Mattog22 Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 So hopefully someone familiar with the Versa Max can point me in the right direction here. I recently purchased a 26" synthetic versa max and ground the dimples out and added a +6 nordic tube. So today I took it out for the first time. I bought a federal 100 round bulk pack of target loads that were 3 dram 1 1/8 oz.. I also grabbed two boxes of Winchester Hi speed 1 oz hunting loads and one box of federal topgun 2.75 dram 1 oz loads. I started with the Winchester hi speed 1 oz loads and had problems from the get go. More than 75% of them would not cycle correctly. The bolt would throw the case barely out of the chamber or stove pipe but not come back far enough to pick up the next shell. I could see the next shell sitting on the lifter and it would chamber just fine by hand. The lighter Federal 2.75 dram 1 oz shells would sometimes eject but not pick up the next round or would not eject at all and put the empty hull back in the chamber. Either way, the next shell would feed out of the magazine tube correctly and be waiting on the lifter. The first few of the Federal bulk pack 3 dram 1 1/8 oz loads had a few intermittent problems but by the time I got through about 50 of the various shells it ran them 100%. This is a bit concerning since I sold my 1100 tactical that would cycle the Winchester hi speed 1 oz loads and the Federal bulk pack target loads without a problem to upgrade to a gun that doesn't seem any more reliable. I almost forgot, I did shoot about 10 Expert Hi Velocity Steel shells through it without a problem so it seems like it just doesn't like 1 oz or less loads. I shot about 200 through it and still didn't have any better luck witheither of the 1 oz shells at the end of the shooting session. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will most likely be calling remington in the morning. I am afraid they will say that the dimples being ground off in the mag tube is an alteration even though I know it's not causing any problems since the tube feeding is working fine. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedale Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Call Remington. I was practicing with mine yesterday shooting 1 oz reloads and it worked flawlessly. It should shoot anything you can stuff in it. Mine is a 26" with a Briley extension. Having said that, my hammer broke Friday. Fortunately, my waterfowl gun is also a VM so I stuck the trigger group in. I will also be calling Remington tomorrow. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Yes, I will call them tomorrow. I'm just frustrated since the mag tube wasn't parallel with the barrel either, now the gun doesn't cycle the loads it says it will. Hopefully I will feel better about this situation after I talk to them, but until then I can't help to be aggravated. My 1100 and SX3 I was using are more reliable than the Versa Max at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRider Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 I hope that you get it worked out, Matt. Maybe it just needs a little breaking in and will start shooting softer loads after a few hundred cycles. Hurley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Thanks Hurley, I hope it's that easy. I just haven't really heard of people having to break it in. I'll update on what Remington says tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhill Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Mine did the same until i pulled apart the 2 gas pistons and gave them a good cleaning to remove the factory grease on them. It runs everything flawlessly now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 dhill, thanks for the reply. I did not clean those yet. Hopefully that's the problem. I will clean now and try to get it out this weekend. I added the nordic +6 tube and cut the spring at 16" above the tube, could this cause the problems I'm seeing also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 You guys with the VM, I just bought a VM tactical and so far I am very happy with it. The problem I am having is that the lift gate wants to keep my thumb up in the mag. tube along with the shot shell. I know about C rums and I am in the process this week of going to send it off to Jeff. Can you guys think of anything else to do to this shotgun, I am going to the extreme this year and going to change my loading method to strong hand and use caddies from Carbon Arms? Thanks Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Well, I cleaned up the pistons. I didn't see really much grease, just some carbon. I guess I'll see when I take it out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhill Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Ron..You can get the loading port opened up for easier loading. Matt...i usually cut the springs about 12" past the tube but that shouldnt effect the guns bolt cycling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) Not shooting light loads is certainly not common to the Versamax, however they are not built with the same attention to detail as Benellis. The Italian jobs have the occasional cranky cuss. I suppose it would be logical to assume the same from the Remmy. Polish up the locking lugs on the bolt and any other rough edges you can find, grease up the guides and run some 3 drams for a few hundred shells. See if it breaks in a bit. Just for future reference... Put a box of ammo through the next new gun you buy, before you do any mods. Customer service gets snotty about that sort of thing. Edited January 21, 2013 by co-exprs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedale Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Just spoke with Remington customer service. New hammer is enroute. The nice lady asked if I could install it and , if so, they would send it to me. Any comment of mine about the new laws was met with stony silence. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 so I spoke with Reminton today also. They said try again after I cleaned the pistons up and still no luck. Still seems like any 1 1/8 oz loads are fine but still wont work with the 1 oz. I guess I'll call them again tomorrow to give the update. I even shot 25 high brass game loads and 50 1 1/8 multi purpose loads hoping to break it in but still no luck. Co-exprs, i didnt have time to take it apart again, I went to the range straight from work. thanks for all the input thus far guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 If the action is smooth into and out of lock up, and the bolt cycles smoothly by hand, then it might not be getting enough gas which would be a factory problem. Mine shot 1oz loads right off the bat and even some AA extra light 2.5 drams. After a little clean up of some rough edges it cycles 2.5 drams nearly 100%. If yours won't cycle anything less than 3dr after a good break in, then something is wrong. Hopefully customer service won't give you any grief about the dremel work on the magazine tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Yeah, like you said, they weren't real pleased about the dremel work. They still said they would take care of my problem. I explained to them that this shotgun is being used for a lot for 3-gun (which I'm sure they know) and it's impossible to get one of the tactical ones so what should I have done? Buy a different shotgun because of dimples in the mag tube? So I will tell them tomorrow that it still isn't working right and I guess send it back. I will keep everyone posted if I find out what the problem is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Re-reading the post sounds like I was rude, but I was actually really polite explaining my situation. It just doesn't come off well the way I wrote it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 And I assume you cleaned the pistons and inside the piston chambers? Both of my VMs run 2.5 dram loads. The one I have been abusing I did not even clean and I ran 1250 rounds through it out of the box. Remington was not really aware that these will run loads under 1 1/8 and 3 dram when i first spoke with them, but they are now. It sure sounds like something is amiss. Have you checked the ports (chamber to pistons) to make sure there are no burrs and all the ports got drilled? I saw one VM here locally that had some burrs in the gas ports, but it did still function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Yes, I cleaned up the pistons and piston chambers. The problem is that you can't really get to the ports very easily. I tried a paper clip to try to get to the ports to make sure they're clear (recommended by Remington) but didn't feel like I could get to them very well. I would think that the hi brass loads would hopefully blow out anything in the ports but it didn't seem to change a thing. I am going to try to get to the ports again tonight and see if I can tell more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 I took it apart again and noticed that there was a lot more carbon fouling on the chamber side of the barrel and under the forearm than on the other side. This may also be because there are 4 ports on that side instead of 3 like the other side. It seems like all the ports had fouling so I guess gas is moving through all of them. I am kind of at a loss now. Everything looks like it should be running well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWF Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 good luck mine as run everything, since the start. even after i made a open gun out of it with a short pistol grip stock and a speed loader. there were several times i knew i distroyed it, but in the end in just keeps running. but looks like shxt now but runs great. it is a 24" barrel with porting and a brake also had the forcing cone removed still going strong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
co-exprs Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I've been racking my brain on this one. Try this, find some one, anyone with another Versa. Swap barels and see how it runs. I'm wondering if one of the piston housings isn't quite aligned properly with the gas holes in the chamber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 I was driving myself crazy too. I finally gave up, it shouldn't be this hard. I called Remington and spoke to an extremely nice guy in their repair department and he said just send it in. He said there's a two year warranty so I shouldn't worry. I even said something about the dimples so it wasn't a surprise and he had no problem with it. I will see how the repair goes but so far customer service has been good. Thanks for all the suggestions, if I knew someone I could try their gun I would have, but something needs to be fixed one way or another so I'll just let the factory do it. Just hate not having my new shotgun for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Sorry you have to be a Guinea Pig, but yes Remington has historically had good service. Please try your best to get not just a repair, but an answer as to what happened. Still a relatively new platform, so if it was a cracked piston or something like that, would be good for all the VM drivers to be aware of in case we see it again. Best, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Yes, I will get all the info I can. Hopefully it will help people troubleshoot the VM in the future. I'm just glad they were cooperative about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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