Is this shotgun as underrated as it seems? I bought one from here a few years ago and this thing has been absolutely stellar.

I have killed crane, ducks, turkey, dove, and quail with it.

This thing has been completely reliable with 2 3/4" 8s, all the way to 3.5" BB and of course turkey and duck loads. Even after completely dunking it in water in the duck blind, it runs like a champ.

I believe you are correct. it is underrated by some. I sold a bunch of them when I was in business for guys looking for versatile gas guns. I still have two. one set up with a scope for turkey loads and the other for everything else.

They are great guns in all regard.

They're heavy. That is ok in a duck blind but I wouldn't want to lug it around behind a brace of bird dogs all day. No disrespect and not throwing shade on the Versamax. By all accounts, they do seem reliable and function well.

It is not light that is true it would not be my first choice for chasing around my dog looking for quail no doubt, but I have a Franchi al-48 for that

This forum is full of people wanting “light weight” guns. Why is that? The versmamax is far from heavy. Do we need to include a gym membership when people sign up?

If I want to cut weight I’ll wear light boots, light knife, whatever but it’s proven more weight in pretty much any gun is easier to shoot. Muscle up boys. The weight in a shotgun is your friend.

Depending upon what you are doing, sitting in a duck blind, dove blind, preserve bird hunting, or kicking a rabbit out of a few brush piles on your 40 acres doesn't require a light shotgun. However, walking miles over rough, steep, and/or brushy cover does make a lightweight gun appreciated. Not many guys will deliberately choose a 7.75-pound 12 gauge to go chucker hunting with. Or to push through ruffed grouse cover. Lighter weight more dynamic handling guns are the choice of a vast majority of people for a reason. They aren't all wrong.

Never owned one but shot one, put different shells through and I like the low recoil.

I love it. It will run everything from light 2 3/4" dove shells to 3.5" turkey blasters flawlessly. My son will be using it to kill his first ducks, over the Franchi 48 20 gauge I bought him.

people are into lightweight guns, so they can carry more techno transformer accessories and ammo.
gone are the day where men went to the wilderness by the skin of their teeth.
now they drive there with lightweight stuff, minus the kitchen sink.
oh, wait a minute....they have plastic ones now.

Yes, the Mountain Men of the past often only carried what they needed into the wilderness on a pack mule....

I know and have known more than a few dedicated Ruffed Grouse and Wild Bird Pheasant hunters....They all gravitated to a LW shotgun that pointed well. One carries a 12 that just goes 6.5 pounds and a couple 16's that are 6 and under. He hunts almost the entirety of the SD season and kills more Wild Pheasants in a year than most here see in the same time.

A friend went to SD a few years back with me....He brought his "trusty' 1100 12 gauge. Every day ended the same, "I'm not carrying this beetch around next year. Next time It was a Beretta A400 20 Gauge.

Addition: I seem to think we may have went thru this previously. But if not....Other than clays, what Upland Birds do you hunt on a regular basis where you may be carrying a shotgun for a long day?

Lightweight guns are far from anything new.

Agree…. The Brits, Germans and Italians were making them a hundred years ago. Here they used double Ray-bar for barrels. If they wanted a LW they just made them shorter.

And the average lifespan of men back then is about half of what it is today. And beyond that, how about brushing those teeth a time or two per day? The skin of the teeth is gross.

My best friend of 30 years is a dedicated waterfowl hunter and has three of the Versamax shotguns. He loves them. Had to send one back to Remington for service because it was effectively a single shot when we hunted Saginaw Bay. Wondering what the tech's said when they tore it apart. This isn't a reflection on Remington quality but on Steve's ability to tear stuff up. Guy could break a steel ball in a rubber room. Needless to say I don't let him use any of my guns.

I don't golf but if I did I would have more than one club in my bag. Shotguns seem to be the same in my novice opinion. Maybe I just like buying shotguns?

My coyote hunting partner and I both have VersaMax Tactical 12 gauge shotguns. We both carry LVSF 223 or 22-250's with the VersaMax Tacticals. So weight is not a problem!!

I have carried my Versamax with 3" copper plated BB for coyote/fox/bobcat a few times, but no takers as of yet.

Be willing to bet the farm if you showed a mountain man a Franchi 48, Ithaca featherweight, etc etc he would have jumped at the chance to own it.

Same with the plastic kitchen sink.

For me, it feels like I'm swinging a treated 6x6. No thanks.

The older I get the more I appreciate a little less gun weight it seems they still let you mount and move the gun at the end of the day as fast as when you start. Maybe that's just me but last fall an older 16 ga 870 plain barrel sure was fine on what little I shot. I am 4 days past getting a new right knee. I don't believe for a second that new knee will handicap me or a half to 1 lb of gun weight either. Gun fit trumps everything..mb

I don't mind the weight. I've been snow goose hunting and with ext mag tube, loaded with 10 shells, which makes any gun heavy.

It's the ergonomics. Feels like a piece of lumber.

TR I've shot more than a few spring snow 6-8 is a bout all I've ever got off for quality shots and that takes a close following 2nd flock that is slow to spook. you use all 10?..mb

"For game in general, comprising chiefly pheasants, partridges, and grouse, and assuming the shooter to be possessed of average abilities and physical strength, the following will be found the most effective weapon when shooting over dogs and the sport obtained is chiefly in the open: A 12 bore central fire, with 28" inch. English Damascus barrels, of which the right should be modified choked and the left full choked; patent snap fore end, double bottom bolt, extension rib, top lever, snap action and weighing from 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 lbs"

"For battue shooting, when a big bag is the order of the day, and actual sport a minor consideration, a piece which can be loaded and fired very rapidly is indispensable. On the whole, therefore, a repeating shotgun is preferable when battue shooting or driving".

Basil Tozer

Seems like somebody knew how to make light shotguns a long time ago, maybe we just forgot about this tribal knowledge. Author tends to promote the Spencer repeater gun for battue shooting. If you Google it, looks like a pump shotgun to me.

When you get under a big spin you even have time to get another 5-6 in the tube before the shooting stops.

I think the best we've done was 6 guns rained out 54 geese. That was a massive spin. Geese were landing 10 feet from the dog blinds before the first round of shooting began.

Going again this week. Hoping to get under a good spin or two.