Maverick 88 for HD (long)

[snuffy19608]

I just purchased a Maverick 88 Security 12 guage yesterday,thought I'd share some observations.

I have a Remington 870 Express with a 20" barrel and 3 shot extension in the closet now. Loaded with 7+1 of Federal 00, I'm pretty sure I can handle any threat to my family as long as I do my part. It's smooth,reliable,beatup but tough looking ya know?

But several things have come to light since I put that Choate tube on,some issues I didn't consider. Like weight,for instance. If you've met me you know that I ain't small,I can usually handle heavy stuff and I have never minded recoil. But this suckers front-end heavy,just a bit more than I like for a day of blowing stuff up.

The other issue is length,for sitting in my bedroom covering the hallway and my son's room she's fine but maybe a little long for poking around corners. And besides,I work nights again sometimes and I want the wife to have something a little easier to handle in the event of....

So I handed over the cash and walked out of Seneca Arms with a new toy,something cheap enough to afford but still made by somebody I trust.

First off, fit and finish. There are some gaps around the trigger guard and other areas,nothing huge but they are there. The finish is a nice blue,not that "deep water" blue but nice nevertheless. The big "Maverick" stamp in the receiver is kinda cheap looking,that could've been a little smaller.

The stock and foregrip are black plastic, stock feels good but pump feels like the plastic horns you used to buy at parades. Big ribs on that puppy though,easy to grip. I compared mine to a Mossberg 500 John had just got in, the foreend looks the same except at the rear where you can see the pins holding mine on. THAT'S getting changed out- I know they hold up FAIRLY well, but that don't cut it at 0330.

Dissassembly/Reassembly:Getting the trigger group out was no problem,only one pin and lift at the back. Taking the rest apart was no problem either. Everything had factory lube on it, not dripping but needed wiped off. I looked very closely for metal shavings or any debris from the factory, none noted. Cleaned the trigger group and lightly lubed with CLP, no differance in pull noted. A bit long, but smooth and clean.

Now as for reassembly- GRRRRRR! I am not the most mechanically inclined person,but I did manage 8 years in the Air Force as a crew chief and generally can perform most maintenance/repair/mods on my firearms without major difficulties. I'll admit it,the bolt/slide/action bar thing kicked my butt for about 30 minutes. I think I like the bolt on my 870 better. And I can tell you one area Mossberg cut back on to keep the price down- the drawings in the manual instead of pics!

After getting it together(the gun at least) I tried some reloads from the shoulder and some other drills I recently read about. Not pretty,but a lot easier to hold up to the shoulder while banging shells into the mag. I think I like the totally open loading area on the Maverick better then the Remington,easier to start the shells by feel.

All in all, for $206 OTD I can't complain. I'm sure once I take her down a few more times I'll get better at it. She's stiff but about 50% of that went away after a cleaning and some CLP. I'm taking her out to the range tomorrow,figure we'll see how she groups with different types of 00 buck and slugs. She's got a nice big recoil pad too, lets see if that protects my shoulder any better than the one on my Express.

I'll post some more tomorrow,after the range. The wifes heading out early to yard sales, then it's my turn. I've got a bunch of reloads for the Sistema, think I'll take the little guys 10/22 along too. He's already 3 1/2, I better get that thing broke in for him before he needs it.

[Holleta]

Have the same gun, mine came with a folding Knoxx stock + the original. My experience with it/observations are very similar to yours. 00 Buck patterns nice through it and with the stock folded it's quite compact too.

[snuffy19608]

Well 100 rounds later (and I've got the shoulder to prove it) the verdict is in. I like it!

I felt the action start to loosen up at about 50 rounds, put a sleeve and some boxes of Federal 00 and 5 boxes of Hornady TAP 00 through the tube. Also 1 box of Wolf slugs just for variety.

I found that to put the pattern in the vital area at 25 yards I just had to aim center mass,at 15 yards there wasn't even a pattern with the TAP ammo. Just a big hole with ragged edges.

As we got used to each other I found myself able to get back on target to pull off 2nd and third shots without a problem. I like the pointability, and the open bottom really helps slap shells in. Now I need to accessorize

The Maverick 88 is in my opinion an excellent value for the money,I might even go back to Seneca and check out that 500 that John has on the rack. You can't have too many shotguns!!