Versamax feeding problems

[JayDee]

I have a Versamax Sportsman that I've had for about a year. I used it for trap and sporting clays until I modded it for 3 gun last summer. When it was stock, it ran every type of load without a hiccup. I've had it out at three matches since getting the loading port opened up, installing a C-Rums welded lifter, replacing stock hammer with a Benelli hammer and installing a Carbon Arms 10-round versa tube.

Now that it has been modified, it's not running as reliably. At first, occasionally shells would not travel all the way onto the lifter. After removing & cleaning the action and lubing the bolt and lifter pins, this problem seems to have been solved.

What is happening now is that the shell is hanging up on the sharp edge of the chamber, just inside the ejection port. It does this with more than one type of ammo/load, so I don't think it is related to brand of ammo or light vs. heavy load.

Here are a couple pictures that hopefully show what is going on. First, a shell caught on the edge of the chamber:

Next, here is what this sharp edge is doing to my dummy rounds (white shell) and one of the shells that jammed on a stage last weekend (blue shell):

I would appreciate any insight into making this thing run smoothly. Do you think the lifter is causing shells to load differently than before? Has anyone else smoothed the sharp edge of their chamber? If so,what did you do?

Thanks for the help!

[adamge]

I had this problem. Solved it by filing away at the chamber entrance ledges. However I also created a new problem where the brass is now unsupported and the ejector loses its grip on the rim. See my old posts, and be careful. I think doing the actual chamber was a mistake. It was the other ledges outside of the chamber that were the ticket to smooth feeding.

[amccallister]

Smoothing the edge off of the extractor cutout is a good idea, and should help. Just don't take off much material, I'd recommend sandpaper on your finger, no files or other tools. You just want to dull the edge a little bit.

[JayDee]

Thanks for the replies! I'll start with some light relieving and polishing of sharp this edge and see what happens next time I'm out. Just in case, I may order a stock lifter and see how that does.

I read in a shotgun forum that someone else experienced something similar after installing a welded lifter/carrier. That post indicated that since the leading edge of the lifter is no longer notched, the shell is less centered while the action cycles.

I like not having my thumb getting caught when loading on the clock, but I hate to sacrifice reliability. Can you tune a welded lifter at all?

[dhill]

Put a radius on the extractor cut and you should be fine. Just make sure you dont file away too much. All you want to do is brwak the sharp edge.

[JayDee]

Ok, I just smoothed the edge of the extractor cut so it is radiused instead of having a sharp edge. Will hopefully get some range time this coming weekend. Hopefully this does the trick.

On a possibly unrelated note, has anyone tried the Taran Tactical carriers for Benelli/Versamax?

[Dan Sierpina]

It's short on the Versa Max. A friend of mine tried it on his Versa Max and was not happy with it.

[StealthyBlagga]

You are on the right track with breaking the sharp edge. Also, try a few different brands of shell... some have a more consistent crimp than others. I have had good luck with Winchester AA and Remington Premier or Gun Club.

[JayDee]

Thanks for the info everyone! Will hopefully get out this weekend and runs few boxes through it. Before the C-Rums lifter it ate everything. Now, it has jammed on the extractor cut with Win AA, Federal target, Fiocchi Golden Pheasant, Remington gun club, Rio and every type of 2 3/4 shell I've run through it.

I was also told by a local GM to smooth all the edges on the rearmost part of the chamber from 12 o'clock to 5 o'clock. I plan to go slowly, one step at a time rather than change too much, too quick.

[Xscream]

This may be a stupid question, but were the tabs on the lifter where the pin goes through the firing group square? I've seen two or three lifters come back from the welder with a slight bend, causing the lifter to not be centered in the port. It is not significant, but just enough to alter where the shell is placed when the bolt slides forward.

[JayDee]

After rounding the sharp edge of the extractor cut, I went to the range and still had several failures to feed. Sometimes hanging up on the extractor cut (but not nearly as bad), and sometimes hanging up on one of the squared edges outside the chamber (about 10-11 o'clock, looking into the chamber). I then polished these sharp edges a little bit more, with no noticeable improvement.

Thanks Scream for the tip about the tabs of the welded lifter.... I will check that out. I also have a factory lifter and a Taran Tactical lifter to test out. So far, just using dummy rounds, the Taran Tactical has worked smoothly, and it has not torn up the leading edges of the dummy rounds.

Hopefully it is warm enough to hit the range this weekend.

Thanks for the suggestions!