The more I use the new Remington V3, the better I like it.
The V3 is Remington's latest contribution to the autoloader universe. It's a 12-gauge that is conceptually similar to Remington's VersaMax, but it is an original design that shares no parts with the VersaMax.
One difference is that it does not chamber or fire 3½-inch shells. It's chambered for 2¾-inch and 3-inch only, so its receiver is a little shorter. It shares its Light Contour barrel with the Model 11-87, so it uses Rem Chokes instead of the VersaMax's ProBore tubes.
Also, the V3's entire recoil system is forward of the trigger. There is no recoil spring in the buttstock to rust, which is one less component to maintain and to potentially fail.
It is one of the lightest kicking 12-gauges I've used, second only to Remington's 105 CTi.
These things combined make the V3 the ideal waterfowl gun.
I did not like the way my V3 patterned with Rem Chokes, but a set of Carlson's chokes improved its performance exponentially.
During a boring part of our hunt Saturday, I boasted about the gun's performance to Alan Thomas. To prove it, I fired a 2¾-inch No. 4 Winchester DryLock at a lily pad about 40 yards away through a modified tube. The pattern formed a near perfect, narrow column and enveloped the lily pad, with no apparent strays or flyers.
That same pattern took down two gadwalls decisively at long ranges.
I've also killed an eastern gobbler and a Rio Grande gobbler with the V3, and killing turkeys is the quickest way to this this gunner's heart.
I still love my Winchester SX3, and I always will, but against the V3, it's struggling for playing time.
Sports on 12/25/2016