Versa Max Tactical Camo - Best Shotgun ever for predator hunting!

My 835 likes the primos dead dear with the 3" shells, but they stopped making it. Used the primos jelly head a couple times with 2-3/4 shells, never tried it with the 3".
 
Originally Posted By: AWHThought everyone would like to know how the Versa Max Tactical does for predator hunting. Also bought a 28" barrel for it as well in addition to the 22" barrel that came with it.

Used rustoleum camo with many coats of krylon clear flat on top. Only have 2 chips in the spray paint the size of rice after smacking the barrel into a rock. It didn't leave a mark in the black coating from Remington. Left the rib and the receiver black since I hate having camo in my field of view while wing shooting. I find it a little distracting.

Holes #7 and #8 look weird since I messed up drawing the arrow for point of aim the first time. Apparently the spray paint tool on paint covers a lot of area and didn't have a backup copy of the picture before accidently bumping save somehow. The Kick's Buck Kicker X-Full does not produce the most circular patterns with Remington #4 buck 3" but did put the most hits on the paper. Think it may have flattened some of the pellets a little. Going to try some nickel plated or hard cast pellets in the future once I get a reloader to do 3" shells. I also patterned it at 60 yards and got 6 hits into the vital area on a yote with Remington #4. Tried some Winchester 2-3/4 #4 buck but this was only good to 50 yards with 4-5 hits in a 6-7" circle. Hornady magnum coyote OO buck did well at 40 yards with a Carlson IC (close range) and Mod (mid range) that I got in their waterfowl pack. About 8-9 pellets would hit a yote with about 2-3 in the lungs. Think I will carry some of the Hornady stuff if bird hunting.

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What is that camo taped gizmo that I see clamped to the barrel? Would the gun shoot better without it?
 
The Versa Max Sportsmans does NOT have the following:

Adjustable Drop, Cast
Overmolded Grips
Hard Case
Length of Pull Kit
HiViz front sight with green, white, or red (have ivory bead instead)

Comes with 1 modified Pro Bore™ Choke Tube vs 5 in the standard Versa Max (the tactical models come with a tactical choke and a IC choke)

If the Sportsmans model fits you it is a nice way to save some money.

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That is a Nordic components mag tube extension that comes with the tactical models. I wrapped it with Mcnett vet wrap to dampen vibration in the tube from transfering into the mag spring. I notice a slight ringing sound when I nocked on the extension with my knuckles. It also prevents that metal to brush sound you can get when moving a gun through some brush to get a shot on a yote that is coming in from an angle you don't expect. I did have to make a plug for migratory bird since the gun didn't come with one. The extension adds some weight further out and can help improve your swing as well. Kind of like what you get with the extra long barreled over-unders.

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Another thing I forgot to mention about the versa max is it will cycle without the gun against your shoulder. Tried this out the second time I took it out shooting. I have only had one hunting situation a few years ago were I had this happen but I know if it happens again everything will work. Not all autoloaders will cycle if the gun moves too much during recoil. I saw this demonstrated to me years ago when comparing gas vs inertia driven autoloaders.
 
Update on my Versa Max. It works great even with 1 oz dove loads! Took me almost two boxes to get my limit yesterday and everything cycled great. Those little buggers take some getting use to when they are chuckin and diving at 45-55 mph. Last years really bad dove season in northern az got me out of practice. Maybe now that I brushed off the cobwebs I will do better.
 
Only things open here are squirrel and crow.The VM's lighter recoil can only help on them doves.Can you tell me what the constriction is on the Primos dead deer?
 
I think it is 0.710 but I would email primos and see if they have records handy. I am out of town working today so cannot look at it. The primos jelly head is a 0.690 and I think the primos dead dog was a 0.700 but had one less row of porting and seemed to work the same as the dead deer in 835s. Some alternatives would be the kicks buck kicker x-full (0.720) or a kicks howler (2 options lead or heavy shot ?? on the constrictions but tighter, they will email you back on this quickly if you ask). The patternmaster code black turkey (0.715) might be a nice option since it fits between the buck kicker and the howler.
 
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