Remington's Versa Max Tactical Part 1

Generally, work is… methodical and proceduralized. The writing assignment is made, the subject firearm is issued with support material, research is conducted, bench familiarization takes place, the product is photographed, configured for testing, and then live fired consistent with the intent of the firearm. The notes and data are pulled together and a story is written. Writing about firearms, even excellent firearms, is not always synonymous with fun, probably because it is a job. There are those times, however, when a firearm is appreciated from an enthusiast’s perspective, and this is one of those time.

On pistol grips and folding stock…

I’m not sure where the notion originated that tactical shotguns must have collapsible stocks and/or pistol grips. Most tactical shotguns are equipped with conventional stocks that can be modestly reconfigured to best suit the shooter and mission. Yes, there are shotguns with collapsible stocks and pistol grips, or no buttstocks and pistol grips, but they are intended for close quarter combat and breaching in the hands of highly trained and often tested military and law enforcement personnel.

In the hands of amateurs, special purpose accessories represent a case of boys playing with men’s toys as proper skills cannot be developed during a wine sipping weekend at the Zombie Kill Training Facility and Dude Ranch. For most of us, the first priority of self defense, home defense, is to keep equipment simple.

The Remington Versa Max Tactical Shotgun is supplied with an excellent recoil pad, three recoil pad spacers of differing thicknesses and four sets of screws of differing length to accommodate  various combinations of spacers and range of adjustment. 14¼“, 14¾“, 15” or 15¼“.

An all star cast…

The Remington Versa Max has an action spring tube that projects from the rear of the receive. A stock bolt passes through a steel insert that is recessed into the rear of the stock, a cast plate, and into the action spring tube’s threaded end to secure the stock to the receiver. Remington includes two cast plates with the Versa Max Tactical, as seen above, a three hole and a five hole. By inserting the stock bolt through different holes in the cast plate, the stock is offset, drop or cast, to the associated degree. The front of the buttstock is ball mounted to the receiver so regardless the drop or cast position selected, the stock is fully engaged at the receiver. The range of adjustment is significant. Drop at the heel can be set at 2″, 2 1/4″ and 2 1/2″. Drop at the heel can range between  1 7/16″ to 1 9/16″ in 1/16″ increments. Cast can be set right or left 1/4″.

Some folks like a straight cut stock, other like a little head propping Monte Carlo class. No problem. You just pop one soft insert out and pop the other in and you can move between one to the other. It is a little more effort than that, which is why they stay put, but nothing three hands and a step over toe hold can’t get done. Nice feature.

The ProBore system…

The Remington screw in ProBore system is straight forward and easy to use. There are fifteen ProBore chokes available for Versa Max products, Improved Cylinder and Extended Tactical are included with the Versa Max Tactical. ProBore chokes do not interchange with RemChokes used in non Versa Max shotguns.

I see, I see….

The Versa Max Tactical offers a few options when it comes to sighting systems. The barrel is topped with a ventilated rib. It has a single silver bead at its midpoint and a HiViz light pipe sight at the end, or Lite Pipe in HiViz vernacular. The Versa Max Tactical is supplied with three inserts – green, white and red and a release key that is used to change the inserts.

Top left – the little phosphor bronze retainer is pressed against the bottom of the insert which prevents the sight from moving rearward. To remove an insert, the HiViz key is slipped under the insert, which depresses the retainer spring and allows the insert to be pulled out. The replacement insert is pressed into place where it is secured by the retainer.

Wait, there is more…. Rail..ie

The Versa Max Tactical’s receiver is drilled and tapped for scope or rail and both a receiver and barrel clamp side Picatinny rails are included. The approach is flexible in that it allows mounting many types of sighting devices and accessories. In this case we mounted an Aimpoint H34S Hunter, utilizing low profile Millet steel tactical mounts.

Pictured above are some of the other Versa Max Tactical shotgun’s features: oversize trigger guard to accommodate gloved fingers and oversize bolt handle and bolt release for the same purpose.

Burp…

The heart of the Versa Max the design of the gas metering systems that automatically adjusts to cycling pressure based upon shell length – Versaport™. The system is reported to reduce recoil to the level of a 20 gauge and to be self-cleaning. More in Part 2 with live fire results and a little more insight into the Versa Max’s internal workings.