La Sabatti di Gardone, a leading signature in the rifled rods that are popular today, is keen to make known not only this branch expressed in the hunting and competitive field, but also that of smooth rods in which it is equally a producer with numbers of considerable size and qualified technical expressions. How much the company has decided on the proposals of Dr. Filippo Meloni of the web magazine Passion hunting it is definitely out of the ordinary: a notice issued some time ago on the pages that every enthusiast can view on their own means as a pc or smartphone has definitely shaken the environment by proposing four appointments between April and early October. Ten places are up for grabs for the first hunters who will book with the methods described in the aforementioned announcement, for free participation in the event: in a very short time the numerical saturation was reached. Here we already give an account of the first appointment of the Sabatti World on Tour happily unfolded on Sunday 10 April.
First meeting at Tenuta Bonicelli
It is eight in the morning when the organization orchestrated by Lorenzo Verra, owner of the wildlife farm, moves to prepare in the hunting lodge of the Bonicelli estate of Ceresole d'Alba / CN the welcome of the participants in the event who come from different areas of Northern Italy. The program first of all includes a substantial sweet and savory breakfast to prepare yourself adequately for the next hunt in the sweet hills of the place, the well-known area of the Roeri where meadows and alfalfa, interspersed with thickets with brambles, bushes and tall trees allow you to dissolve the auxiliaries looking for several quail and some gray partridge. Unfortunately, recent events in Piedmont have severely limited the availability of the latter wild while eliminating that of pheasants. Participants have the right to use their own dogs, while those without one have the opportunity to take advantage of some valid specimens conducted by the companions. Each hunter has a Sabatti over / under, some with a steel action frame, others with a light alloy one, thus being able to immediately verify the weight difference between the two solutions.
The system of these shotguns is a classic and it is worth emphasizing that it was exactly there Sabatti, several tens of years ago, to design it by applying it to his own production line of the time: in short, two side-by-side rear lugs are obtained from the breech monobloc which protrude under the profile of the lower barrel, contrasting with a prominence obtained from the inside of the back, and two lugs at the center line of the barrel itself: these find their place in the semi-pins protruding within the sides of the action frame. In addition to the seal against the forward thrust of the barrel group when firing, the complex is kept closed, preventing its rotation with a block moved by the key, protruding on the bottom of the action face and slotted into the mortises obtained on the two tenons mentioned above. The geometry ensures a very favorable lever arm also against the detachment between the breech end of the barrels and the receiver face.
Even today this system, simple, effective and producible at low cost, is commonly called "Gardonese", unfortunately forgetting the name Sabatti to which the idea goes. This reference to historicity is right before returning to the ground where the drought of recent months has at least the advantage of avoiding mud: the catches follow one another and the different teams in which the presences are divided count several heads in the game bag: it is not It was possible to prepare some small-caliber rifles such as the 28/70 or .410 Mag. today sought after with curiosity, so the classic, traditional and all-encompassing 12/76 caliber held the scene.
Excellent cartridges in 12/70 supplied by have been carefully prepared Cheddite Italy with 32 g of 10 pellets that perform their service without disrupting the head: among other things, the quails all prove to be excellent fliers and, when the terrain allows it, astute tailers as it is in their nature. The hunting time passes quickly and at a certain time the rifles are put back in their sheaths, commenting on the favorable performance: those with slightly more tired arms especially appreciate the lightness of the ergal models.
Finish the first stage
Having reached the Casa di Caccia, an excellent Favorita, a classic white wine from Roero, contrasts with the locally produced pork-butchers and the pride of Bonicelli is precisely that of using raw materials grown, harvested or captured there, in the surrounding land: Piero is a excellent hunting companion and at the same time an equally valid butcher who works in an excellent way the meat of the game of the reserve who has deer and roe deer, fallow deer and mouflons for those who love rifled cane. The highlight of the lunch, for example, is an oven-baked leg of deer: the specimen, a female of about three years old, was captured right on the estate and using a Sabatti Nuova Rover rifle in .308 Win caliber. with a refilled cartridge with the Green Hunting monolithic ball in turned copper, produced by the new MRR company of the Sabatti orbit specialized in these processes.
After the pleasant gastronomic break, you can take advantage of the double system set up by Bonicelli: a shooting line at 100 meters, with support counter and ambidextrous side seat, and a little far away shooting machine. Here again we see the work at work cartridges from Cheddite Italia in the platform version with 28 g of 7½ pellets and especially the overlaid by Sporting with adjustable back in elevation and interchangeable internal / external chokes. The average of the breakages of the fast orange targets turns out to be decidedly high as well as the yield of the New Rover, here powered by Sellier & Bellot .308 Win cartridges. with 11,7 g FMJ bullet (180gr): for the record, the three best shots, just contiguous, were made by Lorenzo Verra. The riflescope of the Sight Mark Mod. Citadel 3-18 × 50 has highlighted once again what is a prerogative not to be taken for granted of the optics: the precision and correspondence of the adjustment turrets. In our previous tests we had set up a calibration with a very different charge, but still in this case very few clicks made it possible to reset the aim on the new cartridge. Really a proposal of remarkable balance between optical performance, mechanics and quotation.
At the end of the games
The day is coming to an end and the success of the event can be read on the faces of the bystanders and on the lingering chatter with old and new friends, a valid impediment to leaving the company to get into the car. By the organization we are already thinking about the second stage of the Sabatti World on Tour to be held at the Alto Reno shooting range, near Vergato (BO) on Sunday 22 May next: will be centered on the itinerant hunting route where Sabatti Sporting rifles are held they will provide valid arguments for dealing with targets. There will also be one here shooting line for testing rifled barrels. A cordial good luck to all.