Well maybe not my new deer rifle - But I've always been fascinated by big bore dangerous game rifles especially double rifles.

So I decided to enter the land of big bores and bought my first double rifle...... Sabatti Safari .470 Nitro Express that I stumbled across sitting in a Texas gunshop on consignment.






So the Sabatti double rifles got lots of bad press when they came out because of poor "regulation" of the barrels, apparently the company was put under a really tight deadline to deliver these rifles to Cabelas; so short cuts were taken in the regulation process and even the president of the company came out and said this was a mistake and corrected it.

- Regulation being the alignment of both barrels to hit the same point of impact at a set distance; think of it as sighting in 2 rifles at the same time. Only instead of adjusting scope turrets for windage and elevation you will have to use a torch to remove the soldering at the muzzle then adjust the alignment of each barrel by feel (not 1 click = 1/4" like a scope) then re-solder the muzzle wedge back in place, then fire a round from each barrel..... You get to repeat this process for each group until you get it right; so yeah it's more of an art than a quantifyable skill.

Well as it happens the original owner took it to Ken Owen for regulating; and with a little research along with the opinions of people who collect double rifles I learned that Ken Owen is kinda like the Charlie Daniels of double rifles here in the U.S.

Example of Ken Owen's work - Hand made 4 Bore (that means each projectile for this gun weighs 0.25lbs or 1,750 grains)
https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/53/1617/ken-owen-double-rifle-4

I spoke with Ken Owen briefly on the phone and his opinion on the Sabatti rifles, combined with his work on this rifle pushed me over the edge and I bought it.

The following groups were fired standing, open sights - at 60yds with my bog pod shooting sticks sitting on the "bench" of an indoor gun range.

My targets are old 24x36" white construction plan paper with 3 - 1" dots in a triangle pattern so when the sights are aligned correctly the sight picture looks like a road sign arrow.


.22LR casing for scale

Congrats, on a very nice rifle. Looks like Mr. Owen did his job well.

Now line up a bunch of hogs and see how many you can get with one shot

That's the stuff dreams are made of. Congratulations.

I bet I know why it was for sale..................................................OUCH !!!!!

I love it, beautiful Rifle CLASSIC !! I'm sure it kicks, but how badly?

@Buzzsaw -The original owner is an accomplished hunter that had spinal surgery and the doctor told him that big guns should be removed from his life PDQ, and as for how much it kicks.....

Well there is recoil force in ft/lbs and then there is recoil velocity, which is the speed that force is coming at you

Recoil comparison

30-06 in an 8lbs rifle firing a 180gr bullet = 20.3 ftlbs & 12.8 fps velocity

.470 Nitro Express in a 10lbs rifle firing a 500gr bullet = 69.3 ftlbs & 20.1 fps velocity

So 3.41x the recoil force and that force is coming at you 1.57x faster than a 30-06

Well done, Deewayne!

Those 60 yard pairs are well within "minute of whitetail" at the ranges those express sights were built for...you'll do fine.

As well, if you haven't shot deer (or hogs for that matter) with these big boomers, have no fear about meat damage. Sedate impact velocities coupled with bullets designed for much heavier game result in minimal mess and being able to (as I believe Elmer Keith put it) "eat right up to the hole". Back in the '80s when I was hunting with a .375 in preparation for our first trip to Africa, I plugged a young buck deliberately through both shoulders to see what would happen. With the buck hanging back in camp, my buddy walked over to inspect it and afterward remarked (quite puzzled), "I mess 'em up worse than this with a .270"!

Just don't forget your ammo at home...WalMart never seems to have .470s when you need 'em!

Mark

I love them big bore rifles. Great find. Anymore like it at that fun shop?

Nice find. Hope you get to try in on the dark continent some day.

Give em both barrels!!

Funny you should mention that..... I stumbled across this CZ 550 .416 Rigby with Shurley brothers stock, leupold 1.25-4 (30mm tube) with fire dot threaded for muzzle brake that comes with it; put down a deposit and will pick it up as soon as the owner(sold on consignment) drops off the muzzle brake.

Great looking rifles.

Hmmm....470 NE reduced recoil loads?

I know they exist, but I don't have any.

Hodgdon lists really reduced loads for both with trailboss powder. Those loads are about half the velocity with less than half the powder. at close range those big bullets would still punch big holes in hogs and deer and be more fun to shoot.

A rifle that Judd's nightmares are made of.

It is a work of art, though.

A "first" double rifle is usually an education for the owner...I know mine was!

Reducing loads for a double is simple enough. Unfortunately, finding a reduced load that will REGULATE is often a different story altogether. I used to run Cast Performance gas-checked pistol bullets in my .470 launched with AA5744 (if memory serves) and it kinda-sorta regulated. Close enough for fun shooting, anyway.

You may find that the old "75% rule" works for your double. In a nutshell, use either a) full regulating bullet weight and 75% of regulating powder charge OR b) 75% of regulating bullet weight over the full regulating powder charge.

Don't take my word for it, though. If you want the best information, reach out to Aaron Little (TDK here on the Forum)...he knows more than a little bit about the quirks of these beautiful instruments!

Mark