way to perfectly feed from the proprietary magazines; the hammer is hinged to the top of the upper receiver rather than to the polymer frame; and the compensation cuts on the barrel are offset from those of the tubular screw-on flash hider, allowing this part to dub as an expansion chamber for gases vented from the muzzle and thus completely extinguishing muzzle flash, making it invisible even when shooting indoors and in the dark.