How many bears are you getting attacked by!? I'm talking about which is better for actual bear defense, not for shooting. Hopefully, you never even have to shoot it.
The Maverick 88 is lighter, can be made shorter with pistol grip and still be legal, can hold one more shell in the magazine, is significantly cheaper, and you can waltz into nearly any gun store and buy one off the shelf.
Also, when I eject shells from my Grizzly, they just barely make it out of the ejection port. If I turned the gun sideways so the port was facing up, I bet they wouldn't eject. The Maverick ejects the shells so you could use them as a secondary weapon. First shot goes in the bear, then you turn to the side and finish him off with the spent shell.
I will agree with you that a Maverick with a pistol grip wouldn't be fun if you were doing a lot of shooting. It would hurt.
I'm only evaluating these as an animal defense weapon. IF you could legally put a pistol grip on the Grizzly, I would choose the 8.5" and carry that for defense. Since you can't, I choose the Maverick.
Of course, if the Grizzly was the only thing I had, it would also be a fine animal defense gun. It works, nothing wrong with it, I'm just saying it's my 2nd choice compared to something that is cheaper, lighter, shorter, holds another round, and might even be slightly more powerful due to the longer barrel.
My Maverick 88 is 21 years old, has had thousands of rounds through it, and has never failed. Paid $199 at Canadian Tire. Today they're $225, give or take. I love it. I should start collecting them, like SKS's...LOL
