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Posted: 3/24/2009 6:00:54 PM EDT
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What is the scoop on Mossberg's budget Maverick 88 Security 12 Gage (link)?
An American made shotgun for two bills is pretty enticing. Will it hold up to simple home defense duty? |
| I own one, it was my first pump gun. I've only ran about 200 shells through it. with some abuse; hasn't quite yet. Ask old painless, who runs The Box O Truth he uses one for all of his shotgun tests, he even went to thunder ranch with it. |
They're great guns. It was my first shotgun, actually.
I'd still have it, but a buddy offered me $300 bucks for it on the spot. I offered to take less, but he wouldn't listen. This was in the mid- nineties, when a used Maverick cost about $60-$75.
Belated Grammar / Spelling Edit. 
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| Your sure it's the security edition and not the field? My walmart in FL said they don't carry it and it's not in their special Sports-South catalog which you can make special orders out of. The guy there said to call the sporting goods Mgr. tomorrow to see if he could special order one. |
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I picked one up for $150 a couple years back and it has been reliable. It's not as smooth as a 500 due to the forearm configuration, but it has held up to all abuse I've given it. Mine is pretty smooth, I oiled the magazine tube, and after 200 shells the internal part of the receiver is well broken in. Right now I'm trying to replace it with a 590A1, if I can find one. |
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I own one, it was my first pump gun. I've only ran about 200 shells through it. with some abuse; hasn't quite yet. Ask old painless, who runs The Box O Truth he uses one for all of his shotgun tests, he even went to thunder ranch with it. Good memory. 
I bought mine as a standard 28 inch, ribbed barrel, and cut it off at about 20 inches. They had also placed a recoil pad on it without shortening the stock, so it had a too-long length of pull. I took the pad off, cut the stock down a little, and reinstalled the pad. Problem fixed. I got it new-in-box from Academy a few years back, on sale, for $139. It does everything I could want it to do. 
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| It is an excellent shotgun, identical to the M500/590 series except for the use of a steel crossbolt safety built into the trigger assembly, rather than the plastic tang safety. Other than that, all parts interchange and most of the parts are made in the same factories. |
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I have an 18½" Maverick Security 88 (5+1). I love it. I paid about $180 for it back in '04, and it came with a buttstock and a pistol grip.
It gets the everlovin' snot shot out of it, and I don't worry too much about dings and scratches. Sometimes I wish I had bought the 20" with the full-length mag tube (7+1). But this one is so handy and balances so well that I quickly remember that I made the right choice. The only mods I've ever made were to install the included sling swivel studs, and put on a buttcuff to hold extra shells. 
Wal•Mart will not sell the "Security" version of the Maverick. They only sell "sporting" shotguns (got this straight from the local manager). They will sell the Maverick field guns. |
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Wal•Mart will not sell the "Security" version of the Maverick. They only sell "sporting" shotguns (got this straight from the local manager). They will sell the Maverick field guns. And that's a big "plus", as pistol gripped shotguns are almost useless as defensive weapons.
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I had a maverick 88 I all but stole last year (friend wanted to get rid of all his guns and get them transferred outta his name). I didn't have any issues with it, worked fine, very lightweight IMHO. I ended up trading it for an awesome 870 setup here on the EE where both parties walked away like this
Seeing what they retail for, it's a pretty good bargain if it meets your needs. The 870s just hold a special place in my heart
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And that's a big "plus", as pistol gripped shotguns are almost useless as defensive weapons.
But, they look fun and are fun to shoot, most of the time when I take it to the plinking range I have the pistol grip installed. My friends hate the recoil of it, even with the houge tamer grip. I take recoil quite easily, sometimes I shoot it one handed held out like a pistol. When I get home I put the shoulder stock back on. TerryC you can swap out magazine tubes and get a new barrel that will fit an extended mag. The magazine tubes on Mossbergs are torqued and locktited but, I got mine to unscrew with the proper amount of arm torque. You could even buy the 590 Magazine tube and barrel and you can almost have a Mossberg 590 on a Maverick 88 receiver. I also wonder if it is possible to machine the receiver to take the Mossberg 500 safety. |
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But, they look fun and are fun to shoot, most of the time when I take it to the plinking range I have the pistol grip installed. I'm all for fun, as you might guess.
But the original poster asked, "Will it hold up to simple home defense duty?" If he wants a home defense shotgun, he needs a stock and also needs to practice using it with a stock.
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I'm all for fun, as you might guess.
But the original poster asked, "Will it hold up to simple home defense duty?" If he wants a home defense shotgun, he needs a stock and also needs to practice using it with a stock.
That's the truth. I put a pistol grip on my 500 because I keep it in the truck and I wanted a lot better manuverability. It's still not worth it, I can shoot it OK with birdshot but defensive loads are VERY difficult to control, or even control the recoil throwing the gun up in the air out of my slide-hand. Split times between shots can be timed with a calender rather than a match timer- VERY slow. Totally not worth it imo, not only is it terribly dangerous it's also very difficult to hit anything smaller than a shed at 25ft. Even for the truck gun I went back to the stock- but I'd like to get a youth stock for it. I haven't seen a folder I like yet, but I haven't seen very many in person either. |
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Wal•Mart will not sell the "Security" version of the Maverick. They only sell "sporting" shotguns (got this straight from the local manager). They will sell the Maverick field guns. And that's a big "plus", as pistol gripped shotguns are almost useless as defensive weapons.
By "sporting" I meant the field guns with the long barrels. Buttstock or PG is irrelevant, W•M will not sell the defensive shotguns with the 18½" or 20" barrels, period. As for the pistolgrip, I love to play around at the range with the shotgun with the PG installed, and sometimes I'll haul it around in the truck that way. I don't really consider this a long range weapon amd I have no problem putting the buckshot where I want them within reasonable combat distances. But at home it wears the buttstock. I may be crazy but I ain't stupid.
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Wal•Mart will not sell the "Security" version of the Maverick. They only sell "sporting" shotguns (got this straight from the local manager). They will sell the Maverick field guns. And that's a big "plus", as pistol gripped shotguns are almost useless as defensive weapons.
By "sporting" I meant the field guns with the long barrels. Buttstock or PG is irrelevant, W•M will not sell the defensive shotguns with the 18½" or 20" barrels, period. My Wal-Mart has a 18.5(like your picture above) and quite a few different 20's |
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My Wal-Mart has a 18.5(like your picture above) and quite a few different 20's Since when did Walmart start selling tactical stuff. No idea but its there. Why would I make it up? How would that benefit me in anyway? I had one in my hands a couple of weeks ago before I bought my 590(590 was not at WM ).
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Don't know about your Wal•Mart, but I was told (by the manager) that this was a nation-wide policy. No 'tactical' shotguns.
Just goes to show that some managers don't know jack shit. If they don't have the right answer, they'll make one up! We won't know the difference, we're shopping at Wal•Mart aren't we? (NOTE: Around here, it's getting to the point where soon it'll be Wal•Mart or nothing. They ran a lot of smaller businesses out even when times were good, and now the little guys are struggling.) |
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Don't know about your Wal•Mart, but I was told (by the manager) that this was a nation-wide policy. No 'tactical' shotguns. Just goes to show that some managers don't know jack shit. If they don't have the right answer, they'll make one up! We won't know the difference, we're shopping at Wal•Mart aren't we? (NOTE: Around here, it's getting to the point where soon it'll be Wal•Mart or nothing. They ran a lot of smaller businesses out even when times were good, and now the little guys are struggling.) That's why I avoid buying stuff at Walmart: one they run everyone out of business, and two no tactical stuff. |
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