DHart

Cheers623... please tell me about your .40 cal mags that have proved so reliable over the years with your Tactical. What length(s) are your mags? Are the springs and followers stock? Do you change them out regularly or leave some loaded for longer periods of time? Any recommendations?

Great comments, guys. Thank you. The mag reliability associated with .40 (vs. .45) confirms my choice to go with .40. For a carry gun, the last thing I want to have to fuss with is reliability problems. While I prefer the feel of shooting .45, shooting .40 from a relatively heavy pistol isn't bad. Add to that the fact that I already have over a half-dozen new mags (that I bought for my Edge in .40) seals the caliber choice.

I'm thinking about switching to an STI Tactical 4.0 as my carry gun and could use some feedback regarding this gun for that purpose. I already have a variety of .40 and .45 handguns, so I'm comfortable with either caliber. I do prefer the feel of shooting .45, but .40 gives better capacity, which is why I want to carry a double stack in the first place. So I'm a bit torn between the two calibers, due to competing benefits. If the Tactical 4.0 is known to be more reliable, generally, in one or the other of these calibers, I would go with the caliber with the better track record of reliability. I should mention that I have had an Edge in .40 for a number of years, but its been so long since I've fired it that I am out of touch with its performance. I remember well, however, that shooting .40 with the Edge is quite surprisingly very comfortable, given the snap of .40. Certainly the length and weight of the Edge softens the .40 considerably. I have a lot of mags for the Edge in .40. For this reason, getting a Tactical 4.0 in .40 might make a lot of sense, but I would very happily go with .45, if it might be better from a reliability standpoint. What are your thoughts on this? Is the STI Tactical 4.0 generally considered to be defense reliable? (I know well, of course, that every individual gun needs to be fully vetted for reliability.) Would you feel that the gun is more reliable with one caliber over another? Any other thoughts regarding the decision to go with the Tactical 4.0 for carry/defense?

Glad to see Remington has done this! Great for them, the VersaMax line, and for those of us who shoot VersaMax. Does the Remington 3-Gun version come with a full length, one-piece mag tube (like Mark's Versa Tube?) or is it the typical 5-shot metal tube with a metal extension piece screwed onto the end of it? Are the new lifters available as individual parts that one can purchase to modify a different version of the VersaMax?

A key element to me is the last item you mention... if you would trust your life to your 3-gun shotgun.To me, the whole idea of 3-gun is to vet your gear by using it much as you might need to use it if your life depended on it. There are few, if any, guns I would have around if I didn't feel that it could be trusted in a defense situation... especially the shotgun I have selected to run in 3-gun. If the gun can't be trusted with your life, why bother to train and practice with it in defense oriented scenarios? Get one you CAN trust your life to...and run it like your life does depend on it... that is the BEST way to know if you can rely on your chosen defense tools when the chips really are down.

OK, thanks. I have a pending order in your system and I'm just very eager. :-) I'm encouraged to hear that you are working on an end cap solution for the 8-round tube.

I am among those who would really like to be able to cap the CA VersaTube, with NO extensions, and have a neat, simple, flush-with-muzzle fit, for 8 rounds in the tube total. Mark... is it likely that the new tubes you're about to ship out can be properly finished off with a Mossberg end cap? And, any estimate as to when they will ship to customers?

Mostly because I don't like dealing with the clamp when I want to break down the gun and if it might throw off the accuracy of the gun, I tend to lean toward not using it. Don't really like how it looks either, but that's a minor point. It no big deal. If I expect to be using the gun in a manner which might dictate running with the clamp on, I would put it on. For now, though, I just step out onto my property and shoot, then step back into the house, so I see no point in fussing with the clamp on and off and on and off and on. I'm eagerly awaiting the Carbon Arms Versatube... the full-length, one-piece mag tube. I bought the Versatube because I dislike extensions and clamps that much! Extensions and clamps just an inconvenience, in my view, and extensions add potential for reliability problems. If I can avoid extensions and clamps, I will do so. Can't wait for the CA Versatube. CA has had a shipping delay, due to some parts problems of some sort.

Ron... good to hear you are very happy with yours!

Thanks, good to know, shopgun.

Fur... usually it's the receiver that is the legally "sensitive" component of a firearm... the part which requires legal process controls to transfer and/or ship. Typically barrels, magazines, grips, stocks, etc. are free from any control when it comes to shipment, transfer or sale. (Some states, however, have limitations on items such as magazines and barrel lengths.) Receivers, on the other hand, are usually subject to rigid federal controls. When sending a firearm for service, repair, or transfer to another, it must be sent to a person or entity with an FFL. Restrictions as to how a firearm can be shipped also apply.

Thanks. It is on my property. Glad you appreciate them!

thazlett... hey man, if you can definitively confirm what end cap fits the Versatube, that would be great. My inclination would be to go with what Mark said (590/930 end cap fits perfectly) except the comments here stating that the 590/930 end caps did not fit their Versatube. That's where I get confused.

Great thread... thanks to you guys! Haven't had my lifter welded yet. A bit fearful to do so as I don't want to introduce shell jams on the chamber edge. I'm wondering if there is a way to groove a welded lifter so the shell still has some kind of a slot or track to guide it straight into the chamber. Have any of the custom shop guys developed a good solution that doesn't require material removal from the right side of the chamber?

Definitely needing lifter redesign. I would think that will be in our future for sure. Nice to hear that Remington is giving the Versa Max good developmental attention. Can't wait for the walnut furniture and the polished blued steel!

Akkid... home fabrication is an option, I guess, but I really just want to be able to buy a cap and be done with it. I don't see how something so simple as a screw on end cap for the CA magazine tube could become so mired in confusion, as it has become over the course of this discussion. Inner thread or outer thread, 590 cap works, 590 cap doesn't fit, yada, yada. One would think there would be no opportunity for confusion over such a small, basic piece.

I'm so confused about the whole end cap thing now. So much conflicting info circling round and round. I hope this will all come clear soon... it seems so very simple to have become so very confusing?

Excellent. Thank you! It's good that there is no need to purchase a separate end cap, for times when the Carbon Arms mag tube is used by itself without an extension.

Mark... is the end cap on the Nordic +1 extension tube that you supply with the CA magazine tube removable, so that the Nordic +1 extension itself could be set aside, and the end cap from the extension can be attached to the end of your CA magazine tube? Creating a complete CA mag tube with no extensions?

I too very much WANT an end cap to finish off the CA magazine tube, WITHOUT the +1 extension. For much of my use of the CA magazine tube product, I don't want ANY extension on the CA magazine tube... just a CAP! Mark... if you have such a product... PLEASE add it to my pending order with you for a CA magazine tube. I will gladly pay you for it!

My recently acquired VM Tactical, sans mag bracket, in stock form - 9 round capacity (8+1 in chamber). I am awaiting a CA full-length magazine tube. Fantastic shotgun. Amazingly soft shooting, even with 3" magnum high-velocity rifled slugs. Fires very rapidly and reliably with a wide variety of ammo types. I see this design as a real home-run semi-auto design for Remington. I believe we will see a good variety of shotguns based on this design, including several hunting versions, camo, 3-gun, 24" Tactical, police versions, and probably, a walnut furniture version for sporting clays.

I had a chance to grab some shots of the VM Tactical this afternoon out on my property. I do like this awesome shotgun!

Mick...thanks for the input. The dangling mag tube spring would be something of an amusing sight, wouldn't it. (Certainly no fun for the shooter, though.) ;-) I won't plan to shoot in competition with the gun, without the CA full length tube installed. And I'll make sure not to toss the gun into any barrel while the mag clamp off the factory extension, either. I will say again, I'm liking the Versa Max a lot. Wonderful gun. I did a few tests to see how rapidly I could fire the gun, even while held off the shoulder, and it is certainly capable of reliably emptying itself of 9 rounds in a hot hurry. Impressive gun with awesome speed and capacity for defense use. I have a feeling it will prove itself quite worthy of being trusted right along with my 500 Persuader and 870 Police as a reliable home defense shotgun. I would think that the Versa Max is quite likely to replace the 11/87 as a police self-loading shotgun. Remington seems to have quite successfully developed a semi-auto shotgun design which it can rely on in various shotgun segments for many years to come. I can (I hope to) see sporting clays models with walnut furniture coming down the pike at some point. Hunting, 3-gun, home defense, police use,... sporting clays use. Good going, Remington. Home run Versa Max.

Great... thanks for that. I haven't shot where that was done. Question for Carbon Arms magazine users... does the CA mag seem quite stable/sturdy without a bracket?