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