# Review of my new Remington VersaMax



## jeffscout (Jun 22, 2004)

Just got my new VersaMax in Mossy Oak Duck Blind and thought I'd add my review as it progresses here.

First impressions are great. It shoulders perfectly within my line of sight. I did not need to adjust cast or LOP, but this may need to be addressed after some shooting time. The gun comes in a nice green Versamax case with four latches. It is a takedown case, the barrel rests in one cutout and the receiver and fore grip rest in another. It came with four extended chokes that have a decimal restriction number listed on the extension and a waterfowl description (timber, decoy, pass shooting) instead of a traditional SK, IC, M, F, XF nomenclature. I'd rather they just use the standard nomenclature, but that may just be me.









This is the case as receieved









This is how the gun is packaged

I stripped it down to inspect the construction and how it operates. It seems to be a fairly simple operating mechanism that uses some of the exhaust gas to propel two pistons rearward against the bolt to cycle the gun. I'm not certain, but it would appear that it may actually be functional in a recoil operated fashion as well if there were a malfunction of the gas system. That design may be part of the reliability that Remington claims for the Versamax.









Stripping the gun down









Bolt removed









Trigger group removed

Remington runs some test rounds through the gun, presumably to function test it prior to shipping it out. They do not, however, clean the gun. I took it upon myself to clean it thoroughly and lightly grease the bolt where it contacts the aluminum reciever, and lightly oil some of the other components. I pulled both gas pistons to clean and inspect them and greased the threads prior to reassembly. I also pulled the choke tube, greased and installed each tube, and reassembled with the flooded timber (skeet) choke. I also inspected for any rough edges or burrs from the manufacturing process and found none.

I did see what I initially thought was rust at the back of the link assembly (part number 55 in manual). However, after a little closer inspection, it appears that Remington uses a brazing process in addition to the rivets to hold this part together. It is formed by laminating several pieces of stamped steel to make the link and is held together with rivets and brazing.









Closeup of brazing on link assembly. This is not rust/corrosion, but part of the manufacturing process.

I reassembled the gun without any issues and cycled the bolt several times. I also dry fired to make sure everything worked properly and it functioned properly. Back into the case it went to rest up for the morning's shoot.

First shooting impression (12/3/11):

I took the Versamax out to the sporting clays range this morning to shoot a 100 round course of clay. I was excited to try a 12 ga on the course as I have always shot either a Remington 1100 Premier Sporting 20 or a Browning Citori Lightning in 20. I have several 12's, but I have chosen sub-gauges for clays and doves both in 20 and 28 ga. In fact, it has been so long since I've shot the 12 ga for dove that I had to go out and buy shotshells for the test run.

I shot 3rd out of our group of three on the first station. Pull...bang...bang...two hits. 9/10 on first station. Second station, 9/10. Third station, 10/10. Fourth station, 8/10. I had another 10 and another 9. Two stations I cratered and wound up 67/100. I was pleased with the outing.

The Versamax shot incredibly well. It recoils significantly less than my Citori 20 gauge. The recoil was very surprising. I shot 100 rounds of Remington Nitro Sporting Clays in 7.5 shot and had zero malfunctions. No misfeeds, no failure to eject or feed from magazine. It was flawless. We had a few extra birds left on our card and some Winchester AA's and Remington Heavy Dove loads were also digested without issue. I picked up a Benelli Vinci from our group and shot it to compare the recoil. The Vinci is noticeably lighter than the Versamax, and the recoil was noticeably heavier as well.

The only slight issue that I found is that the foregrip nut does loosen occasionally, but my Benelli SBE (vintage 1996) does as well. I don't think it's that big of a deal, but I know it has been brought up in this thread as an issue.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the gun. The stock fit me well (and is adjustable if it didn't), the recoil was extremely light (especially for someone that has only been shooting 20's and 28's for the past few years), and it thus far performed flawlessly! As a side note, another in our group was also breaking in a brand new Versamax in black. He also liked the gun and had no malfunctions, but I'll leave his review to him


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## LouietheDrifter (May 18, 2009)

Thanks for the Reveiw. Will it accept Chokes threaded for 870/11-87 ?


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## jeffscout (Jun 22, 2004)

LouietheDrifter said:


> Thanks for the Reveiw. Will it accept Chokes threaded for 870/11-87 ?


No. It uses their ProBore chokes whereas the 870/11-87 uses RemChoke. The threads on the ProBore are on the muzzle end and the RemChokes are on the receiver end.


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## LouietheDrifter (May 18, 2009)

Thanks


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## spurgersalty (Jun 29, 2010)

What's the price "as reviewed" Jeff?


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## jeffscout (Jun 22, 2004)

Retail is $1599. Street price is about 12 bones...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=263909979


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## seabo (Jun 29, 2006)

afreind of mine won one on a 30 dollar ticket at du hunted with it sevral times this year and so far so good.


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## jeffscout (Jun 22, 2004)

Not too many bad $30 shotguns


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## esc (Dec 18, 2009)

Bolt and trigger assembly look identical to the ones on an SBE. I'm glad you like the gun.


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## spurgersalty (Jun 29, 2010)

Did you notice if it discharged hulls forward or backward?


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## jeffscout (Jun 22, 2004)

Mostly backward, say 15-30 degrees. Didn't pay a ton of attention to it, though.


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## Lezz Go (Jun 27, 2006)

Great review. Thanks for posting.


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## Slimshady (Jan 11, 2005)

esc said:


> Bolt and trigger assembly look identical to the ones on an SBE. I'm glad you like the gun.


That and looks like a Extrema. Probably just a coincidence.


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## jeffscout (Jun 22, 2004)

Thanks! And, yes, the bolt and link do have some cousins in the gun world


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## [email protected] (Jun 25, 2005)

I had the pleasure of trying one a week ago and was very impressed. Looks like Remington finally broke into the higher end duck gun market. Very light recoil, about as much as a Win. Sx3 and Browning maxus and Xtrema with kick off which are the lightest recoiling guns out of the many 12 gauges that I've shot. It's gas system is pretty unique but it gets the job done and is pretty clean running. A good cleaning of the gas system at the end of duck season will keep it running flawlessly. The only downside to it that I found is that it's about half a pound heavier than the SBE II, Vinci, Sx3 and Browning Maxus, which may make some smaller framed people shy away from it but for a normal sized adult it is fine. Overall a great gun. Glad they got the kinks worked out from the first production run. Congrats on your new gun and thanks for the review.


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## jeffscout (Jun 22, 2004)

Yes, as noted in the review, it is heavier than the Benelli. I'm a pretty good sized 'fella so it really isn't that noticeable to me. I've been hunting O/U's for the last few years so it is some adjustment to me to get back to an autoloader. I still am impressed that it felt so much lighter on the shoulder than my 20ga Citori. Usually after about 3 boxes of shells shooting clays, I start to notice a little shoulder fatigue. I never did with the VersaMax. I've got some time off at the end of the month and plan to get in some duck and dove hunting with it. Then I've got two bigger hunts planned in January, so she is going to get a workout. 100 more clays tomorrow, too.


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