Maverick 88 12 Ga 20 in Security Review
Budget priced shotguns literally fall out of trees it seems like these days. Fifty-fifty with the year that 2022 was, cheap shotguns always seem to be available. Most cheap shotguns though are cheap for a reason. The one that I hear knowledgeable people speak well of is the Mossberg Maverick 88. Being a sucker for a shotgun, and priced right at ii Benji'southward in this fiasco of a market, I picked one upwards.
The Nuts
If you aren't familiar, the Maverick 88 is about a xc% copy of the Mossberg 500. The reason they are able to sell it for the $200.00 toll tag is because certain parts are fabricated overseas. Then all the parts are shipped to the U.Due south. and the gun is assembled in Texas. The part that differs the most from the 500 is the trigger group, and the forearm assembly. The forearm is pinned in identify, which just ways you tin can't change information technology without changing the whole assembly. If someone actually wanted to, a Mossberg 500 assembly volition fit on the Maverick 88. In that location really isn't good cause for changing it unless someone is wanting to mount a flashlight to it.
The trigger group nosotros are stuck with, which is unfortunate, merely nosotros volition have it in stride. The traditional Mossberg condom location on the back of the receiver has been moved to a simple cross bolt safe on the forepart of the trigger guard. Fifty-fifty though that is not an uncommon safe arrangement for shotguns, on the Bohemian 88 information technology is modest, difficult to accomplish, and made of plastic. It could certainly be ameliorate. Everything else on the gun screams Mossberg, and is interchangeable with Mossberg parts.
Out of the Box
Out of the box the Mav 88 is about as no frills equally information technology can get for a shotgun. A cheap feeling plastic stock set, a bead sighted 18.5" barrel, a basic blued finish. In that location is nothing there that doesn't absolutely have to be there for the gun to function.
The stock fits to the receiver okay, merely on my sample, there are protruding precipitous edges betwixt the stock and the trigger group housing. I accept not noticed them in handling the gun, but if your firing hand interfaces with the gun differently than mine, it could be an outcome. In that location was as well a bur that ran the circumference of the mag tube on the lesser of the receiver. Initially this fabricated information technology difficult to load shells into the magazine tube because it would catch on the contumely base of the shell and hang upwardly. Over time, this seems to accept remedied itself equally that bur has been worn away with utilise.
What I noticed most when getting the gun out of the box though wasn't the cheap plastic furniture, it was how clunky the action was. I am not new to the 500/590 manner of shotgun activity, and they are always a niggling clunkier than another shotguns, but the Mav 88 had some meaning catches and hitches when working the action. Information technology had me a fleck concerned, merely every bit the gun was used, it did clean up quite a fleck. A couple hundred rounds in, and nigh an equal number of dry fire reps and information technology is now acceptable, simply not perfect. My sample size is simply 1, only I would non be surprised to detect pocket-size issues like these are fairly common on these guns because manufacturing cost is being kept as low equally possible.
The Bad News
The Maverick 88 is pretty light as far every bit 12-gauge shotguns become. The hollow plastic stock, aluminum receiver ala all the other Mossberg pump guns, and thin-walled barrel brand for a pretty handy shotty. It comes at a price though. The gun bucks pretty expert with total power buckshot and slug loads. It isn't unmanageable, but volition definitely require skilful technique to keep under command.
The Maverick existence the no frills gun that it is, the bead sight is mounted straight to the barrel, and sits rather low. On short guns butt mounted bead sights tend
to crusade the guns to shoot high. My sample of the Maverick is no exception. At x yards the gun patterns an inch or two high. When nosotros get to 15 yards, it throws the design almost iv" high. The pattern is about a foot high at 25 yards.
At 50 yards the Maverick is shooting slugs high enough that even aiming at the base of the silhouette, slugs are hitting over the right shoulder of an FBI Q target. One of the unfortunate things about bead sights is that they cannot be zeroed. If I desire to get the accuracy to shoot slugs at distance, I simply have to remember to Kentucky windage information technology to get a proficient hit.
The Expert News
The proficient news, other than my own mistakes the Maverick 88 did not accept a unmarried malfunction. In total the gun saw 150 rounds of mixed birdshot, 25 rounds of S&B buckshot, 25 rounds of Fiocchi buckshot, 25 rounds of Estate buckshot, a handful or two of Herters buckshot, and a mixed handbag of about 20 slugs. In total, about 250 rounds with no cleaning, no lubrication added at all. The gun never missed a vanquish.
The other adept news is that even though the factory stock pretty much sucks and the factory bead sight is wholly inadequate, there is a healthy aftermarket to dorsum the gun upwards. Since so many parts are interchangeable with Mossberg 500 parts, it is pretty easy to address the shortcomings. A Hogue stock would be a good showtime, and there are a few options for new dewdrop sights ranging from a basic Bradley dewdrop to a XS epoxy on front sight.
Final Thoughts
At the cease of my testing for this review, I call back the best mode to sum up the Maverick 88 is "diamond in the rough". It is a serviceable shotgun the fashion it shows upwards, but will need some polishing to really be at its all-time. For the $200.00 retail price, I retrieve it is an acceptable bargain. Not the best, certainly non the worst, and information technology is piece of cake enough to get information technology a little further downwardly the route.
Source: https://www.usacarry.com/mossberg-maverick-88-shotgun-review/
Post a Comment for "Maverick 88 12 Ga 20 in Security Review"