Maverick 88 opening after firing?

ErikT

ErikT

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Gentlemen, I need your expertise on a possibly hazardous problem that has been troubling my Maverick 88 pump. When I rack the action normally (without a shell) it functions perfectly and locks up like a vault door. When I try to pull back on the forend without unlocking it or firing the action frist, it remains locked up tight. But when I actually fire a shell, the action pops open and half the time, the shell ejects by itself. If I'm holding the forend at the time, it will actually pull my arm back with it.

Needless to say, I am concerned that this condition may be extremely unsafe, and I haven't fired the shotgun since (as I prefer to keep my limbs and other soft parts intact). I have never heard of a pump gun that unlocks by itself during firing, so I'm sure that something is wrong, but I can't figure it out. Does anyone out there have any experience with this sort of thing or have any ideas about what to do to fix it? It's a decent firearm, and I hate to scrap it.

Thanks for any advice.

Erik.
 
???

I find it unlikely that your shotgun is unlocking DURING firing. 10,000 psi would let you know it, if that was the case.

If your shotgun is unlocking immediately after you fire a shell, it means your pump gun is normal and it good working condition. It would be a pretty damned slow action if it stayed locked after you fired a shell, and you had to....work a toggle, or thumb the slide release between every shot.

Recoil and inertia will help to move the action back. Is this your first pump gun?
 
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Take it to a gunsmith now! My brother had the same thing happen to him with his 88. A ball of flame exploded out of the chamber, part of the action bar was broken and the interior of the receiver was deeply gouged in multiple places by what I believe was both pieces of the shotgun shell base and possibly shot as well. The action held together, but it could've easily ended up with his having a catastrophic injury.

I've noticed the problem with a couple of other Mavericks and I no longer trust them nor use them or care to be around individuals using them. I used to keep one on hand as a "loner" shotgun for friends, etc...when I invited them to go hunting bunnies, etc...but no more. Just not worth the risk, as better built and safer shotguns are available for not much more money.
 
Winchesters function as your 88 and they market it as a speed pump. If I pull back on the forearm on my 870 and pull the trigger on a empty chamber, the action will not open til I push it forward first. That little trick is what keeps the action uable to be opened til after the recoil of the shot. If the recoil of the shot was driving your action back, you would feel the difference. Try shooting the gun without your hand on the forearm and see if it opens by itself? OOOOOPS!! Ignor that, in case your gun really is faulty. Here is something you can do at home. EMPTY GUN! Close gun on EMPTY chamber and hold with butt stock perpendicular to floor. Pull trigger with resistance on fore stock. It should not be able to open? Now do again but this time lift gun and pull trigger while you bring butt stock firmly to the floor. Do not let the butt bounce bring it to a stop. Action will probably still not open? Now repeat and this time hold on to the gun after you pull the trigger but let the butt stock bounce after contact with the floor. I'll bet that the action opens after the bounce. If not, ignor me and see a smith.
 
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Just to clarify, When I dry fire the action while pulling back on the forend, everything works as it should, and I have to release tension on the forend before I can work the action again. It seems to function flawlessly when it's empty. But I have fired it with my hand on the forend as well as with the forend sitting on a rest without my hand on it, and the action slams open whenever I fire a live shell. I haven't noticed anything amiss with the shells after they are ejected, and I haven't found any damage to the action which might explain this strange functioning.

I suppose a trip to the 'smith is in order; I just figured I'd check with the population to see if it had a simple fix that had been dealt with before. Thanks a lot for the replies.

Erik.
 
ErikT,
What I was trying to determine is, would the action open on its own without the forearm being held or rested? What I tried to explain was a method of simulating recoil without putting yourself in danger of firing a round. It is something a smith might do before he does any other examination.
 
I had one and I could cycle the action after a shot by just doing a snap push pull on the gun with one hand and not touching the pump foreend.
 
my winchester 1200 does that with heavier loads. If you use trap loads, you pump from closed like normal. If you use heavier loads or slugs, it opens about halfway. I don't think what you have happening is a mechanical "problem" so to speak. Keep in mind, after it goes bang, it's supposed to unlock without your input..... But theres no timing mechanism to tell the bolt not to open yet......
If you're really concerned have a gunsmith check it out (don't take my word for it, I'm just a random stranger on the internet), but realistically......if you didnt see flames shooting out the ejection port, you're probably GTG.
 
...when I actually fire a shell, the action pops open and half the time, the shell ejects by itself.
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... and that's bad? :D Some of us pay extra for semi-auto function.

Don't complain too loudly, RCMP are going to be telling us that it CAN be operated with one hand.
 
legi0n said:
I own 2 Maverick 88 and none of them opens by itself even after firing slugs.
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I do not think that we have determined for sure that the original poster's 88 opens by itself either? So far I have read that it opened when his hand was on the forearm and that it also opened when the forearm was rested. Sometimes it seems that the action is opening by itself because of the shooters reaction to recoil? Not being there in person, I can not determine this, so my best advice would be to take it to a smith and/or return it.
 
raven said:
My old Winchester 12 would sometimes open AFTER the shell was fired if my hand wasn't on the fore stock when firing heavy loads.
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I presently do not have a model 12 at home and it has been a couple years since I have shot one. As I recall, model 12s were very different than lets say an 870. With pressure back on the forearm the 870 would not release on an empty chamber without forward motion of the forearm. Many model 12s would open. I was around for the hey day of the m12 as a trap gun and saw a few that had fired an unusual amount of rounds. In their final days of life many m12s developed a headspace problem that would result in either a misfire because the bolt was no longer seated properly or an automatic like eject. I am not sure if it was all, but many m12s would fire by holding the trigger and closing the action?
 
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