Maverick 88 Shotgun

[Guest FroggyOne2]

Whom knows about these.. my Daughter, whom lives in Washington St.. is wanting to get a good but buget limited shotgun..

[Guest Keinengel]

I've owned a couple. Mostly just mild clone of the Mossberg 500. They aren't amazing skeet shooters or anything but i had performance trouble with mine and they all handle 3 Inchers with no trouble. Good budget 12 for home defense in my opinion.

[Guest FroggyOne2]

What kind of performance trouble did you have?

[Guest Keinengel]

Well the first one i bought was my first shotgun and it was sorta bubba'd out. It was a just a mess all over but at no fault to the manufacturer. The 2nd was LNIB and i had trouble with the bolt getting stuck after firing certain loads. typically that would happen after shooting low-recoil or long range express rounds. I kept that gun spotless so i know it wasn't improper care or just a dirty gun. However cheap 100ct birdshot boxes from wally world and 3" magnum buckshot loads would always handle flawlessly. To be honest it really could have just been mine, but i've seen a lot of mixed reviews from other owners. For the 125-150$ price tag on it its a very decent shotty that doesnt require much maintnence.

[Guest FroggyOne2]

So your saying that it will work fine with high wall brass ammo?

[TripleDigitRide]

A female friend of mine purchased one for home protection. She's a pretty big girl, and the LOP was far too long for her. She had to order an adjustable stock in order for her to be comfortable shooting it. Other than that, I'm sure it would be just fine for its intended purpose.

[Guest FroggyOne2]

Thanks

[Guest Keinengel]

A female friend of mine purchased one for home protection. She's a pretty big girl, and the LOP was far too long for her. She had to order an adjustable stock in order for her to be comfortable shooting it. Other than that, I'm sure it would be just fine for its intended purpose.

+1 to that. Its a hefty sucker with the factory stock. And yes basicly just dont use expensive performance shot shells but other than that it'll work fine for home defense.

[Guest Fwdftw]

Had one cut to 18.5.. Everything else stock ate over 500 shells of birdshot and bout 100 00buck with out 1 problem! Helluva shotgun for the price !

[gotigers]

A friend has one for his home defense. He is happy with his.

[Ghooge2008]

I have 2 mavericks. the ones in stores now are good IMO(the older ones have only 1 pump arm... one of mine is older and I havent had any trouble from it either)....I have one with a PG and 18.5 barrel and the other is just regular 24...or 28" ribbed barrel full buttstock. I also have 2 moss 500's I think my old mossy's are not any better but classier with the wood stock. Every Closet in my house has a pump inside hanging over the doors...if the situation arised I wouldnt be partial to either maverick or 500...if it's for HD...then the maverick will do the job.

[roverboy]

I'm sure theres some bad ones out there but all I've heard about them is good. Sure they don't have the frills but seem to be a good solid shotgun. I almost bought one years ago as a turkey gun. Bought a camo Model 500.

[JAB]

I have a Maverick Security 88 as my HD shotgun. Mine is the 20 inch model with the factory extended mag tube (they also offer an 18.5 inch model.) It is a good, solid shotgun and I have confidence that it will work as intended if needed. With the cylinder bore and the relatively short barrel, Remington Express 2 3/4 inch 00 Buckshot (the stuff Walmart sells) gives me a pattern that is roughly 9 to 10 inches across at ~15 yards so it gives a pretty good spread but not overly spread, IMO. This is mine:

Based on my recommendation, because I like mine so well and because he wasn't looking to spend a lot of $$$, my nephew recently got one of the field models (28 inch barrel, I think, with a ribbed barrel) as his first pump shotgun and he really likes it. His has a modified choke screwed into the barrel and 7 1/2 field loads print into an area about the size of a fist, maybe a little bigger, making one solid print (on the paint of an old refrigerator I shot with it) at roughly ten yards.

Edited May 4, 2010 by JAB

[Mad_Squirrell]

As a side note almost all accessories for the Moss. 500 will fit the maverick 88. barrels, stocks, forearms,chokes etc. I had one of the first ones years ago thousands of rounds through not one problem ever. I shot skeet with it for fun and it was my primary field gun for hunting as well. You cant go wrong with it . Great gun for the money .

[Guest Caveman]

I have an 88 that I have done a lot of modifications to and I have had no problems with it. Most of the 500 accessories fit it too. It's a good shotgun for the money IMO.

[Guest smileyguy]

You may also look at the I.O. Hawk 982 or the Pardner pump. Both are Remington 870 clones. The 982 comes with ghost ring sights. They go for about the same as the Maverick, about $200.

I have no experience shooting the Maverick, but when I handled them they kinda felt flimsy and loose in the forearm. I went with the 982 because it felt like a much more solid gun. I have had no problems with mine.

By most accounts though, the Maverick should perform fine for HD.