The Mossberg Maverick 88 is a value-priced pump action shotgun. Most models are in 12 gauge, but there’s also a youth model in 20 gauge. The Maverick 88 shares much of the operating mechanism of the Mossberg 500 series, but at a lower cost, with a fixed pump. The 12 gauge version will work with both 2 3/4″ and 3″ shells. They’re around $300 in Canada, and about $240 in the US.
The most popular models out in my neck of the woods are the 28″ barrel version with interchangeable chokes, the 18.5″ “security” version with cylinder bore, and combo packs that come with both. In my opinion, you have to get the interchangeable choke version if you want to take it hunting. They sell a camo version for very inexpensively if you want a bit of camo on it.
Capacity on most models is 5 in the tube plus 1 in the chamber, with removable plugs for waterfowl hunting that’ll take the tube capacity down to 2. There are 2 security models that have 7 shell capacity in the tube. There are no magazine tube extensions for shotguns like this, since the barrel screws into the end of the magazine tube. If you want more capacity, you have to buy a new barrel and matching magazine tube. It’d probably be cheaper to just buy a whole new shotgun at that point.
As the Maverick is value-priced, it’s built as such. The rear sling stud is plastic molded into the stock, and you need to buy one if you want one on the front. My 28″ barrel version came with 1 Accu-II choke in Mod. Extra chokes are pretty reasonable at around $35/ea.
Mossberg Maverick 88 for 3 Gun?
Because of the cheap price, some people might want to use the Maverick 88 for 3 gun. It’s not a very good option for several reasons:
- You want high capacity in 3 gun, and the Maverick’s can’t be easily extended.
- Versions that use an interchangeable choke are not high capacity
- The loading port is not a smooth transition for dual or quad loading
That all said, if that’s all you have, run it. Just don’t hack it up and modify it for 3 gun, because you’ll run into concrete limitations very quickly.
Mossberg Maverick 88 Issues
I ran into no issues with mine. Most issues that people report are a result of somewhat rough internal finishing. Shells catches being. . .too catchy, actions being rough and janky, etc. Again, I can’t speak to too much because mine was absolutely fine.
Conclusion
I think the Maverick 88 gets the right mix of cheap parts where they can get away with it (like the white front bead, or wood dowel with o-rings on it for the magazine plug), while still putting enough money/time into the things that matter, like the 2 action bar setup, and reasonable finishing.
As an inexpensive hunting shotgun, it hits the right notes. I’d go with a Maverick 88 over one of the cheaper Turkish imports any day of the week.
