Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Sabatti Safari .450 NE Price Check

Was asked to help sell a very nice Sabatti .450 NE in original hard case. Only fired a few times. Pretty solid 97-98% condition.

I found a sale of the same rifle in 9.3x74 but not sure if the .450 would be expected to bring more or less in today’s world with African travel restrictions and what not.

Any thoughts on value or know of any recently sold.

Those Sabattis originally sold through Cabela's for about $5,000. Very quickly someone discovered that they were regulating the barrels by actually putting small nicks and grinds in the barrel crown (one or both barrels) to tip the bullets for regulation.

Cabela's started dumping them quick and I know people that bought them brand new for $3,000.

First step for you will be to do a careful examination of the crowns.

There are some gunsmiths that would cut off and re-crown the barrels and regulate them as they're supposed to be but that is significant money.

Even if they were not tipped on the crowns they took a big hit to the brand because of that stunt. Couple that with the fact that times are tough regarding Safari issues and I would be very surprised if you get much interest in it.

I actually have a 450 and I discovered after my elephant and Buffalo trip that it also has a ground crown but it regulates well so I live with it.

Good luck figuring out a price on this one. It's literally worth what someone will pay you for it.

That is great information! Exactly the kind of info I like to have before pricing these type of deals. Thanks

Mechanically they have been decent guns, they just angered a lot of people and spooked the rest with that Dremel tool regulation that they did on some of the barrels.

Pm me directly when you figure out what you want for it. I run the big bore Safari Rifle Challenge shoot in Libby every year. I know a lot of big bore shooters. Somebody might be interested if it was priced right.

Will do. Since this is a consignment I will have to see what the owner wants to do. May just be poor timing and he does not need to sell.

I had one shot it a couple rounds then inspected it very closely to see why it was shooting the way it did. To my surprise it did not have any grinds or nicks in the barrels. But had very large chambers, they were not even close to specifications. You could rattle a cartridge in the chamber, a fired case it was very hard to even resize. Ended up taking it back to Cabela's, with a little bit of a negating short of threats, I received a full refund.
If you have one that shoots OK keep it, shoot it you got lucky. If your stuck with a bad one spend the money and get it fixed or just bit the bullet and move it.

I got one at an estate auction about two years ago. Same rifle, same caliber, same case. It also had a Millett 1.5 - 6 x 44 scope on it. $1500. I think I got a really good deal.
I took the scope off, and firing with the open iron sights from 50 yards both barrels hit about the same place, but about twenty inches high! I don't see any signs of anyone fudging up the muzzle.
I put it on consignment in our local gun shop for 6 months at $3000. There was no interest in it whatsoever.

If the gun is clean and the crowns have not been damaged, in today's market it would probably be hard to get past about 2,000.

I think it is going to stay in his gun safe He just bought a very nice Holland and Holland Royal with .375 and .470 NE barrels. He should use this as his “foul weather beater”.

The price on really nice double rifles has tanked. Guys on safari sites are listing H&H, WR, Heym etc. for 30+% less than just a few years ago.

Sad times with nothing positive on the horizon.

"Sad times with nothing positive on the horizon."


Only if you are selling. Take those doubles hunting!

An H&H Royal and a Sabatti....talk about opposite ends of the DR spectrum!

I'd avoid it like the plague. I too purchased one with the oblong bores, but was fortunate to get a full refund from Cabelas before the whole scam went public. The bore grinding will get you regulation but only for so long and there is also the issue of bullet stabilization because of the dicked up bores. Also, mine had a loose piece of sottering compund between the bores and it rattled. VEry annoying. The 450NE is in my opinion THE caliber when it comes to doubles. The 9.3 X74 is not a dangerous game caliber by any stretch.
Bottom line is doubles are expensive to make and highly specialized tools. If you are going to get one, I'd avoid Sabbattis AND Merkels and start at Chapuis.

I bought a 9.3 Sabatti from a friend as a favor last year. He was moving back to Germany and couldn’t take it with him. I picked up some cheap Chek ammo and gave it a go. It shot left and right of the bull by about 2 inches at 75 yds. I did a bit of research and found it was made before the cabellas mess. With the correct ammo (Hornady) it does better so I’m very happy with it. Dangerous game? No I have other guns for that. It is fun to shoot hogs with though.

I think you guys low balled the Sabatti. On the other hand, I would not buy one unless is was priced low. I would probably take one, even ground in the muzzle for 2k. And I am cheap. On the other hand the OP's friend knows what he paid and they were alwasy a low cost alternative. A reasonable person should not be expecting to take a $3k Cableas gun and score a big payday.

If the prices of doubles are down, I would be shedding any tears. I was pretty convinced the pricing was a bubble 10 years ago. IMHO a 20 or 30% correction after inflation seems about right.

I think, all things equal a 9.3 will never bring close to a 400NE, 450NE or 500NE caliber any gun. It is not necessarily that a 9.3 cost more to manufacture, it is the marketing up charge for the big guns. I think the Sabatti was a 2x price difference.

I know no one is asking, but; I kind of settled in on the 416, 404 and 400's ae the ideal compromise in shooting and performance. Not that I would not like a big double, just saying the 40's are a lot more fun and plenty big.

Not many sold on GB. Here is one in 45/70 - only one bidder. I believe these sold for much less than the big NE guns and it went for 2x the appraised value for one of the big guns. If a 450 wont bring 4k, I will eat my hat.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/904214440

I'll open the bidding with $1,000.00!

The 9,3X74R versions sold for $3K new.

The big bore versions were $5K.

Many had regulation problems that is now well known. They looked nice, but you can't kill'em with shine. They're mostly a toy and something to dazzle dinner guests.

I remember and JCS is right. They started at 5k, but; were discounted out at 3k. I wish I got one at 3k. Cabelas had a habit of doing these crazy discounts. I got some similar deals on great Leupold scopes. You had to move fast. BassPro will never do this.

For anyone who thinks the Sabatti is or was overprice junk, look at what a Pedersoli double in 45/70 retails at! They are totally unregulated! Setting aside ego trips and status symbols, JCS got it done with a Sabatti. I believe Sabatti put the fear of God into some of the other makers. The bad news spread real fast. Take that as a hint. I think it is a darn shame, they did not get their act together and keep up with the big sxs doubles, At 5k, they could skip the regulation and just build as close as they could get them. Or sneak a little screw driven wedge between the barrels and try and give it a clean look.

Take a good look at the bores (from the front) and look for concentric holes. You get what you pay for. As others alluded to, there was a HUGE controversy a few years ago when these rifles were introduced. I bought one from Cabelas and eventually realized they had used a grinder on the bores to achieve regulation. Also, the soldering compound started to come loose with an obnoxious rattle when you shook the barrels. They are worse than Merkels...