La Sabbath currently boasts a conspicuous range of long guns, rifled in particular, which are flanked by the smooth ones which, in hindsight, have been the only production line with side-by-side and over-and-under guns in the various known calibers for many years. Then the rifled barrel took over thanks to the new forms of hunting for a large part of Italy: the selection of deer and the various forms of snare to wild boar have significantly changed the axis of the company's production. Add to this the competitive sports sector in which the Sabbath has believed and believes in a reasonable and effective way by proposing rifles with excellent performance thanks not only to careful execution, but to innovations that always move the limit a little higher to climb those three steps to which all agonists aspire. With these conceptual and productive bases, the specialist shotgun par excellence could not be missing: today it is commonly called express, but philologically the English name should be reserved for two parallel rifled barrels while the German term bockdoppelbüchse should be used for overlapping ones. Having said that, let's admit that defining this beautiful rifle that the company has entrusted us with for testing as express is phonetically smoother and all enthusiasts understand: we adapt without the slightest problem. To begin, we open the beautiful and solid green case in which the rifle was delivered to us, taking the component parts of the weapon from the thick and protective plastic bags.
Express Sabatti Europa DL - The technical system
Let's start from the barrel group which in this type of shotgun is of essential importance: not that in the others it is not so and we remember the great William Wellington Greener who emphasized how a shotgun was composed of over fifty components and of these the most important were the joints. However, in pairing two rifled barrels there is a high objective difficulty: firstly because the operating methodology is intrinsically difficult and is performed manually, then because the goodness of the work is made explicit, without ifs and buts, by the two holes that are they will realize in the target. It will be agreed that two shot groups offer a little more space for rhetorical discussion, while the arrangement on the millimeter target of those two holes leaves no room for interlocutions: an Italian essay against the solution of a mathematical problem.
Here the work sees the molybdenum steel barrels of adequate thickness to combine the two contrasting elements of strength and weight: the joint starts from the breech monobloc for many decades made safe by the perfection of the workmanship and by the silver alloy-based welds where resistance and insensitivity to vibrations provide a reliability that does not require adjectives. In addition to the barrel seats, the half-planes, the sliding guides of the extractor stems, the studs, the two parallel tenons milled at the rear are obtained from the processing. The large lateral ribs complete the junction and the upper rib completes the work.
The action frame in forged high-strength steel is the complementary part: on the two center lines of the table, obtained from the thickness of the frame walls, the half-plates rest and two external thickenings of the walls themselves implement the resistance to the effort of what the heart of the system . Inside you can see the cams for the retraction of the extractor block which works best thanks to the adoption of collar cartridges such as the 9,3x74R, the two half-pins with thick rounded contrasts machined from solid, the open mortises where the tenons and the closing block that acts on their recess with a conical profile for the recovery of the play. The forward projection of the barrels is contrasted by the support of the tenons against the thickness of the receiver back so as to relieve the half-pins for the most part from this effort. The batteries are armed with a sliding strut at the bottom, the two strikers peek out from the face and a little above the elastic pawl protrudes for putting the key back into the center of the broken gun. Putting our eyes back on the barrels we notice the rib with the raised rear third to facilitate the tapping: there are also the grains and the transversal crescent groove for the bases of an aiming device together with the U-shaped rear sight, with two references in translucent green, embedded with a dovetail base. The rib itself rises again creating the socket for the front sight consisting of a red fiber optic cylinder. Inside, the chambers are properly polished and the grooves, obtained by roto-hammering, have sharp edges, well-drawn surfaces and the egress protected by a conical recess.
Sabatti Europa DL - Safe, sprinting and kicking
The safety slide with rounded operating button is inserted on the upper flap of the rocker: it blocks the trigger and the maneuver is always clearly perceptible. In the oval guard the two protrude shaped triggers that control the markedly hard clicks, probably adjusted in this way to avoid untimely triggers due to emotion or poorly controlled movement in following the race of the game: consistency and sharpness must be highlighted, primary factors for the validity of the device. We remind you that the drums are classic Anson & Deeley with forged V springs: a system that has a formidable robustness on its side. The two-part stock is made from superior class walnut, appreciable for color, arrangement of the grain, compactness and closure of the vessels. The stock is equipped with a pistol grip, Bavarian back, cheek rest and ventilated butt plate in traditional reddish rubber. The line of the shaft also follows the German canons with a prismatic section, high sides, elongated profiling and the schnabel or duck bill at the apex. The work is completed by the knurled fields with raised cusps on which the hands grip safely. Carried out carefully casing with wood slightly to grow.
Sabatti Europa DL - Two couples in the shooting range
Taking advantage of the hospitality of Giorgio Rosso we tried a couple of coppiole at a distance of 50 m taking advantage of the open sights only. The 16,2 g (250 g) Blaser cartridges with CDC bullet are pretty tough and put the two shots fairly close together: the approximately 50 mm that separate them are functional for hunting. The two shots with reloads made up of 60,5 g of N / 140 powder and a 14,6 g (225 g) Brenneke DK (Doppel Kern) bullet are very impressive: these fast cartridges with V / 2 of about 766 m / sec they even place the holes at just 20 mm and on the same vertical axis. The reactions to the shot are contained and the mass of about 3,5 kg adequately dissipates the recoil sensation. To conclude, we will say that the potential of the Sabatti express is well exemplified by this excellent result.
Thanks to Giorgio Rosso of the polygon of Carrù (CN) for the usual hospitality (3479692677)