Sabatti rifles

ranechan

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Kelowna, BC
Hey everyone,

I've been in the market for a 7.62x39 bolt action rifle for a few months now and up until a few days ago, I was only considering the CZ 527 and the new Ruger American Ranch...

Then suddenly I come across the Sabatti 600 Rover, and I'm almost in love!
Has anyone fired one and can attest to the quality and accuracy? I've never even heard of Sabatti before now.

Thanks in advance!
 
I ordered one from a Black Friday sale. I'll give a full review of it sometime.
I've had just about every make of a 7.62x39 bolt gun and made some custom ones too.

I’m split on ordering one for the Black Friday sale... I’ve heard nothing but good things though! I wonder how they’d compare to other bolt guns in the same caliber!
 
I can't speak to the Rover, but Sabatti in terms of quality fit and finish as well as visual appeal and crisp action is honestly a hidden gem here in North America in my opinion. They are incredibly popular in Europe as working rifles for Boar etc.

I own the Sabatti .470 Nitro Express Over/Under with double trigger and its the crown Jewel of my big bores. The engraved inlay alone is a conversation piece.

I'd give it a go. Good value for the $$$ spent.
 
Just received my Sabatti Rover Walnut 600 7.62x39 the other day and test fired a few rounds of surplus with the iron sights.
Will do a full tear down and report when I get some scope bases. It takes a 2 piece Weaver or Warne Rem 700 base set. One piece base will not line up as the action is slightly shorter than a short action 700.
Ten rounds fed, fired and ejected flawlessly. Quality fit and finish is excellent. Trigger is very crisp and adjustable for weight only. I have it set at 3lbs.

I got this for $599 plus tax shipped from a vendor we cannot name here. It's a bargain for those if you're looking for one. You can't go wrong.
 
I have one and it really likes the Czech (sp) surplus ammunition. Really dislikes American Eagle for some reason. PPU seems to work best for soft point.
 
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That would explain it. Much worse accuracy than an SKS using AE 7.62x39. Dead on using the cheap surplus stuff. First shot was exactly in the centre of the target cross at 100 meters. Then, of course, I got sloppy and the rest were off a bit.
 
This is my Sabatti Rover 600 7.62x39mm with a black composite stock. Came in today with UPS. I wanted the one with an Italian walnut stock but EHG was faster and ordered the last one :). Nevertheless, all Sabatti's in 7.62x39mm are already sold from a vendor we cannot name here!
I'm absolutely impressed with the quality of this rifle. It's impeccable. The weather here is very windy for a few days so I'm waiting for a calmer day to go to the range. Now I'm thinking about the scope.

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I got a blued/walnut in 223... can't say I'm overly impressed with it. Receiver is cast, as are all the bolt guts and trigger guard/trigger parts, basically everything but the barrel is cast. Trigger was not bad, but can't be lightened further as the trigger return spring screw will hit the mag release stopping it from releasing the mag (brain dead design flaw). Opening and closing the bolt is very stiff even after I disassembled, cleaned, and smoothed things out. It appears the receiver lugs are rough and the bolt lugs are not bearing even on them based on the wear marks I'm seeing after 50 rounds. Mags are plastic and replacements are $45...meh.
It dings brass up worse then a semi on extraction which it something I've never had happen with a bolt gun before lol. And the chamber isn't very cleanly machined as there are several "lines/rings" around the brass after firing.
Barrel is ultra thin but free floated, 3 rounds before it starts shotgunning groups, but it is a hunting rifle so while 3 accurate rounds is probably acceptable, it does say something about their hammer forging and stress relief processes...not great.
Scopes have to be mounted pretty high to clear bolt handle, not my preference.
Was there anything I liked? It's comfortable to shoot, fed good from the mags, and it's not ugly. $600 is pretty close to $850 which is CZ territory which is night and day quality wise compared to these. Even some of the other budget pieces (AB3/XPR/HOWA/VANGUARD/783) at the same price or less are better value IMHO. Probably didn't help that I was shooting a 243 Vanguard and a 6.5x55 CF2 at the same time.
Sometimes you win on these budget guns, sometimes you lose lol. I'll give it one more go with 50gr pills (1/12 twist, used 55's today) but this will probably be moved to the "sell" pile.
Too bad too, as I would have grabbed another at this price in 243 or 308.

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So I've put another 50 rounds through it, figured out some tweaks to get around some of the quirks.
First is the trigger adjustment screw. Since I couldn't turn it out more without it hitting the mag release, I trimmed the trigger return spring 2 coils, all good now, very nice trigger.
The bolt would drag over the mag, mag lock (a hole drilled in the back of the plastic mag) just needed to be a little higher, fixed with a file, all good.
Floor plate on mag was loose and rattling, glued it, all good.
Sights looked very out of place on these rifles...sit too high, rear screw was easy, front was rusted tight. Got them both off, only held on with one screw each, but they are M8 thread, need to find some plugs at the hardware store.
Bore is extremely smooth....like zero copper fouling after each 50 round session. Usually takes me 600-700 rounds of shooting to smooth out a bore to where it won't foul at all. Gotta say, out of the entire rifle the barrel is the shining star.
Stock was hitting the bottom of the barrel near the chamber, poor inletting there, fixed, now it doesn't string and will hold MOA or better for a 10 round group.
Won't feed Speer 52gr hollow points at all...hang up on the feed ramp, pointy is fine. Also up to 2 rounds in the mag feed smoothly, 3 or 4 are difficult to chamber.
Based on the prices $575-675, they are worth around that, no issue. Places selling them for $1000+....out to lunch. These are decent budget rifkes, far too much casting, flaws, paint, and potmetal to be any sort of premium rifle here. Even comparing to the budget AB3 I have (blued/walnut $650) there is no comparison. I'm still not sure where they really fit in the pecking order, or if they will be around long enough for that to even matter. I've always wanted a stainless walnut rifle however...which they don't seem to have available. Good news is they use the same inletting for 223 right up to long action (not sure about magnum but probably...?) so may end up with one yet.
A stainless walnut 243 would be a nice addition...
 
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