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Bent barrel?


mitommy

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I'm still working the bugs out of my Versa Max Tactical. My shots have been slightly high & right. The shots pattern about 6" right at 20 yards. I get fairly consistent patterns with various ammo. I sought help from an instructor that I have used in the past. He quickly noticed that the barrel appeared to be bent. His shots were off the same as mine had been.

Today I put a straight edge along both sides of the barrel and sure enough it curves to the right. The "bend" begins right where the clamp is located about 6 1/4" from the end. (I had removed the clamp for checking the barrel). The bend is about .026" at the end of the barrel.

My question here is how much of a issue is this?

Should I call Remington? And / or throw some adjustable sights on to at least get me thru this season?

Ant other thoughts or ideas?

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I'm still working the bugs out of my Versa Max Tactical. My shots have been slightly high & right. The shots pattern about 6" right at 20 yards. I get fairly consistent patterns with various ammo. I sought help from an instructor that I have used in the past. He quickly noticed that the barrel appeared to be bent. His shots were off the same as mine had been.

Today I put a straight edge along both sides of the barrel and sure enough it curves to the right. The "bend" begins right where the clamp is located about 6 1/4" from the end. (I had removed the clamp for checking the barrel). The bend is about .026" at the end of the barrel.

My question here is how much of a issue is this?

Should I call Remington? And / or throw some adjustable sights on to at least get me thru this season?

Ant other thoughts or ideas?

I just went through the exact same issue as you! My history: I purchased my Versa Max Tactical last June. I've shot countless matches with it and always wondered why I didn't land consistent hits even when using a proper grip and head placement. So finally, last week, I finally took the time to pattern the gun both with the stock setup and Carbon Arms new full length mag tube installed. To my surprise, both setups yielded the same high right POI. My gun was consistently shooting about six inches high right from 20 yds. I tried different ammo and different chokes and they all yielded the same pattern as you describe.

I also measured my barrel straightness with a straight edge and found my barrel is bent up and to the right in the same location as yours. Plus my vent rib was ground uneven and the center bead is installed about .015"-.020" to the right of center. The rear of the vent rib doesn't even line up with the receiver flat! After taking a hard look at it, I can't believe this left the factory.

I'll let you know in a week or two if they replaced my barrel or tried to fix it. The customer service rep said she would have sent me a barrel directly to replace it but they didn't have any in stock! So she was "hoping" that the repair shop might have some available but she couldn't tell because their inventory levels were on a different system...

I'd say call them, they were not overly friendly when I discussed my situation but they did offer to take the gun back and make it right without a fuss. Let us know how you make out and I'll report back with the same...Good luck!

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Seriously you can whack it on a telephone pole a few times and that will do it!!!!

Back when i shot Sporting clays i saw that done more then a few times. and had a guy bend my Berretta but he did it at home??

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Seriously you can whack it on a telephone pole a few times and that will do it!!!!

Back when i shot Sporting clays i saw that done more then a few times. and had a guy bend my Berretta but he did it at home??

I had thought about doing this but after I found out the barrel was only bent towards the end - I didn't want to curve it opposite directions in two different areas. Felt it was better to send it back to Remington as it is still under warranty.

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I just got off the phone with Remington. They are sending me return authorization for them to fix my barrel. With their "quick turn around" I should have it back in 3 weeks! i told him i'd miss a lot of shooting in 3 weeks. I asked why not ship me a new barrel. The response was they can't do that for a $450 barrel. I said I have a $1200 shotgun that won't shoot straight.

They did say I could wait until after the season & send it back then. I may just throw some adjustable sights to get me thru the season. After the paperwork come thru I may call them back and ask for a barrel swap again.

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Same issue here. Rem asked I send the whole gun in, would not send a new barrel as they have done in the past for others. They sent shipping labels etc. and it falls under the Versa 7 days and back warranty. Boxed up and sending out today. Tired of POI issues and evil MDs with slug targets :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

UPS returned my SG today. Only 12 days from day I shopped it out. I'm pleased with that turn around time.

A quick check shows the barrel is straight. I hope to get to the range on Sunday to see how it shoots.

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I got my versa max tactical back in February and I’m having the same issue. I haven’t checked the barrel with a ruler yet as others have. I have an Aimpoint T-1 on it and the dot is just about as far to the right as I can get it, it looks to be about 4” or so to the right of the bead at the end of the barrel or at least that’s the perception when you look down the sights. I’m going to give them a call and do the same thing you guys did before I need it for Coyote season. What a load a crap though, I saw when I received the gun they test fired it and left it dirty so I know they looked it over at the factory. Seems like this issue has been plaguing the entire versa max line, sucks even more my 870 from the 90’s shoots dead straight.

Edited by jjman15
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Range report: I did a quick check firing 1/2 a box of ammo and it is now centered at the 20 yards as I testes before. Still a bit high. But I think that is my cheek weld. I'll work on it a bit and may use the adjustment plates.

Then to move on to sighting for slugs.

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Will they still fix the barrel if I have a bunch of typical work done on the shotgun (welded lifter, milled opening, etc)? Mine shoots about 3" left and 3" low for both shot and slugs.

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I've had 4 VM tactical barrels. None of them shot to poa, not even close. I finally had a rear sight cut into the rib on the ONE barrel that shot really low. Since the sight is higher than the rib it has raised my poi to just a little high at 50 yards. I think I'm all set now. I love this shotgun, but the barrel problem is absolutely ridiculous.

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I've had 4 VM tactical barrels. None of them shot to poa, not even close. I finally had a rear sight cut into the rib on the ONE barrel that shot really low. Since the sight is higher than the rib it has raised my poi to just a little high at 50 yards. I think I'm all set now. I love this shotgun, but the barrel problem is absolutely ridiculous.

Jeez, thats reassuring. I just sent mine back today with the high/right patterns, hopefully they will get me to POA because its way off now. I wonder what the issue is on their end?

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Recieved my VM tactical back from remington last night and it looks like the test target they sent me was also patterning high and right! I couldn't believe it! They said they replaced the barrel and mag tube, I guess we'll see when I shoot it later on.

Edited by jjman15
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Could some of this POI be changed by changing the cast of the stock with shims? I thought the VM's were like the Benelli stock just an idea.

Tried doing this first but my barrel was so far off that nothing was going to help it. Thankfully, Remington's customer service was spot on and the new barrel I received is straight enough for a shotgun. My turn around was only 6 days (granted I live in NY only three hours from Ilion where the warranty work was done.)

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Recieved my VM tactical back from remington last night and it looks like the test target they sent me was also patterning high and right! I couldn't believe it! They said they replaced the barrel and mag tube, I guess we'll see when I shoot it later on.

Pattern tested my VM tactical today after receiving it back from Remington in 3 days and it shot POA/POI with a few different choke/load combinations, I really couldn't ask for much better. Slugs were also POA/POI for the most part with the barrel clamp on so no complaints there. I realize now really how in-accurate it was before I sent it back to Remington. I also had a problem with the barrel clamp moving in the past and read somewhere to put grip tape below the clamp on the mag tube and thats stopped it from moving from what I can see. I may eventually switch over to the carbon arms tube but I also use this gun for coyote/fox hunting and have a few concerns with the extra weight/length.

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