co-exprs Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 As you guys know I've put together a 26" Versamax for Tac Optics division. My previous main squeeze was an extremely well set up SLP. Now just to put things into context, I don't generally make changes in equipment which won't put points on the board. I messed around with an M2 once and though it is an outstanding shotgun, I just didn't feel that it would compliment my shooting any better than my SLP. Well after putting this Versa together and then putting it through it's paces with 700 shells in two weekends I was convinced that Versamax was the autoloader for my future. It sort of bridges the gaps between the other two platforms and almost all in good ways. It isn't all roses though. The Versamax suffers a couple of deficiencies. First the fit and finish is no where near where it should be for a $1200 shotgun. My 26" field model was not good enough and the Tacticools are considerably worse. I mean Remington has spent too much time eating thier own magic brownies if they think that this is acceptable. Fortunately, the functional parts of the pour finish work can be corrected with a polishing wheel and some rouge. The real magic of this shotgun lies in its function. Once cleaned up the Versamax really does shoot outstanding. Second issue to work out is the crappy magazine tube. Remington in thier lack of wisdom tried to save $.50 by installing a magazine tube just barely good enough to accomodate the factory magazine capacity. As many of you know the Versamax suffers from some slug problems. The POI shifts on slugs is caused by the barrel clamp pulling on the barrel. The clamp pulls on the barrel because the extension tube runs out under the barrel. The tube runs out under the barrel because of Remington's short sighted and crappy magazine tube and more specifically the crappy threads on the end of the tube. I can't gnaw new threads like a beaver so I was forced to work with what I had. Unfortunately, those same crappy threads and the plastic handguard allows too much flex in the tube and you just can't run the Versa without a barrel clamp. I eventually got the Nordic tube aligned with the barrel and every thing locked up straight, but it will only be properly aligned until I take it apart to clean the gun. Then the realignment process starts over again. I was willing to accept this shortcoming for two reasons. When everything is aligned properly, my Versa is spot on with slugs and I knew there was a realistic solution in the works to be available before the next shooting season. Well that time is now and my Versamax is now as perfect as any shotgun I could imagine. Next year there will be something gooder, but today, for me, here is my new main squeeze. I sinfully love this shotty. During the development of my Versamax I was in contact with Mark and James from Carbon Arms to discuss this mod or that mod or how I was working out the slug problems. About 2 months ago I shot Mark an email asking him who's palms I need to grease to get my hands on one of the prototypes. I don't know how many prototypes exist, but I doubt if there are more than 10 in existence, so the likelihood that I would land one was slim to none, but it never hurts to ask. He of course didn't have access to one, but a few weeks later Mark wrote to tell me that he was having a grand total of 3 production models made up for beta test. He also said that he had my name on one of them. Needless to say, I was very excited to hear that and also very surprised. I mean, I'm not a hot dog sponsored shooter. I can hold my own I suppose, but you will never see me in a magazine article or on television. Fast forward to this past weekend and my one piece magazine tube is ready for installation. Installation wasn't terribly complex or difficult. We used a heat gun to warm things up and soften the loctite. It took two of us to unscrew the factory tube, but it came out without any damage at all and could be easily reinstalled if desired (fat chance). The new tube threaded right in easy peasy and it was all done. The stainless tube is nice and uniform round with a nicely polished exterior. There is no noticeable seam on the inside of the tube and the threads are very cleanly cut. The workmanship is clean and neat. This extended tube follows the same design concept as the SLP in that it utilizes a shroud to both protect the tube and to push the hand guard down . Knowing that the stainless full length tube was adding weight, Mark decided to use carbon fiber for the shroud. I must say that it looks like pure money! The woven carbon fiber was left unpainted and looks sick. To keep the carbon fiber from crushing where it contacts the barrel nut or the handguard, polished collars were added. The collars are also reduced ID so that the shroud fits nice and snug on the magazine tube. While the bushings are functional, they just add to the overall positive asthetics. The workmanship really is excellent and looks terrific! My kit came with a Nordic +1 for an 11 shot magazine capacity, with room to spare. The "room to spare" is important because if your magazine just barely accepts that last shell, you will be more likely to mess up clicking that last shell into place during a reload. This puts the magazine tube about 2" past the end of the barrel. Now I know that 11+1 is sort of "the" capacity many shooters have settles on a an ideal length. I've personally never used an 11+1 shotgun before, so I am looking forward to playing around with this one in a match, but that will have to wait till March when the next season wicks back up. My personal taste and preference is for a magazine tube to be close to flush with the end of the barrel and with a 26" barrel that means a 10 round magazine tube. I grabbed my stock Remington barrel nut and replaced the Nordic plus 1. It fit perfectly and does in fact hold 10 in the tube with the stock cap installed. It is also flush with the end of the barrel and looks really nice. One other benefit to using the stock remington cap is the cap comes with a slign mount, for the rare occasion when a sling might be required (although it would be easy to mount a sling in the hand guard). At the very least throw the stock cap in your bag in case you need it. With either end treatment, the shotgun looks fantastic! Final weight is 8lb 6oz. Which is about 2oz lighter than an SLP. Not a light weight but considering the advantages of this Versa over my SLP, I'd say it's a very good trade. Looks like the weather is gonna be good on Sat. I'll be at the range for a large part of the day to run some slugs. I'll fill you in on the results for sure. Until then.. enjoy the eye candy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colodrew Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Wow that's beautiful Mike. You should load up the gang and come shoot the match at Weld on Saturday. I promise to have some stages that will work out your new configuration! I will even bring your brass! Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Glad you like it Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assaulter Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I'm tired of waiting. Can I have one NOW!! Nice writeup and great pictures. I don't think I'd run that cap with the sling stud though. You'd be begging for a ......wait for it.......slingshot! Mark, are these going to be available in multiple lengths? 10 rounder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael1778 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Looks excellent. I think I need to get one for my 26". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 We are still in Beta test mode. I'm going to let Mike beat on his for a little and the other guys that have them as well before we finalize any production numbers, capacities etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hello: That looks great and should work well. The only problem is that I will have to buy a 26" Versa Max now I guess you can't have too many shotguns. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 We will have a viable solution for both the 22" and 26" Versa-Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 (edited) We are still in Beta test mode. I'm going to let Mike beat on his for a little and the other guys that have them as well before we finalize any production numbers, capacities etc. Only trouble is... this thing looks so pimp I don't want to beat on it at all. I just want to keep it looking beautiful! Shooting the Weld match this weekend is awefully tempting. Not sure I can afford 6 hours round trip drive, on the last Sat before Christmas, when I'm not done shopping. Weld always runs a monster shotgun stage too. Hmm have to give that some thought. At the very least I will get it out to my range this weekend and get some shells through it. Edited December 18, 2012 by co-exprs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael1778 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 We are still in Beta test mode. I'm going to let Mike beat on his for a little and the other guys that have them as well before we finalize any production numbers, capacities etc. Quality is worth waiting for, Mark. I can patient when it is required. Best wishes on this and any other new product lines you have in store for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caz41 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Any chance of these being in production by the start of the 2013 season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Mark can better answer that question, but I believe that is the plan. I'm gonna do my best to provide him with feedback as quickly as possible, so he can get them going as soon as financially feasible. I certainly don't want to be the one holding up the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 We are hoping for January, but no promises yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assaulter Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Do you have a price point yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Kind of, but nothing solid yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkmark Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Not to thread jack but do u currently or are you planning something similar for the M2s out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrody Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Will be up for one on my 22" tactical! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon9 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Not to thread jack but do u currently or are you planning something similar for the M2s out there? M2s and Novas Great looking product!!! Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Due to the fact that Benellis are not US made, and the 922r compliance issue, we do not plan on making these for them at this time. If a Series 7 FFL were to inquire and then offer one piece tubes on a 922r compliant conversion, we might consider it. We'll just leave it at that for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TotDoc Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 OK, so you have me convinced. I need one of these when they become available! In other news...is that the Nordic BFB charging handle on your 26"? I wasn't sure if the non tactical VM used that handle, as opposed to the spinning version on the tacticals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 That is correct. The field models use the non-rotating charge handle. I can't tell you why they would bother to make them both ways. Doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe someone on the factory team requested it. I would have adjusted either way, but I suppose I prefer a non rotating handle, so this works just fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 My Versa is pretty much set up now. Would anyone be interested in more detailed photos of the entire gun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 My Versa is pretty much set up now. Would anyone be interested in more detailed photos of the entire gun? Hello: Sure. I am thinking of getting a 26" one to be friends with the Zombie Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isurg Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I'll take one as soon as they are ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickB Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 My 26" field model uses the same type of charging handle as the Tactical. They interchange. Have they changed them recently? That is correct. The field models use the non-rotating charge handle. I can't tell you why they would bother to make them both ways. Doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe someone on the factory team requested it. I would have adjusted either way, but I suppose I prefer a non rotating handle, so this works just fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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