I have bought Sabatti double rifle in 450/400 NE caliber in September 2013. I made 2 mistakes - wrong caliber to buy in South Africa (SA) and wrong manufacturer.
Let me explain - boring story, but if you want to buy Sabatii maybe you should read it.
I wanted rifle to use not only once for buffalo hunt, but something not too heavy that can be used for bigger plains game. So I decided to buy 450/400 instead of buying 470 that is quite common in SA. And after some investigation I have decided to purchase "poor's man" double from Sabatti because any other double in SA costs double money. I knew that Sabatti had some problems with regulation of double rifles (filing of rifling) but that was apparently sorted. And the rifle that I saw at local dealer looked good, so I bought it. They didn't have stock of ammo nor cases for it, but I got assurance from the dealer that before I get my firearm license they will have ammo.
After 2 months I got my license, but nobody had ammo in SA. Nobody had empty cases either. The only thing I managed to buy was box of Hornady bullet points and Hornady reloading dies without shell holder. Shell holder I ordered from USA and cases I borrowed from super kind local hunter.
Then I started testing rifle using 2 different local powders, PMP and Winchester primers, Hornady and two locally produced bullets (Impala and Peregrine). Whatever I did, left barrel was crossing the path of right barrel and on 25 meters only the distance between prints on target was more than 12cm (left barrel printing high and to the right from right barrel). The rifle obviously wasn't properly regulated but it took me more than 6 months to prove it to the dealer and importer. They took the rifle to the local gunsmith who agreed that it wasn't regulated but rightly refused to repair it and they finally decided to send it back to Sabatti.
In the meantime I still couldn't buy Hornady factory ammo anywhere in SA. I have managed to buy 60 Kynoch cases that were 5-10 times more expensive than for instance 470 NE cases. Then only dealer offered to refund me back, but I have invested more money in this caliber now (cases, dies, bullets, etc.) and no other manufacturer was selling rifle in that caliber in SA. Also I hoped that this can be sorted before I go through process of de-registering the rifle and applying for new license. That was another mistake!
I had to apply for export permit for rifle to be sent to Italy. Shipping agent applied for me but if I didn't check it and sent missing documentation I would wait who knows for how long. Anyway, export permit was done in month time and then Sabatti had to apply for import permit in Italy. And finally all documentation was ready in beginning of September 2014. Year after I bought my rifle! But rifle arrived in Italy only at the end of October! The shipping agent was working at the same pace as dealer, importer and Sabatti.
In all this process nobody was informing me what was happening. I had to constantly call or send emails to get any info form any of those guys involved. After numerous emails to one contact in Sabatti (he usually doesn't want to reply on my email till I threaten to publish my story on internet) he confirmed that the rifle was repaired on 02/12/2015 and that they are waiting for export permit to send it back. Can anyone explain me why they didn't apply for export permit immediately after receiving the rifle?
Then, in the middle of January 2015 my rifle is still not here and nobody wants to tell me what is wrong. Sabatti contact doesn't reply (he reads emails, but doesn't want to respond), dealer doesn't care, importer doesn't know, shipping agent doesn't reply.
Then I get message from shipping agent that my South African export/import expired, and that we have to apply for a new one before they can get export permit in Italy. So they applied and after 3 weeks it is still not finished. I call CFR (Central Firearm Registry) and the same documents are missing again. When I asked shipping agent what happened, he replied that they sent all documents (even twice) but he doesn't want to send me proof of correspondence.
So, if you don't live in USA, do not buy obsolete caliber because you won't be able to buy ammo or it will be 10 times more expensive than any other. South Africa is small market and it looks like nobody cares (I am sure that customer care is much better in many other countries). Before buying any rifle try to contact manufacturer directly. If they do not reply, be suspicious. Just use email that is on Sabatti web site.
Sabatti rifles look good and they are probably worth their money if they work. But my didn't work and it is almost an year and a half after the time I bought it and it is still not back repaired. When (if) I get it back, I still don't know if it will be properly regulated.
I would never buy Sabatti again.
