Mossberg Mav 88 for goose

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shiz1

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Hey folks, fairly new guy here. I've been in the market for an all round starter shotgun for hunting geese.

I was recently gifted a Mossberg Mav 88 with a security barrel (18.5"). Im sure most of you know this is a setup without a choke.
How effective will the security barrel be for geese without a choke?

I've been looking around for a 28" (500/88) threaded barrel for it (to swap or to buy), ive found em on the mossberg site, but i feel like the barrel is more expensive than what the whole shotgun is worth....
Any sites you can recommend where i can find one, other than Mossberg?

Any suggestions and insight welcome.

Thanks
 
Open choke isn't going to be great for waterfowl, unless you have a place where you can get pretty close. You could probably get that barrel threaded, but it still wouldn't be an ideal goose gun.

The barrels on Mossbergs demand stupid prices. If you've got EE access here you can keep your eyes open, every once and a while a reasonably priced one shows up, but they sell in like 5 minutes. Your best option is probably sell what you've got and use that money to buy a gun with the long barrel. Assuming the one you have is in good shape you shouldn't take much of a haircut selling that to buy something better suited to your goals, the security models and the field models sell for the same price at retail generally speaking.
 
I agree. The idea is to concentrate the shot on the bird, and they are invariably further away than you might like. Having a tight choke is the best first step, followed by good ammunition.

Winchester used to see a combo shotgun - pump action receiver, wooden stock, pistol grip, long barrel with chokes, and short barrel without chokes. The shooter swapped out what depending on the situation. That particular product did not have a rifled deer slug barrel the way Remington did, and I think that cost them sales.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
I agree. The idea is to concentrate the shot on the bird, and they are invariably further away than you might like. Having a tight choke is the best first step, followed by good ammunition.

Winchester used to see a combo shotgun - pump action receiver, wooden stock, pistol grip, long barrel with chokes, and short barrel without chokes. The shooter swapped out what depending on the situation. That particular product did not have a rifled deer slug barrel the way Remington did, and I think that cost them sales.
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Mossberg sells the same sort of thing with the 500. Mine came with both a field and security barrel, 3 barrel sets exist which can include turkey or rifled barrels as well.
 
Cabelas.ca has a Mossberg Maverick 88 with a 28" barrel (threaded for removable chokes) for CAD $359.99

As mentioned .... it will likely be cheaper to just by the whole gun with the 28" barrel .... and sell the one you have there.
 
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Your choice is easy, sell what you have ( a fun gun but not suitable for waterfowl) and get a good gun. A used Rem 870 or Mossberg 500 would work. As 250 sav said you don’t want a light gun with heavy loads.
 
a j cave said:
Your choice is easy, sell what you have ( a fun gun but not suitable for waterfowl) and get a good gun. A used Rem 870 or Mossberg 500 would work. As 250 sav said you don’t want a light gun with heavy loads.
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A maverick 88 and a mossberg 500 weigh virtually the same - the only big difference is in the trigger group.
 
Yea i think i put like 10 rounds through it after i took the wrapper off, so its basically new.

What would you guys recommend between a Moss 500 and a Rem 870?

I have a friend that lets me use his Rem 870 and it jams constantly, not sure if its that particular gun or just common for that model...
 
shiz1 said:
Yea i think i put like 10 rounds through it after i took the wrapper off, so its basically new.

What would you guys recommend between a Moss 500 and a Rem 870?

I have a friend that lets me use his Rem 870 and it jams constantly, not sure if its that particular gun or just common for that model...
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He probably has an 870 Express with a rough chamber, and if you don't lube it properly, and use crappy target loads, they can be quite difficult to cycle. On the other hand, a properly maintained 870 Wingmaster, is one of the smoothest cycling pump actions available.
 
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shiz1 said:
...What would you guys recommend between a Moss 500 and a Rem 870?...
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If you're buying new, all of the brand name long barrel pump options are equally viable. On the budget end of the market, they all are known to have potential issues, so I'd make sure to buy from a retailer with a warranty policy that you like (many retailers won't deal with warranty at all, and force you to go to the distributor, which can take months).

Unless you like tinkering and fixing stuff yourself, then it's a different question.
 
Pretty much any modern pump (steel shot and choke tubes were around back in the 70s/80s) from a known manufacturer will do the job perfectly well. 26" to 28" barrels are versatile. Handle a number of them, pick which you like and feels right. Both the 500 and 870 are solid choices. If you are anywhere near average height and weight, they should all fit you reasonably well.
 
I shoot left so I'm a big Mossberg 500 fan. The cross bolt safety on the Rem 870 (or Mav 88) doesn't work as well for a lefty, that's the whole reason I sold my 88 to fund a 500.

Remington has the better aftermarket support if that's your jam.
 
I often use a Remington 1100 with a 22.5" cylinder barrel. For ducks and geese over dekes 2.75" #2 and bb drop birds out to 35 yards with ease. Pattern your setup with the ammo you plan on using and hunt within its limits or pony up and buy a new barrel with choke tubes and repeat the patterning process for each choke
 
brybenn said:
I often use a Remington 1100 with a 22.5" cylinder barrel. For ducks and geese over dekes 2.75" #2 and bb drop birds out to 35 yards with ease. Pattern your setup with the ammo you plan on using and hunt within its limits or pony up and buy a new barrel with choke tubes and repeat the patterning process for each choke
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That is an excellent recommendation!
 
If you can afford it a Stoeger m3500 semi will save the shoulder! That 18.5" cylinder bore might do good with goose loads like BB, I use an improved cylinder out to 40 yards
 
Most of the time you can get a slightly used pump gun with choke tubes pretty reasonable. I vote you keep the short gun and get a long one too
 
Suther said:
I shoot left so I'm a big Mossberg 500 fan. The cross bolt safety on the Rem 870 (or Mav 88) doesn't work as well for a lefty, that's the whole reason I sold my 88 to fund a 500.

Remington has the better aftermarket support if that's your jam.
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Büllshít, crossbolt safety’s work just fine as a lefty. That is unless you’re too lazy to learn how to use them left handed.
 
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