Maverick 88 Shotgun

[Dennisfly]

I want to buy a Maverick 88 protector shotgun for home protection. It has a good reputation for reliability and sells new for about $200. Everyplace that I've looked is out of stock, including online sources. I guess it's a sign of the times! Anybody know where I can get one?

 

[Beltzington]

The Maverick 88 is a fine pump shotgun and if I only could choose one gun it would be a pump 12GA. If you are looking for home protection let me offer some unsolicited advice. Unless finances are extremely tight I would recommend spending another couple hundred dollars on a more versatile shotgun with interchangeable chokes. As far as investments go you can稚 go wrong with a good quality firearm that receives reasonable care, I have bought and sold several over my lifetime and have never lost more than 10% and often made 20 30% on the sale. You can buy a bare bones Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 with interchangeable chokes for $380 at WallyWorld or Academy that will last you a lifetime or if need be you can sell immediately for a few dollars less then you paid for it. Buying legally online is going to add another 20 40 dollars for the FFL fee. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[WantedWolf]

I always thought the maverick was a ??"tacted out"?? moss. 500 model?

 

[actionaj]

I would go with Remington 870 a time proven reliable shotgun. Plus you can do all kinds of mods to it for any application. And the gun and optional parts are reasonably priced to.

 

[rtimgray]

I think good advice so far, because again your situation could be application-dependent. If all you want is a home defense gun, I like the maverick (I bought one for similar reasons). I don't shoot it alot, mostly just at clay pigeons and I have taken it turkey hunting with good results. However, I'm not an that much of a hunter, so my need for vesatility is limited, and I find that for the amount that I shoot the gun, $200 is a good deal. I have no doubt that you will get a more versatile gun for another $200, but you just doubled the price.

I would say if you plan on only the occassional shooting and home defense, a $200 maverick is hard to beat. If you need an all around gun for other hunting purposes with interchangeable barrels and chokes, maybe a different weapon would serve better. I know at one time you could get different barrels for the maverick, but I don't know if any of them offere interchangeable chokes.

Good luck and take care.

 

[Podunkadunk]

I agree, the Maverick is a great 200 dollar choice, if you can find one.

Podunk

 

[Dennisfly]

Thanks guys. Sound advice from all. I'm sure that quality firearms are a good investment, but I'm just looking for the least expensive tool to do the job. I'm not much of a hunter. This would be almost exclusively for home defense.

I'm told that all the parts and accessories, except the trigger/safety, are interchangeable with the Mossberg 500 series and that Maverick is just the bottom of the line from Mossberg.

It seems (according to several gun dealers) that there is great demand now because people are concerned with gun control policies in the future.

I'll keep looking and also consider other brands if I find an exceptionl buy.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

The first gun I ever bought was a 9mm pistol for home defense and all around use. I don't hunt so I wasn't really looking for anything other than plinking and home defense.

The second gun I bought was an 88 Mossberg. I put a short barrel, an extra 6 round holster on the receiver, and an extra 5 round holder on the butt-stock. The magazine under the barrel will hold 5 I think.......so I have 16 rounds of 00 buck. Over-kill???? Not if I have to barricade myself in a room and hold them at bay until the good guys get there.

I'm really pleased with this shotgun. It's worn from use - I bought it used-but that just seems to make everything work better and smoother.

About a year later, I got a black 870 for Christmas. I did basically the same thing to it as far as setting it up. I think it will only hold 4 rounds in the factory mag, however, it is expandable unlike the 88. I would go as far as to say that the 870 is the nicer of the two but for some reason I really like my 88 and it spends the majority of the time next to the bed ready to defend the homeland. I don't like the front pump handle on the 870. You can replace them, and I think I did. I'm gonna guess my preference to the 88 is because the 870 was new, it didn't work as smoothly.

Either one is fine. The extra stuff is about the same price new and is easy to get. You can dress either one of them up. I would go with what will do the job for the least amount of money. Also, It seems like the release for the pump on the 88 is in a better location. I don't remember where but when it's in my hand, it's second nature. I always spend a lot of time with my home defense guns, so that it's just second nature.

Good luck!

edit: i see them at flea markets, locally and you might try gunbroker.com (will have to ship to an FFL but it isn't a big deal like i thought it would be)

 

[RollTideRam]

I looked at a Maverick last week. They had 6 of them. If I had not ordered an 18.5 barrel for my 870, I would have bought the Maverick.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

there's a nice one on gunbroker.com if you do a search for maverick....up to $100.......looks like a clean gun

the safety on the 88 is like most guns, down around the trigger.......i think the 500 is up on the top of the receiver where you can get it with your thumb.....

i see the stock maverick has that crazy handle on the slide too, i was thinking mine was stock but it's not.....mine must be an after market.....smaller and feels more "sure" to me