Next year Remington will be introducing the Versa Max Sportsman. The Sportsman will have an MSRP of around $1000, ~25% lower than standard $1,300 Versa Max.

Shotgun pictured is the original/standard Versa Max

The Sportsman loses some of the premium features of the standard Versa Max. It does not include a grey rubber overmold on the stock, a TriNyte barrel finish or nickel plated internals. Instead of a selection of chokes it will only ship with a modified choke. Instead of Hi-Viz fiber optic sights it ships with a bead sight (front ivory bead and mid steel bead).

The shotgun is priced just low enough to persuade customers to buy the higher priced Versa Max Sportsman instead of the $800 Model 11-87 Sportsman, but lacks enough features that hardcore shotgunners won’t be tempted to go with the cheaper option. Personally, as much as I love the 11-87, I would pay the extra $200 and get the Versa Max Sportsman rather than the Model 11-87 Sportsman.

*[ Many thanks to Aaron for the tip. ]