Versa Max

fallsflight · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:15 am

rpeters wrote:

Iloveducks wrote:

Tujays, I believe you said awhile back that you were going to pattern some turkey loads and chokes. Have you had a chance yet? Just wondering. Let us know. Thanks, John

I sighted mine today for turkey. Shot many different types all through the turkey choke. Best pattern i had was 67 on a 9" plate at 40 yds with Remington wingmaster HD 3" 1 5/8oz #6, second best was 50 with the Remington duplex 4x6 1 7/8oz. However i can’t seem to find the wingmaster anywhere. Most say out of stock or discontinued by manufacture but Remington still shows on their site.

I wont be using my Versa Max for turkeys as i just use it for waterfowl however, i suggest you try sho oting Hevi-13 3",2oz,#6. Your pellet count in a 10" circle at 40 yards will go way up.

rpeters · **Joined:** Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:57 pm **Posts:** 13

fallsflight wrote:

I wont be using my Versa Max for turkeys as i just use it for waterfowl however, i suggest you try sho oting Hevi-13 3",2oz,#6. Your pellet count in a 10" circle at 40 yards will go way up.

I shot the hevi-13 #5s and it wasnt that good, Think the 6 would be much different?

fallsflight · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:21 pm

rpeters wrote:

fallsflight wrote:

I wont be using my Versa Max for turkeys as i just use it for waterfowl however, i suggest you try sho oting Hevi-13 3",2oz,#6. Your pellet count in a 10" circle at 40 yards will go way up.

I shot the hevi-13 #5s and it wasnt that good, Think the 6 would be much different?

I don't shoot #5s in Hevi myself, as I have heard too many people not getting good patterns with them. The 5s seem to like a more open choke than the 6s or 7s. I personally shoot #6s in the Hevi-13 and get a terrific hunting pattern. Very dense in a 10" circle at 40 yards with a very even pattern in the 20" circle. I would not hesitate to use #7s either for turkeys. The choke I use is a Pure Gold .670 for turkeys. As i mentioned above this is not out of my Versa Max. I use an 870 for turkey hunting.

Bob4 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:47 pm

After following this thread for months I have decided to take the plunge. Although a pre-owned I should be the proud owner this week.

Versa Max Mod B camo 28
Thanks to Tujays for starting and everyone else that have participated in this thread. Been a huge help.

kuffs06 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:24 pm

TuJays wrote:

arduckhunter wrote:

TuJays,
I have been following this board for a long time now. Had my wife a little mad since I would read this and not pay attention to her. The joys of looking for a new gun. I had a question for anyone really. I have an opportunity to pick up a brand new in the box Black Synthetic VersaMax a friend one at a banquet for about $1000. Would it be worth the difference to have it dipped (can get that done for ~$200) and get the different choke tubes or is there more than just some cosmetics that would make the Waterfowl edition better. I am an avid duck hunter and hunt all over AR, MO, and wherever I can. I will hunt in cold wet weather and am looking at doing some spring turkey hunting for the first time. Any input would be great.

Again. Thanks for such a great source to help me decide on what gun to get.

JTMartin
Past USN, MM2
DU Chairman

Thanks JT.......yayaya blaming me to get out of hot water with the bride {hs#

Personally I would leave it black and hunt the heck out of it with the 5 chokes provided, offer him $900.00 cash and use the rest to buy more ammo. Your friend will make $880.00 on a $20.00 game of chance and you will have a fine shotgun. Just be certain to do a transfer thru your local FFL, then go online to Remington and register it for warranty purposes in your name.
Why, you ask?
Camo is only for us, the ducks don't care. Besides the black version is just as durable as the camo one from what i have witnessed.
The 5 chokes are flush instead of 4 extended, but I guarantee that out of those 5 you will be able to produce excellent patterns with steel shot, beside you can buy more chokes later. And this gives you more options out of the box for clay games and small game like doves.
And finally cost, new Black VM's can be found for under $1000.00 on retailer shelf's.
Welcome to SGW by the way

JM

I would agree...the black one in trynite coated...just as durable and rust resistant. Most if mine are black. My Vmax is MODB because that's all they had at the time & I never owned a camo gun.

kuffs06 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:14 am

Phild101 wrote:

kuffs06 wrote:

Well it happened! My versamax broke! The retaining pin worked itself loose at the trap range, and wedged itself against the reciever bending the retaining pin. I'm not happy! By the sounds of it, ill be sending the whole gun back to remington!

LOL yes I am still alive I had a great hunting season with the VM inspite of my retaining pin problem too, sorry to hear about your bad luck. I have still yet to send mine out to Remington in Quebec I have been super busy at work. Winter is oil drilling season here in Norhtern Alberta. I am going to send it out next week and I think they are replacing the entire gun due to the gouge in teh receiver.

Later
Phil

I never had to send it in. The new retaining pin was at my house in a week!

duckmander · **Joined:** Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:40 pm **Posts:** 33

I was at a sporting goods store a couple of days ago and I spoted a versamax. I ask If I could look at it. The guy said yes, but first can I ask you what you know about that gun. I told him I know just about everything remington has said about the gun. He ask do you know about the 3 recalls. I told him yes I do and I know that remington fixed the problems. and the guns were good to go now. But I only rember hearing about two recalls.

I did get to shoulder the gun It felt pretty good. I read somewhere it was light gun. It felt to me to be not really heavy but not light either. my guess would be 7 pounds or a little over. But it did feel good fit pretty good and seemed to swing good too. The only thing I noticed I didnt like was it seemed to be a little short in the length of pull area. Im sure if I tried a few more of them I would find one that fit perfectly. A little weight in a gun dont bother me much. I like it over a very light one.

Then I noticed the 3500 and shouldered it. it actually felt and fit better. except for the stock was even shorter on it.

I really do like the versamax and will probably get one in the future. but I have always been a pump guy and really dont even know why I have got the auto bug. my shucker gun does everything I would ever need. clean or dirty. without fail. everytime.

No point to be made here. I'm just thinking on paper. That is all.

ALLDRAKES · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 8:44 pm **Posts:** 506

What 2nd and 3rd recalls ? ? I was aware of the out of spec. hammers but nothing else.

Steve_Guelph · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:43 pm

ALLDRAKES wrote:

What 2nd and 3rd recalls ? ? I was aware of the out of spec. hammers but nothing else.

Only one recall according to the Remington website unless it is not updated???

Sccowboy · **Joined:** Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:26 am **Posts:** 53

Well just got my versamax back from Remington. When I sent it in for the free cleaning and inspection I sent a letter in with the case. I asked them to check the hammer as it had mushroomed. I also asked them to check carrier as I had a few times that it would not throw the shell all the way in the receiver. I also asked them to check the chamber of the barrel as it had some pitting in it. Well after getting it back today and reviewing the invoice that was sent back in the case. It said they had replaced the hammer, the feed latch assembly, and replaced the barrel. It said problems found ( M101- accuracy, M179 -barrel to receiver misalignment, M345 - versamax hammer replacement, M581 - fails not feed from magazine). Now I have no idea what those M numbers mean I can only assume that is some sort of code for Remington when documented problems with certain guns and problems with the versamax. Now I did have some patterning problems wasn't major but made mention of that problem in the letter. And as some one posted in this thread a while back about rings in the barrel like it was rifled or something. I wasn't to worried about it as I was still able to kill ducks with it. After receiving it back today and inspecting it the new barrel indeed looks 360 degrees different from the other barrel and the barrel was really dirty and I guess that's from them testing it before leaving Remington. Which is no big deal I can clean the barrel myself. I did shoot a few shells to make sure everything was running smooth with it and it is running as smooth as ever. The only thing I have to complain about is I left my pass shooting choke in The barrel when I sent it back to Remington and they sent me the wrong choke back they sent another flooded timber choke. So I will be calling Remington in the morning to get them to send me my choke back to me. All in all I am completely satisfied with Remington customer service and they went above and beyond what I asked them to look at much less replace the barrel bc I was not expecting them to do that. Now back to the pattern board. Post results as I get them.

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Sccowboy · **Joined:** Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:26 am **Posts:** 53

Just got off the phone with Remington repair service dept. And to no surprise they are sending me a new pass shooting choke and a new red fiberoptic sight, bc the choke they sent back in the barrel was not the choke that got sent back with and the front sight that was in it was red when sent back and they sent it back with a green one. And while I had them on the phone I asked if they could tell me why they replaced the barrel and the guy said that they actually found a bend in the barrel. So I guess that would explain why my poi was off and why I can't get the pattern like I wanted. Again Remingtons customer service and repair dept have been great to work with and that's why I like Remington guns. Most of the time it's no questions asked just send it back and they inspect and if there is a problem they fix it at no cost to you. Thanks Remington.

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Skeeter210 · **Joined:** Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:59 pm **Posts:** 15

I was the one who had the rings inside the barrell.I just got mine back also and the same repairs were done to mine.The new barrell has small rings but not like the old barrell.Replaced mushroomed hammer,and feeding issue of overcycling.

dalecooper51 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:10 pm

Do any of you have a picture of the replaced hammer? I was told that mine was replaced for mushrooming. Since it was cleaned from Remington, I just took it to the range without breaking it down and ran 125 7/8 oz loads through it. It has a couple dings in the hammer. I called Remington today to make sure it was replaced. If that is the case, then it shouldn't have this level of wear after 5 rounds of skeet.

I will post a pic later in the day after I make it home from work.

Sccowboy · **Joined:** Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:26 am **Posts:** 53

No I sure don't have a pic of the hammer. But I had about 2500 rounds through mine and the mushrooming wasn't bad just enough to notice it was all. When you called Remington and told them about the hammer what did they say. Are they gone send you another hammer or do they want you to send the gun back to them?

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dalecooper51 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 4:47 pm

Sccowboy wrote:

No I sure don't have a pic of the hammer. But I had about 2500 rounds through mine and the mushrooming wasn't bad just enough to notice it was all. When you called Remington and told them about the hammer what did they say. Are they gone send you another hammer or do they want you to send the gun back to them?

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They told me that they replaced the hammer with a new one. I shot a few rounds of skeet last weekend after getting it back. When I went to clean it, the hammer looked alot more banged up than a new hammer with 125 rounds on it...

I'll pull the trigger group tonight and snap a photo. I have just over 4k through the gun, but there was a laundry list of replaced parts after it broke.

dalecooper51 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:05 pm

Here are the pics. Sorry all I have is my cell phone camera so quality isn't as good as it could be, but there are two nicks out of the front face of the hammer along the corners. This was supposedly a new hammer installed last week and I only have a few boxes of shells through the gun since it has been repaired with a 'new' hammer. I am going to send some photos to Remington in the morning, but I would like to hear thoughts on this before I send them.

Sccowboy · **Joined:** Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:26 am **Posts:** 53

Yea I would send them the pics as I would not think it is suppose to do that with the few boxes you have ran through it since getting it back. If it was me I would send the pics and see what they say.

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ALLDRAKES · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 8:44 pm **Posts:** 506

Looks like the recalled hammers are bad too ? ?

This list of faulty hammers, bent barrels, vent ribs falling off, etc. is growing, not good for Rem !!

TuJays · **Posted:** Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:53 pm

ALLDRAKES wrote:

Looks like the recalled hammers are bad too ? ?

This list of faulty hammers, bent barrels, vent ribs falling off, etc. is growing, not good for Rem !!

No! the "recalled hammers" where thrown away. The new hammers however are defiantly softer then the rear of the bolt as indicated by the slight wear.
Remove your bolt and look at the back of it where the rear head of the firing pin is....your wear marks match the lower shoulders of the metal profile of the bolt around the firing pin hole. There is no wear on my hammer from striking the firing pin, but it is from making contact with this area of the bolt itself. I have considered removing some materiel form my bolt to relieve this, but did not because it always goes bang :wink:

There is nothing wrong with your hammer, but Remington could widen this area of the bolt up ever so slightly to eliminate any future interference in my opinion.
here....

and here....

"This list" as you call it, is most defiantly showing Remington where they have weak spots with the new Versa Max, however the real number of "this list" has been very few and in every case has been well taken care of by Remingtons customer service department.

I agree that no one should be a company's guinea pig for testing purposes, and this is not what Remington did with the VM, however with it now being heavily used in the real world for over a year, they have gotten some really great feedback. This will only make the product better.

Here is my hammer after close to 10,000 rounds fired. :shock:

I will keep shooting it until it breaks, but I will tell you that it has not gotten any worse for thousands of rounds now.
JM

ALLDRAKES · **Joined:** Sun May 14, 2006 8:44 pm **Posts:** 506

Thanks for the pic's. and explanation.........

Versa Max

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