Chapuis and Sabatti double rifles?

I have seen that 2 company's are making affordable (I guess you can call it affordable) double rifles. I think they cost around 3500-4500 USD, but I am not sure. Are these good, no-nonsense, reliable double rifles? Or are they something that is chincy and you wouldn't dare take to Africa? I know that double rifles are not really a place to skimp, but I can't help but wonder about these 2 company's. Any info on either company's double rifles would be appreciated.

P.S I am not even considering buying one, just curious.

Your price range will get you a rifle from either company BUT it'll be 9.3X74 or less powerful. The bigger guns cost more. Sabatti's bigger ones start at 5K at Cabellas. I have a Chapuis 9.3X74 and it's very well made and accurate. But the larger Chapuis's are about 8K on up.The reports on the Sabattis are good too. with a 5.5K price tag.

Originally Posted by AkMike

Your price range will get you a rifle from either company BUT it'll be 9.3X74 or less powerful. The bigger guns cost more. Sabatti's bigger ones start at 5K at Cabellas. I have a Chapuis 9.3X74 and it's very well made and accurate. But the larger Chapuis's are about 8K on up.The reports on the Sabattis are good too. with a 5.5K price tag.

Ok, so they cost more than what I thought. It appears that if you decide to get a Chapuis in a Nitro Express cartridge, you might as well just save 2-3 K more and get a Merkel or a Krieghoff.

IMO I'd put Chapuis on par with Merkel and above a Kgun. Have a look thru Gunbrokers and compare their prices.

Originally Posted by AkMike

IMO I'd put Chapuis on par with Merkel and above a Kgun. Have a look thru Gunbrokers and compare their prices.

Just curious, why is the Chapuis on par with a Merkel and better than a Krieghoff?

Is it the fit and finish, accuracy, balance, weight for caliber, dependability, or just personal preference?

Just IMO mostly. All of them are supposed to be fine accurate rifles but I don't are for that "cocker button dealie".
I did shoot one of those 3 barrel 9.3X74R (I think) Kreighoff's and didn't care for that 1 thing. It was accurate though.

Originally Posted by AkMike

Just IMO mostly. All of them are supposed to be fine accurate rifles but I don't are for that "cocker button dealie".
I did shoot one of those 3 barrel 9.3X74R (I think) Kreighoff's and didn't care for that 1 thing. It was accurate though.

I think a triple barrel is a Drilling? I belive it is.

No sir! This a new triple barreled rifle. No shotgun tubes at all. The barrels are staggered unlike a drilling where a pair are on top with another on bottom. I have also seen a type of drilling that has 2 rifle barrels on top with the shotgun on the bottom. Pretty rare I think, but more practical I'd guess.

I need to correct my above post, I called the owner and it's a Blaser D 99 rifle and the top barrel is centered above the bottom two. Like an upside down drilling. It's not staggered as I said.

Originally Posted by AkMike

No sir! This a new triple barreled rifle. No shotgun tubes at all. The barrels are staggered unlike a drilling where a pair are on top with another on bottom. I have also seen a type of drilling that has 2 rifle barrels on top with the shotgun on the bottom. Pretty rare I think, but more practical I'd guess.

Wow, that is odd. I have never heard of anything like that.

Chapuis is a hell of a nice rifle. The big caliber Sabatti's are well--hey you get what you pay for! I'd save my money and by a Chapuis, Merkel, or K-gun. What can you expect for 5K. The few I handled were cheap made (felt light in the action and wood) and light for caliber. I have known of 3 folks that bought them. 2 were well regulated and 1 would not hit the broad side of the barn. Another Sabbati I heard would not camber the 450 hornady---humm well 5K is more than I like to risk on somthing that might be sub-par, and you would every recoup your initial investment. I'd save a little longer and by one of Butch Searcys guns--at least you know he will fix it if its not just right. Just my 2 cents

And he's now accepting orders for the PH model @ $10,500! Almost a Fire Sale price.

Is his PH model back? Last I'd heard he'd cancelled it as he didn't want to compete with the production volume of Krieghoff, Chapuis et al.

Yes Sir! He's accepting orders now. I enjoy my 450 NE be built.

The guys at Cabella's treated me like I was spending a million bucks, not a measley three grand. The Sabatti is light, compact, well balanced, fit and finish is better than I expected.The rifle and the 9.3x74 round are much more accurate than I expected. The fit and finish on the INTERNAL mechanism is as good as the outside of many American guns. Didn't like the nontraditional sights at first, but I SURE HIT WHAT I POINT AT! I'm not changing them. Recoil is more than tolerable with 285gr Hornady Dangerous Game.
Regrets? I wish they hadn't checkered the "OPTO-Wood" logo on the pistol grip. I have checkering knives, and can use them.
Anybody got any dies or favorite loads for the 9.3 ???

Both of my 9.3X74R's liked a diet of 65 grns of IMR 4831 and any 286 grn bullet. The Privi bullets from Graff and Sons work great for cheap practice and should be fine for deer and hogs.

I am not fond of the Kreighoff, Sabatti and the Merkel would be my choice of those mentioned..

Personally I would spend a few more grand and find a good used English or perhaps a German double.

If I could not afford an English or German double then I would opt for a nice custom bolt rifle in a big bore caliber. They can easily be had for around $3000 to $4500.

Many people don't like the decocking lever on the Kgun. Their concern seems to be that it may be hard to recock under stress. Personally I like it. first it makes the gun the absolutely safest to carry, it is not cocked until you are about to fire. Second, the decocker is much larger than the typical safety. Under stress you will not miss it, and as for the greater force requiered to cock the rifle: one it ain't that much and two under stress you will have more than enough adrenaline pumping through you to make that decocker fly up. In truth, they all will do the job, find the one that fits you like a glove and go with that one.

Last week I was at Jim Brockmans Gun shop in Idaho..He had a Sabatti and I was truly impressed with the gun. It was a tad light for a 470NE and he had added 8 oz. of lead fore and aft and it balanced well. workmanship and wood quality was a delight on this rifle, and the inside was better fitted than the chapius or Merkel..

I am still an English gun fan, but for the buck I don't see how one could beat the Sabatti at least based on this one gun. The 450-400 in a Sabatti is the most inexpensive double I know of and its one hell of a working gun and even comes with a lot of bling..

Hey Ray, you was messing with my 470 sab at brockmans. I had him put me on a apature rear sight and change the frt sight to a blade. Also add a little weight and cut and install a good 1in pad. It was well regulated from the factory and the bores were not messed with. He told me this morning it turned out to be the nicest fitting and shooting 470 he has worked on. Hope to get my hands on it next week.