I liked the Beretta A400 when I went through this process last year, but my stubby fingers could not reach the safety mounted in front of the trigger guard.
Remington did a summer tour last year and a rep showed up at the clays club where I shoot and I was able to shoot a round with it. The recoil was very minimal and I shot it very well. It was also a few hundred less than the Beretta. Shortly after that, I picked one up online for $1050 shipped. Mine cycles everything from 3/4 oz at 1200 fps and up. In the last 10 months I have just over 7k through it without a ftf or fte.
It isn't all roses though and I have had a couple issues. Remington QC missed an issue that shouldn't have made it out of the factory. One of the ferrules for the gas port was cross threaded. After a brief call, they told me it was safe to shoot, but posted one to me which I had in under a week. Aside from that at approx round 4,000, a retaining pin worked its way loose and tied up the gun. It locked it up and I had to send it to Remington. They replaced the bolt assembly, hammer, and a bunch of springs in the trigger group. It was fixed and back to me in under a week. I have about 3000 rounds through it since the problem without any issues and am regaining confidence in the gun. It has a 2 year warranty and Remington has been nothing short of spectacular when it comes to service.
If you do end up with a Versamax, do not believe all that bull that you can go thousands of rounds without cleaning. It is a gas gun and gets crudded up. Mine has gone 1000 without cleaning, but it was disgusting and cleaning was much more difficult than if I did it after a few hundred rounds.
If you have any questions about the VM or are in eastern PA, you are more than welcome to give mine a run.
