r/canadaguns • u/EnglishmanInMH • Aug 01 '26
Buy recommendations Maverick 88
Been considering a 590 Retrograde for funsies, but saw the Maverick 88 with two barrels advertised which is cheaper but would fit my use case a bit better.
Is the 88 fairly reliable?
Also, are there any suppliers of wood furniture for the 88?
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u/Hot_Cheesecake_905 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
Is the 88 fairly reliable?
Yes, I have a 590A1, a 590 Shockwave, and two Maverick 88s.
They're essentially the same shotgun, except for a few differences: the 590A1 and 590 Shockwave have heavy barrels, while the Maverick 88 has a lightweight (regular) barrel and a low-cost forend. 590A1s also have a bit more metal hardware. The Maverick 88 is not tapped for optics or rails either.
The Maverick 88 cannot use standard Mossberg 500-series forends unless you replace the action bars which are hard to find in Canada. Also note that the 590 Shockwave cannot use regular forends either due to its short length. 500 and 590 have the tang safety versus the crossbolt safety on the 88.
If I were to do it again, the minimum model I would get is a 500 since all parts would be compatible with it. Also, I would ensure the shotgun barrel was threaded for chokes and has a tactical ghost ring sight. The bead sight on a Mossberg is awful and very inaccurate, it's known to shoot 1 foot high at 20 - 50 yards.
590A1 heavy barrel is heavy and likely not needed for most people's use cases.
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u/Clover_Lawn_4440 Aug 01 '26
Taller beads are $10. Its a 5-40 thread and beads are easy to source. I changed mine on a Shockwave I used to own and POI at 25 yds was perfect
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Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
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u/Joels-workshop Aug 01 '26
I've had the opposite in my (anecdotal) experience, I had worse fit on a M500 with wood that I had than my 88's. The M500 also came with a broken front handguard where the retaining nut was, it had cracked the metal part of the hanguard.
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u/HankHippoppopalous Aug 01 '26
I've had two, before the boating accident
Insanely cheap. Like "200 bucks used at Cabela's" Oddly reliable for this price point. Literally haven't had a single misfire in thousands of clays
When you rack it, it sounds like what Hollywood thinks a gun sounds like. Which is either badass or annoying depends on your viewpoint
10/10 best budget 12ga
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u/Clover_Lawn_4440 Aug 01 '26
The Maverick 88 has a cross-bolt safety at the front of the trigger guard, while the Mossberg 500 has an ambidextrous tang-mounted safety on top of the receiver.
The Maverick 88 uses a different trigger housing and safety arrangement, so those parts are generally not interchangeable with the 500.
Also the 88's are assembled using a mix of U.S. and imported parts, whereas Mossberg 500s are primarily U.S.-made.
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u/Joels-workshop Aug 01 '26
I believe that is incorrect, a Maverick 88 (trigger guard safety) can be used in a Mossy 500 and the trigger group safety will work just fine....but if you use a 500 trigger group with no safety in a Mav 88 receiver, you'll have no working safety.
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u/Mysterious_Sleep7443 Aug 01 '26
The Mossberg retro grade wood is trash
Its literally compressed sawdust and paint
Ive seen more stocks and foremost chip and Crack just from looking at them
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u/LumberjackCDN Gold'n Loan Outfitters & Pawn Aug 01 '26
As others have said the 88 is basically a 500. Great shotgun.
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u/Whispersfine Aug 01 '26
You will never regret buying a maverick 88. It’s the workhorse of shotgun. Wood furniture is only available if you buy a 500 set. There are some on gunpost.
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u/Enigmatic_Penguin ns Aug 01 '26
The Maverick 88 is a workhorse shotgun. They aren’t the prettiest, but they work flawlessly. I’ve had mine for ten years and run it in more or less stock configuration and have not treated it well, yet it runs everything I put through it.
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Aug 01 '26
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u/floppy_breasteses Aug 01 '26
The 88 is reliable AF. Had mine close to 30 years. I clean the barrel and lube the mechanism every 5 years whether it needs it or not and it still performs like new.
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u/905jay Aug 01 '26
88 is a god damn beast. I've put about 200 rounds through mine so far (give or take) which I think would mean it's still in its break in period, but it's a beauty
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u/Joels-workshop Aug 03 '26
I have 2 of them.
They are excellent for the price, I hunted with the 28" for 5 years with no issues. Took geese, duck, turkey, and deer with it.
The 18.5" sits in my house.
I upgraded to a semi last year but still have the 88 as a backup.
I originally had bought a M500 but it came with a broken foregrip and it took 7 months to warranty (covid). I bought the 88 while it was in warranty and then kept it and sold the M500 when I got it back.
For me the Ambi safety, the drilled and tapped receiver, and wood furniture was not enough of an upgrade to justify the M500 which was 2x the price.
Those may be dealbreakers for you.
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u/EnglishmanInMH Aug 01 '26
Thanks for the responses, you've settled it for me! Cheap and cheerful wins the day! 👍🏻
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u/Clear_Disaster2583 Aug 01 '26
The 88 is just a 500 with the safety moved. They are made in their texas plant with some slightly lower grade parts. Nothing wrong with them at all, anything that will fit a 500 will fit a maverick except for the trigger group.
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u/Mdaumer Aug 01 '26
It's a very reliable, cheap gun. I have two of them, and have never had an issue with either. Both shoot anything ammo you can feed it.
Yes there's lots of places that sell wood furniture for them..