Sabatti pre-2017 Compact Scout SA

The History of Sabatti

Sabatti’s history can be traced back to the early 18th century’s Val Trompia, a region in northern Italy that is historically well known for metalworking and arms manufacturing. We know of one Lodovico Sabatti working there as a gunsmith in the early 1700s, in the city of Gardone Val Trompia. He was regarded as an excellent barrel maker and a flintlock pistol maker, skills that later became somewhat of a trademark for the Sabatti family.

In the first half 1800s, a man by the name of Giuseppe Sabatti gained considerable fame as one of the best Damascus steel barrel manufacturers ever, thus further contributing to Sabatti’s rising influence in the craft. In fact, it was throughout the 19th century when several members of the Sabatti family became respected practitioners of the trade, some of whom opened their own workshops, while others joined forces with other gunsmiths to open companies, many of which are still in operation today. Sabatti members also played an important role as gunsmiths in the turbulent years of Italian unification.

After a seeming decline of the Sabatti family in the first half of the 20th century, Antonio Sabatti entered a partnership with Giuseppe Tanfoglio to form a new company almost immediately after World War II (in 1946).  Their joint company was named SATA (Sabatti and Tanfoglio), and it reinvigorated the Italian gun manufacturing business. They first put all their efforts into manufacturing high-quality hunting shotguns and rifles, but in 1956 they also introduced their first pistols for personal defense.

The partnership ended in 1960 with Giuseppe founding Tanfoglio while Antonio’s sons set up their own company, which until 1990 operated under the name FIAS (Fabbrica Italiana Armi Sabatti). They seemingly split SATA down the middle – Tanfoglio specialized in hand pistols only while Sabatti to this day remains a well-respected manufacturer of hunting shotguns and rifles. And just like in the past, the quality of the barrels and actions are still Sabatti’s main strengths. They even patented a new Multi-Radial Rifling (MRR) system which extends the life cycle of the rifle’s barrel, and due to the lack of traditional sharp corners, it prevents excessive bore fouling. MRR system thus increases the overall quality of barrels, making Sabatti rifles, such as Sabatti Urban Sniper, Saphire, Saphire E.R., or Saphire Syn, a great pick.

Sabatti Compact Scout (SA) Rifle Review

Sabatti Compact Scout is a bolt-action rifle with all the features of a scout rifle that make it a great multi-purpose weapon. Sabatti first announced it in 2014, but it had seen some gradual changes through the years that led to a considerable transformation, most notably in 2017 when it was re-designed in resemblance to the then-new Sabatti Saphire. In this review, we’ll focus on the short-action (SA) Sabatti Compact Scout as it was before the 2017 re-design; we’ll call it a pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout. If you’re interested in the post-2017 version of the rifle, visit this page. But before we dive any further into this review, we would like to give you a fair warning about some of the confusion that surrounds this rifle. There are several characteristics of the pre- and post-2017 versions of the Sabatti Compact Scout that intertwine and sometimes make it really difficult to tell them apart. To add to the confusion, there were (and still are) stores that sold one or the other version of the rifle that didn’t entirely coincide with the manufacturer’s description of the factory issue of that said rifle. This is why we’d like to point out that, even though we tried our best to address all the different variations of the pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout found on the market, we almost entirely relied on the data provided by the official manufacturer (Sabatti) for the purposes of this review. If you wish to learn more about Sabatti Compact Scout rifle and its development, you can read this article.

Figure 1: Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017) in .308 Win. (Source: http://wilsonshunting.co.nz/cms/pages/bakery/sabatti-compact-scout-308-3084.php)

Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017) was built around the traditional Rover action, and it largely resembles the older Sabatti Rover 870 model. Compact Scout entered the market with a 47 cm (18.5-inch) long cold-hammer-forged barrel, but it seems like its length was soon increased to 50 cm (20-inch).  The muzzle of the barrel is threaded (1/20” UNF) for an easy installation of muzzle devices, and the protective cap for it is included when the rifle is purchased. As with most of the “scout” rifles, the barrel of the Compact Scout is also equipped with a Picatinny rail for the fitting of forward-mounted scopes, although the receiver has four holes for mounting purposes as well (see the image below), so it can be equipped with the traditional scope mounting solutions. In some cases, the rifle can be bought with a 2-piece Picatinny base already pre-installed on the receiver, though.

The action of Sabatti Compact Scout is of the push-feed style, and it hosts a chrome-plated steel bolt with 2 locking lugs for safety purposes. On the right side of the action behind the bolt handle, there is a 2-position safety catch that locks the bolt and the rifle’s single-stage trigger. The latter has a pull weight of 765 g (1.7 lbs) and is protected by the Rover-style trigger guard. Inside of the trigger guard, there is a magazine release catch that easily and quickly detaches the rifle’s 5-, 7- or 10-round magazine. The capacity of the magazine a store-bought Compact Scout comes with depends on where and when the rifle was bought.

Sabatti Compact Scout’s stock is made of an ultralight techno-polymer that significantly cuts on the rifle’s weight while retaining all its sturdiness.  The rifle comes in either a black or green color and it ends in a Monte-Carlo style buttstock with a thumbhole opening for a steadier and more comfortable hold. It is worth noting that Compact Scout was announced at roughly the same time as Sabatti Rover Thumbhole (link) and the two rifles can be easily confused for one another. The main difference between them is the Picatinny rail on the pre-2017 Scout’s barrel.

Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017) Calibers

The short-action Sabatti Compact Scout can be chambered for:

• .308 Win.

Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017) Variants

Due to the reasons already mentioned above, it is a bit complicated when we talk about Sabatti Compact Scout variants. Much of the confusion stems from the 2017 redesign that launched a new version of the rifle with completely the same name as the first one. We are talking about the pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout in this review, but there is also a post-2017 one. There are several differences between them, but the most obvious visual one that lets us relatively easily differentiate them is noticeable on the buttstock. The post-2017 Compact Scout comes with an adjustable cheek-piece, something that the older version doesn’t have. Another way to tell them apart is by the mounting surface. Like the other “scout” rifles, the pre-2017 Compact Scout normally comes with a pre-installed Picatinny rail on the rifle’s barrel, while the post-2017 Compact Scout has a 2-piece Picatinny base pre-installed on the receiver for traditional scope mounting and usually lacks the rail on the barrel. We used “normally” and “usually” above because there seem to be certain rifle stores that offer the post-2017 Compact Scout with both the 2-piece Picatinny base and the forward Picatinny, while there are also some stores that offer a pre-2017 version equipped just like that (a 2-piece + a forward Picatinny). Therefore, it is our opinion that the only reliable way to tell them apart is by the buttstock.

There’s even more confusion added when we learn of the latest Sabatti’s “scout” rifle – the Sabatti Rover Scout. The latter was announced in 2021, together with the rest of the 2nd generation Rover models, and is most likely a direct successor to the post-2017 Compact Scout, but there are so many differences between them that they couldn’t be regarded as nearly the same rifle anymore. Sabatti Rover Scout is thus not a Sabatti Compact Scout variant but is rather a completely different rifle. Therefore, the post-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout is the only variant of the pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout.

• Post-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout (retired in 2021)

The pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout usually comes with a pre-installed forward Picatinny rail. There are also four holes on the receiver (two at the front and two at the back) that allow the shooter to use the traditional scope mounting solutions.

Figure 2: The forward Picatinny rail (top) and the receiver (bottom) of Sabatti Compact Scout (SA) with a visible mounting surface. The receiver is of the traditional Rover action style (Source: https://www.all4shooters.com/en/hunting/rifles/sabatti-rover-compact-scout/)

A: 21.9 mm
B: 88.7 mm
C: 15.3 mm
BHU: 2.9 mm
Fi: 6-48
R1: R51
R2: R17

Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017)

Rifles That Have Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017)

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension. Since the pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout SA comes with a pre-installed forward Picatinny rail, all of the one-piece scope mounts suitable for Picatinny will fit on the pre-2017 Compact Scout, too.

There’s even less dilemma around the interchangeability of two-piece mounts. Any two-piece scope mount that fits on a Picatinny rail will also fit on the pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout.

Should you want to make use of the Compact Scout’s tapped receiver to resort to the traditional scope mounting instead, you can use the list below to find out which rifles have traditional scope mounts interchangeable with the short-action pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout.

Rifles that have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017) are:

• Haenel Jaeger 10 (Up from series-Nr. JX-000921)

• Haenel Jaeger 10 Pro

• Bergara B14 SA

• Bergara Premier SA

• Bergara B14 LA

• Bergara Premier LA

• BSA Repetierer

• CZ 600 Lux (Medium)

• CZ 600 Range (Medium)

• Remington 700 LA

• Remington 700 SA

• Remington 78 LA

• Remington 78 SA

• Remington 721

• Remington 725

• Remington 40x SA

• Remington 40x LA

• Remington 722

• Remington 40-XB

• Weatherby Mark V

• Weatherby Vanguard SA

• Weatherby Vanguard LA

• Sauer 100

• Sauer 101

• Mauser M18

• Mauser M12 (2019-onward)

• CZ 550 Scandinavia

• CZ 600 Lux (Long)

• CZ 600 Range (Long)

• CZ 600 Lux (Mini)

• CZ 600 Range (Mini)

• Mauser M94 (1994)

• Mauser M1996 (Serial number < 12000)

• Sabatti Tactical SA

• Sabatti Rover 600

• Sabatti Tactical LA

• Sabatti Compact Scout LA (pre-2017)

• Sabatti Rover 870

• Sabatti TLD

• Sabatti Tactical EVO

• Sabatti Rover Traqueur

• Brno Scandinavian

• Churchill Highlander

• Howa 1500 LA

• Howa 1500 SA

• Howa 1500 Mini

Should you have any additional information regarding possible mount matches, please contact us. We will gladly accept your help and expand our database accordingly.

Best Scope Mounts for Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017)

Fixed Scope Mounts for Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017)

We think these 25.4 mm Burris Signature Zee rings for Picatinny would be a great fit for any scout rifle, so they are our top recommendation for the fixed scope mount for the pre-2017 Sabatti Compact Scout SA. The rings ensure quality and reliability, while they also come at a relatively affordable price. They are made of steel and have a 30-year warranty.

Order Burris Zee Rings

Detachable Repeatable Mounts for Sabatti Compact Scout SA (pre-2017)

When it comes to flexibility, detachable repeatable scope mounts are the way to go. Being able to easily attach and detach an optic without any tools and retaining zero at the same time can be a great advantage. If this is what you’re looking for, you might want to consider this aluminum INNOMOUNT scope mounting solution for your Sabatti Compact Scout SA. It will fit perfectly on the rifle’s forward-mounted Picatinny rail and it also comes with a 10-year warranty.

Check out INNOmount Scope Mount

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu