"You never have a second chance to create a first impression" they say...
Hello
DaveL. Man this is a tough one! No, seriously...
The thought that comes to mind is: did the .458 Win ever recover from its 1960's launch era issues when factually the early ammo under performed its specs, and factually there were genuine cases of compressed charges of Olin Chemical’s early ball powder causing erratic ignition. To this day, almost 60 years later, one continues to read about the .458 Win being an unreliable round, which is hogwash with current loads, although it is, naturally, less powerful than the full length Lott...
Will Sabatti ever recover from their attempt at "regulating" doubles by intentionally butchering the barrels crown to create sideways jetting of propellant gases? What do such short cuts by manufacturers tell us about their core business philosophy? Was this an individual judgment error or the symptom of systemic issues? Were there, are there, other short cuts in the Sabatti doubles manufacturing process? Your, my, or any poster's answer all have the same value: we would all be speculating...
For what it is worth, my Beretta Black Onyx shotgun has proved indestructible; my Zanardini kipplauf (single barrel break open rifle) in 7x65R had steel so soft that the cocking bar inside the action was bent out of function after less than 100 rounds, and the silver solder joint holding the barrel in the action monoblock broke when I shot it one day in negative temperature; and my Zoli over/under double 9.3x74R went off the face and lost any semblance of accuracy in less than 200 rounds.
Are Italian smaller companies or artisan shops more susceptible to manufacturing issues than Italian international corporations (Beretta, Benelli, etc.)? I do not know... Were Italian steels softer in the 80's? I do not know... Are these considerations relevant to Sabatti? I do not know... but there it is, based on my own first impressions and personal experience with smaller Italian firms break open rifles, my own .470 NE double is ... a Kreighoff.
If I were a PH and my double was a daily-use tool that I must rely on to keep my clients, trackers, and myself alive when everything has gone wrong, there are darn few modern manufacture doubles I would consider. Heym, Kreighoff and Blaser would be at the top of my list; followed by Chapuis; followed by a big gap as these four really dominate; followed by Verney Carron; followed by Merkel (although I had a sidelock hammer break - brittle steel ! - on a 20 gauge sxs, which considerably reduced my trust in the brand).
This post is sure to create a firestorm, but you asked for opinions, right? So, this is just mine...
