Versamax Competition Tactical 3-gun Review

[gator11]

Adding the grease helps fill up the threads and dampen the forces in that area.

Or even some anti-seize. I keep a stick of anti-seize in the range bag, kind of like a chap stick or glue stick. Works great. Will also keep them from corroding.

Thanks for the tips. I'll try it next trip to the range.

[AirForce2]

Adding the grease helps fill up the threads and dampen the forces in that area.

Or even some anti-seize. I keep a stick of anti-seize in the range bag, kind of like a chap stick or glue stick. Works great. Will also keep them from corroding.

Huh!, Tks Mark, never thought of using grease or anti seize on the choke and my lips. Likely Tastes bad but one less thing to carry.

I haven't gotten the new briley x2 pro bore choke in to see if my first one was just rough or not and found they just sent it out 2 days ago so hopefully get it by Sat or Mon & it goes in no problem. Briley said I could send the barrel in if the next one is hard to install and they can see what's up. I hope that doesn't have to happen. The black extended ones that came with the versa comp go in no problem. I'm crossing my fingers.

[AirForce2]

For those that cringe when transporting your shotgun & 3 guns and most mags for pistol & rifle in a vehicle and have to stop along the way. I use the Plano model 108191 All Weather™ Double Scoped Rifle/Shotgun Wheeled (not the same size as the one I saw at Wal Mart, it's bigger and then use the 2 keyed cable locks (master lock-python types) where the cable tip is same size on one end as cable and slides thru the keyed locking device. Lay the gun case across the back seat, thread cable ends thru the baby car seat belt metal rings of the back seat bottom, then under case, thru the gun case lock holes, back into the keyed lock & tighten. Some can use the rear floorboard or truck bed I'm sure. These 2 cable locks just stay in my mid size truck when not in use under the back seat so can easily lock cables around both sides of the case. Prevents a simple smash & grab and makes me feel a little better than just having them ready to carry away. Of course if one is equipped & intent theft proof it's not. These are both avail online, case is pretty hard and thick and under $150 delivered and cable locks appx $30-40 shipped. Any pelican types you can do the same. This may not work in a small economy car but mid size or full size vehicles should work. It's pretty heavy though w/no ammo, so be aware of that.

This case fits my shotgun, rifle (adj stock version), and my pistol along w/2 rifle & 3 pistol mags. It's the best "budget" hard case I've seen without going pelican prices. Just wish it had lock points on the rear hinge area would make it a little more secure.

Edited July 26, 2014 by AirForce2

[mike cyrwus]

I have what appears to be a Rem QC issue with my new 3gun VM. One of the cylinders that houses the pistons on the gas block appears to have machined improperly and will not let the piston move within the cylinder. Naturally in my one and only range trip before discovering this, the gun wouldn't cycle to save it's life. I sent it back to Remington for repair so we'll see. I guess I've been lucky but this was my first time ever having an issue with a gun out of the box.

I have had to hone cylinders, Ill bet it wasnt the piston. I also have specs on that, if anyone needs em

Edited July 25, 2014 by mike cyrwus

[mike cyrwus]

Adding the grease helps fill up the threads and dampen the forces in that area.

Or even some anti-seize. I keep a stick of anti-seize in the range bag, kind of like a chap stick or glue stick. Works great. Will also keep them from corroding.

100% anti-seize! if you shoot more than you clean, this is a must!

[AirForce2]

The replacement x2 extd choke got here from Briley and it fits much better. Whew! was sweating that one hoping it wasn't a barrel issue.

[AirForce2]

_{I shot some low recoil rio slugs today (1200 fps) out to 100 yds and with the Hi Viz taller front fiber & low prof rear adj fiber it shot real well, 3 shot group had 2 shots real close and a 3rd shot that made the group go from a 3 inch group to about 5-6. I also shot at 25 yds with the rio low rec slugs and some federal low recoil slugs and the federal were a lot hotter it felt like even though they say 1200 fps on the box. The Feds also shot lower by 2 inches at 25 yds I think because they were faster. The rio & fed slugs shot about the same point of impact as my herters & estate 1200 fps 7.5 oz bird loads on paper as well at 15-25 yds. I do see where some could say the gun feels kinda slow on cycling but not like I'm good enough to out run it by any means for a while. So far I'm leaving in the smaller inner spring behind the shell catch unless I start to have issues. I wonder if this slows the cycling down?}

_{I'm a little confused on the operation of the versa compared to the mossberg if some could explain this:}

_{Why if you have a loaded tube & chamber, when rack the slide the live round ejects but no round comes out of the tube onto the lifter unless the trigger is pulled? I believe it was designed to function this way for a purpose ie...to swap a birg load to a slug in the chamber? My mossber doesn't work this way is why I asked. I'm on squad 10 I believe at the Noveske Area 2 if you want to look, chat, inquire about my versa comp. Shouldn't be hard to find since it looks like thread pics.}

[Iowashooter]

Well I can't say Remington designed it, but it allows you to either unload the chamber or swap the chambered round for anothr type of shell. If you taje the trigger group out and let the trigger fall you can see how the hammer activates the shell catch release button.

[GunCat]

Well I can't say Remington designed it, but it allows you to either unload the chamber or swap the chambered round for anothr type of shell. If you taje the trigger group out and let the trigger fall you can see how the hammer activates the shell catch release button.

They didn’t, it’s a copy of the Benelli design (and I have no idea if they came up with it or copied it from an earlier design themselves). A shell only comes out of the mag tube when the hammer falls or the shell release is activated manually. It’s just another functioning design, not right or wrong, just different for a planned function or purpose. I for one never liked how the Remington 1100 would pop shell out of the tube but lock the bolt back when hand cycling - but that didn’t stop them from selling a lots of guns and they still worked as designed once you understood its manual of arms

[AirForce2]

Makes sense, I guess it really isn't designed to eject a bird load and insert a slug now that I think about it but more so someone in the field/hunter could just unload the chamber only and keep shells in the tube if they wanted. I guess as I get use to it, it does have an advantage for 3 gun and throwing in a slug in the chamber and then can throw one into the tube for multiple slugs reqd in between bird load targets. It makes me wonder how this will play out if I need to eject a problem round that doesn't chamber quite so or go bang I suppose but I guess I'll already have pulled the trigger to find that out in most cases. Tks

[AirForce2]

I need some thoughts from shotgun barrel experts out there on this item that I noted on page one and add pics here. I noticed early on the 2-3 inch section just in front of the chambered shell in the barrel had a very rough texture and lines that were very rough and noticeably tighter due to the roughness than the rest of the barrel when running a patch thru, then the rest of the barrel forward seems pretty mirror smooth. This was only with maybe none or 10 low recoil slugs and appx 50 rds bird and none no more than 1200 fps in the page one post.

Now, looking thru this same area and brushing out the barrel every few hundred rounds and never more than 20 slugs in that group (low recoil), this portion of the barrel has a ton of lead and after using Montana mike and hoppes #9 and scrubbing with a brass 12 ga brush, steel toothbrush it sure seems to be caked in there. These are pics after spending an hour on it.

I realize leading starts at the back of guns, but is this expected to have such a rough finish in this part of a shotgun barrel. It sure seems to invite massive buildup and seems the "smoothbore" should have been smoothed further back. My concern is accuracy (as of late with flyer slugs), leading pushing into the gas ports & pistons areas which it seems there is some slight leading along with the powder on the pistons. I waited on ph today 30 min to talk with Rem about it and got tired of waiting. I did look at a rem tactical off the shelf and it seems to have similar rough lines in this area. When my pistols got leading the easiest way was to blast 5-10 jacketed rounds thru to clean it but I guess it's just manual labor for this?

Do the professional gunsmiths think this is ok or should it be smoother. If this is not good, how would you or have you fixed it and should it be smoother just front of the shell area? If this is the norm, how can this part be made smoother or how can I get this lead out of there since solvent and brass brush are not cutting it. Even when all the lead is out it would still look like the 4th pic which was when the gun was barely shot & brand new. Do folks with other 12 ga ie..benneli, rem, mossy, have this kind of marks and/or leading. Tks

--------------------

Never mind. Researched on web and seems the only way to fix it is get a shotgun forcing cone hone and grind/polish it up. Not sure if a steel wool & polish/grinding compound would work on a brush. Another $50-100 tool from brush research (sold on brownells) to polish out the rough machine forcing cone reamer marks from the factory cut. On the good side maybe it makes the patterns more uniform, deforms pellets less, and maybe even smoother recoil, and less hours of scrubbing out lead or using special metal screens to scrub out the lead.

Edited August 28, 2014 by AirForce2

[AirForce2]

If any of you read this and have a way to contact Mark P. from carbon arms or match director or equiv. I need to bow out of Noveske Match short notice for a family emergency. Just tell him a slot is open and to check his ph & carbon arms site email. tks

AirForce2

[AirForce2]

Did some research on the forcing cone lead buildup which was getting pretty bad in a 3 inch section just forward of the chamber. This section on my shotgun was quite rough and I'm pretty sure contributed to the high amount of leading and likely some inaccuracy on my slugs as of late and likely extra deformation of pellets even. I ordered a "brush research flex hone" via amazon (800 grit/fine model) and some honing oil. The results are much improved and I likely should have used the medium grit first and then a fine grit to finish. It takes a lot longer for the fine grit 800 sc grit but didn't want to spend for 2 hones. First I had to find some copper brillo material to wrap around the brass/copper cleaning brush and it took quite a while to scrap out the lead residue in the forcing cone & briley X2 LM choke. The amount of lead that came out was shocking to me with only about 50 slugs through the versa. There a still some slight lines in the forcing cone but the finish is much smoother and about 75% of the lines gone. The hone tightened into my drill like a bit would and would have liked the hone to have been longer so I wouldn't have had to go in at an angle since the drill mass was in the way. I will test it over the next few months and let you know how/if this improves the leading and accuracy.

[Kevin G.]

Can you post a link to the hones? I have noticed that rough section in my barrel too and would like to get it out.

[M8Stealth]

http://www.amazon.com/Brush-Research-00054-Flex-Hone-Aluminum/dp/B00DB8AXVO

[AirForce2]

I ordered the amazon one listed in the above post from M8Stealth. Here is the brush research site address: http://www.brushresearch.com/brushes.php?c2=6

Again, if you have multiple shotguns you might do over time or more than one shotgun, I highly suggest getting a 400 grit to start (monitor closer so as not to removed to much, maybe to where you still see a little of the lines/roughness) and swithc to the 800 grit to finish or you might use up most the 800 grit hone on one barrel, depending on how bad the lines are. Also didn't think about it, but I assume some knife sharpening hone oil would likely work found locally.

Before you hone, "MAKE SURE TO REMOVE ALL LEADING 1st". There is no solvent that I'm aware of that can remove caked on lead quickly, so use a screen/brush copper brillo pad that is softer than the steel barrel first. Some copper brillo type pads may only be copper coated and steel underneath, so be aware of that, I suppose doing it once may not be to harmful, but many attempt could scar up the finish. Make sure you oil coat the barrel sections that were honed after so as not to rust & once barrel is seasoned, just light oil.

I also had less but still a lot of lead in the X2, LM, ext choke, so that may need some cleaning of lead and maybe the fine hone may help the leading in the choke and requires closer inpsection and care before honing your choke (I suggest removing the choke to hone it. Pls post if you see any neg/pos results/thoughts on honing the force cone & choke areas. tks

Edited September 7, 2014 by AirForce2

[Mad Doc]

Darn I looked at my versamax barrel in the area you pointed out and took me about an hour to remove all the lead! I used some hopes and a steel brush, got it almost all out manually but there were areas that the lead was caked so I attached the brush to the wireless drill and voila! Squeaky clean! There was also a significant build up in the choke I cleaned it the same way. Thanks for the heads up!

[DaveG]

What choke are most of you using with this gun most of the time? What choke has been working with Slugs the best?

[Iowashooter]

IC and LM and Ic for slugs with the shortest xs rear sight.

[Bryanbach]

Can someone possibly measure their feed latch roll pin? I was polishing my feed latch and lost the pin in the process. I have a match in a week and cannot wait for one to ship.if you could possible give me the diameter and length! It is part number 26 in the Versamax manual.

[GMANROD]

I just picked up my VM Comp about a month ago, new to 3 Gun. The thing g is tearing up my thumb nail when I attempt to load.

I'm looking to have it worked on but I am so new to the sport, I need direction? Is there a "one stop shop" that will do it all? Lifter, loading port, polish, etc?

Also, what kinda price are we talking about to get this thing up and running flawlessly?

[Iowashooter]

I had an issue with mine getting my thumbnail too. What I found the problem to be was that there are two "humps" on each side of the port where the port ends and meets up with the tube. They are on they top of the port when the gun is upside down and as I would push the shells into the tube I would snag the corner of my thumb nail on these and after shooting a two day shotgun match my nail had seperated from my thumb it never hurt after the buzzer but I could definitely feel it when I was done. But if you are looking for a shop to work over the versamax check out triangle shootimg sports you won't be disappointed or so I am told. I have handled a few but never loaded or shot one of their worked over guns but the owners had jothing but good things to say.

I love my comp tactical and while it wasn't perfect out of the box I think it is the best 3 gun shotgun on the market.

[Iowashooter]

Give them a call and they can give you prices on their work you can pick and choose what you want to have done.

[mulrick]

Triangle Shooting Sports are super reasonable on pricing. For under $200 they will have it eating shells.

[Shaky]

Triangle Shooting Sports are super reasonable on pricing. For under $200 they will have it eating shells.

Ditto. Reasonable price and reasonable turnaround time.