I was at the local Cabela's yesterday buying some reloading supplies . I always enjoy going into the "Fine Gun Room" and looking at their doubles. I have never really looked at the Sabatti. They had maybe 5 or so in their case , out of the 2 or 3 they had laying down so I could see the end of the bbl's it appeared to me that all of them had their crowns polished to some degree or another. Looks like they would get 1 bbl shooting on the paper then "Grind" the other one to get it to "regulate". I don't know if you could cut the bbl's back and get someone who knew what they were doing to re-regulate it or not. I doubt you could get someone "who knew what he was doing" to touch a Sabatti (just my 2 cents). The actions look OK , and like someone else said earlier "they are probably stronger than some of the shotgun conversions". It's too bad they don't spend the extra money and regulate them in a more traditional manner and take a little more time on the internal finish . And, cut back on that cheap rolled engraving they put on them . In my humble opinion the plain case colored 9.3X74R was the best looking one of the bunch ( I could not see the bbl ends on that one). I guess if you wanted a project gun to play with, but you don't want to build from scratch they might not be too bad. But, if you want a gun to shoot and hunt with right out of the box ? I would stay away, I know some guys have had good luck with them but the odds are not in your favor. As I have said before , stick with the Merkel or Chapuis.
Robert
PS they had Chapuis and Merkel there for under 10K. Champlins in Enid, Ok. is the only dealer I know that will let you shoot their guns before you buy (just pay for ammo).