While roaming the aisles of the Safari Club International convention, One of my goals was to find affordable classic double rifles. It’s not an easy task and I was trying to find something under $10,000. The Blaser was nice. But the hooded barrels were a turn off and looked to be an impediment to reloading. After all, one of the purposes of a double is the follow up shot in a that-critter-charging-me-has-to-be-stopped-now moment. It’s also handy for when that trophy doesn’t go down with one shot, you can hit it again without manipulating a bolt or lever . . .
The Merkel was more to my liking, but still a bit pricey when new. Even used they can command close to 10 grand. For affordability, it’s hard to beat the Sabatti. Enter the model 92 Deluxe.
Sabatti has been in business for a bit over 50 years, so they must be doing something right. This one was chambered in .450-400. It also comes in most of the popular large bore calibers including .500 NE and smaller calibers for those of you not of the “recoil masochist” persuasion.
I thought the fit and finish of the Sabatti was on par with its more expensive brothers. On this deluxe version, even the lever was an adornment.
The wood had some beautiful grain to it, and what looked like hand checkering. It also has the three leaf express sights on the quarter rib, for those with younger eyes.
For those of us with eyes a bit over a half century old, it’s becoming more and more popular to fit these with a miniature red dot sight like this Zeiss.
For the price point of this rifle, I thought that the “engraving” was very nice remember my comment about knowing when an engraved screw comes loose?).
There is one identical to this right now for sale on Guns America listed as “used as new.” Price: $4,500. Currently, Cabelas is the sole retailer for Sabatti. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But I couldn’t find one for sale through them. Sold out? In my opinion, that’s an affordable double!