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Making a versamax easier to load.


quicky06

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I'm new to the shotgun world so forgive me if I'm overlooking something here.

I've got a brand new 26" synthetic versamax that I've put about 75 rnds of birdshot through yesterday. I am currently waiting for carbon arms to start selling their one piece tube. So for the moment it is just 3+1.

All the videos I see people are loading the mag tubes with what seems to be very little effort. Now when I load this shotgun it is difficult to get the round pushed past the shell stop. I'm not sure if the shell stop spring is too stiff or the mag spring is too stiff or if I'm just s little bitch.

I plan on getting a nordic bolt release, charging handle and low drag follower if I can find somewhere that has them all. Then once I put a few cases through it sending it up to crums if I fell the lifter mod and loading port need to be modded but it just feels difficult to load.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Opening loading port is a must. When i install the extended lifters i remove the smaller shell release spring. I use a nordic tube and cut the spring about 12" past the end of tube. Mine loads easy as can be.

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Opening loading port is a must. When i install the extended lifters i remove the smaller shell release spring. I use a nordic tube and cut the spring about 12" past the end of tube. Mine loads easy as can be.

Thanks for the info. I'll Try pulling the small spring out and see how much that improves it.

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The tuning the shell catch is indeed a key part of making a Versamx load smooth. It is a near copy of the SBE2 shell catch, but Remjngton actually made some improvements to the design. The versa shell catch is made of s more flexible stainless than the carbon steel Benelli part. The Versa part also has a designed flex point vs the Benelli, whicb simply flexes the entire unit. So in the case of the Versa shell catch, less is more. I'll post some photos in a bit.

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What does the shell release spring do and why does removing it help with the reloads?

It keeps tension on the shell release. There are two springs, an inner and an outer. Many feel the inner spring adds extra tension that is only needed to keep the gun reliable when shooting the heaviest 3 & 3.5" loads. Removing the inner spring reduces the effort needed to push shells past the release and does not seem to interfere with the reliability of the 2.75" shells used in competition.

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I think all you guys missed the part about it being a 3+1. The stock short mag tube is sooo over sprung it will never be easy to put shells in one. Wait until you get your extension before you change anything. But DO get the lifter welded up.

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Aside from the magazine spring tension, my VM Tactical was ridiculously stiff just getting the shell to overcome the latch. Opening up the two "half-moons" with a file reduced that a lot. A little polishing helped too.

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And since I'm on my phone and can't figure out smileys the last post was a joke. I have no idea what a lightened VM bolt would do. But almost certainly not that.

In before Jesse says because it looks badass. (It does look kind of cool though.)

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What does the shell release spring do and why does removing it help with the reloads?

It keeps tension on the shell release. There are two springs, an inner and an outer. Many feel the inner spring adds extra tension that is only needed to keep the gun reliable when shooting the heaviest 3 & 3.5" loads. Removing the inner spring reduces the effort needed to push shells past the release and does not seem to interfere with the reliability of the 2.75" shells used in competition.

Actually, that is backwards. Removing the inner spring INCREASES the effort needed to push the shells past the latch. It is a simple lever and the springs are aft of the pivot pin. Look at it and it will be clear. I think you will find that if the gun is set up properly, there is no benefit to removing the inner spring.

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I have a carrier getting welded now. I will have to take that spring out.

How hard is it to swap the carriers?

Ted

I assume you meant lifters? It is pretty easy. Some polishing on the contact areas of the C-Rums (if that is who is doing yours) lifters helps quite a bit.

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I have a carrier getting welded now. I will have to take that spring out.

How hard is it to swap the carriers?

Ted

I assume you meant lifters? It is pretty easy. Some polishing on the contact areas of the C-Rums (if that is who is doing yours) lifters helps quite a bit.

Hello: Some call them lifters and some call them carriers like Beretta does :surprise: Same dog less hair. Thanks, Eric
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Well here's what I've found.

I pulled the mag spring and it loads much easier. As someone said its just oversprung.

I'm just going to wait until carbon arms releases they're new tube ( hopefully sooner than later Mark). And see how that goes. I'm hoping to get 11+1 and 8+1 with a factory end cap on the tube.

As someone has said removing the inner spring will increase the force it takes for a shell to get past the shell stop but will decrease the force required to release the bolt.

Now the parts list continues to grow.

Carbon arms tube

Nordic benelli m2 bolt handle

Someone's extended bolt release still looking.

Nordic low drag follower.

Then crums to hack up the receiver weld the lifter and possibly a trigger job

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I'm new to the Versa max tactical but mine seems very hard to reload (coming from a 930spx). Not only is the magazine spring very stiff the shell stop is almost impossible to get the shells past sometimes. I cut 4 coils off the magazine spring and removed the inner spring from the shell stop. That seemed to help with the overly stiff mag spring, some, but the shell stop still is very hard to overcome. I thought I saw a post a while back about modifying the shell stop but I've looked and can't find it.

Does anyone have any pictures of their modified shell stops and what they have done to them? Also how far past the end of tube should the spring be cut at?

Edited by DRichardson
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Removing the inner spring are either spring for that matter makes it harder to get a shell past the shell stop. It does make it easier to push the Bolt release.

I polishe my shell stop and used sone 400 grit to break the edge that contacts the shell. This made it much smoother.

Try this remove the mag spring and load a couple shells. The only thing stoping them from falling in is the shell stop. This will tell you just how hard it is.

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