Maverick 88 longevity/durability?

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garry owen

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Hello! Long time lurker to the forum and new owner of a "like new" Maverick 88 12 gauge 8-shot. I am wanting to know how long users have had one, your approximate round count, and if you have had any problems with the gun. In mine I have so far shot about 100 rounds, mostly birdshot, and the only problems were with hard ejection with the cheap Winchester bulk pack shells and as I understand that's pretty normal. Anyway I like the gun and would just like to know how tough it is. Thanks in advance for your replies.
 
How many hours/days/weeks/months/years did it take you to go through that 100 rounds? Answer that question, and we can give you a better estimate of how long your shotgun will last you...
 
Obviously the reason for the question was to determine how much you shoot ... the higher the round count and the faster it adds up for you, the sooner something is likely to break. I don't know a lifespan estimate for the Mavericks yet, but they should turn out to be roughly equivalent to the Mossberg 500s they so closely resemble. You should get more than enough time with that particular gun to either get curious about some other make/model, add a duplicate or three of the original, or develop other more pressing interests than shotgunning before anything serious breaks on the 88 you have now.

Of course there are never any guarantees with any man made mass produced product, but the Maverick is a steel on steel lockup system, all the receiver does is keep the operating parts in the correct relationship, and the only design shortcoming IMHO (and in the contract RFP the US military offered way back when) was the non-pull through magazine tube design. There are plenty of Mavericks out there not only a lot more heavily used than yours, but even abused, and they are still going strong.

Just learn to be really careful about plugged bores - ANY shotgun will let go under the right wrong conditions.
 
nice thing about maverick arms on june 30th 2014 texas invested $300k dollars to help maverick arms to expand in which they are doing now and are gonna add 50 more jobs here in the usa! so I applaud that and my wife wants the youth model in 20ga as she is very small and only fits youth size arms. but I own a maverick arms myself and it does everything I need and has killed several turkeys with the extra full choke installed! so no complaints here! :)
 
I had that exact one, put a couple hundred rounds through it before I needed rent money more than something that long for the apartment.
Was as good as when I bought it, when I let it go.
My one complaint is that it was just a hair long for the HD, with the weight forward. They could cut it down to 18.25", and with the extra give in that spring (the 7+1 must have been measured with 3" shells) might have cut it down one round.
Anway, my verdict: You're not going to wear it out, in any manner you'd use the 8-rounder.
 
Would you rather shoot something Chinese or Turkish? It's made in the Republic of Texas! That should be enough to make the decision! :D

Seriously, save your money, don't buy it. Save up for a real shotgun, a $60,000 Holland and Holland. Besides, you'll enjoy your trip to London for the fitting. Or, you can buy an 870 Wingmaster, the best shotgun ever made and will last a trap shooter into the 25th century..... </sarcasm>

They shoot well. They're not much money. They'll last you a long time. Final word. :D
 
My girlfriend and i have put about 300 through hers. The foregrip shattered where one of the rods attaches (theres a weak spot at the pin, and the plastic is EXTREMELY brittle). Its about $100 to replace it with a mossy500/590- style foregrip, or about $40 to just replace it. Just keep an eye out for developing cracks. Other than that, it seems to be holding up well, although winchester whitebox is extremely sticky. Theres also a crescent- shaped pit developing in the top of the receiver, which is developing because the brass is slamming into it (when pushing a shell into battery). The receiver material is just too soft. Other than that, i dont foresee any other problems with the gun (unless the trigger group breaks or something). For the price, i think it could last a very long time.
 
I have put a few thousand rounds through mine over the passed 3 years or so. I mainly use it with a 26 in. barrel for trap, but I also keep it under the bed with its 18 in. barrel. Most of the ammo shot has been target loads, but it has also cycled a hundred or so loads of various buck.
No problems or concerns to date.
 
I own several Mossbergs/Mavericks and let me tell you they work. You should however take some fine still wool to the chamber. Nearly all of my Mossy made shotguns have had rough chambers and it lead to a few jams. After polishing them they work fine and haven't given me a single problem.
 
I got mine as a gift about 14 years ago. Probably have only around 3k rounds through it in all that time, but I've never had any kind of problem with it. Seems as good now as it was when it was new. Nothing particularly refined about it, but it works. I have and will continue to recommend them as low-cost options for a first shotgun.
 
I got mine back in 2003... Ive probably put at least 2 or 3 thousand trap loads through it. Also have been goose hunting twice with it. It's never failed to do anything. Also got a 18.5 inch barrel for it for HD. Added a sling to it for when I'm wandering around in bear country. It takes a lot of abuse and comes back for more.
 
Thanks for the replies everybody! I have done the chamber polish with the steel wool wrapped borebrush and oil. I only did it for about 5 min with a cleaning rod and drill. It did seem to eject better after firing. I also have a Mossberg 20ga. 500 I got for Christmas about 30 years ago that still functions fine. My Dad would roll over in his grave if he knew I cut the barrel down to 18 inches! He wouldn't have approved.
 
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I got one for my 12th birthday. I'm 29 now and have used that thing every year for duck hunting, skeet, and just some shooting. Never has an issue after thousands of rounds, having been dropped in the bayou, fallen off of 4 wheelers, and generally used hard.
 
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Broke fore grip twice, they have said there is a better one that you can buy,
it sets broken, while I look for an Mossberg that has better pumpaction parts,
and is near the same gun
 
The only thing I have noticed on my Model 88 is a bit of play in the forearm after quite a few years of use. Other than that it works fine every time I have it out. Basically a good, dependable, no frills, inexpensive, shotgun.
 
I agree with the last two posts. The cost savings between the Maverick and the 500 is in the one piece forearm on the Maverick. The good news is that if it breaks you can replace it with the 500 version.
 
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