Newbie - Looking for a good starter pump 12g

Maverick 88 for cheap. Mossberg 500 for customization. Mossberg 590A1 for your forever pump gun. Older Remington 870s ARE good, but save yourself the hunt and keep it simple. There’s a reason Mossbergs have the reputation that they do.
 
morp said:
Why stay away from the Mossberg/maverick?

Both 870s and 500s (including 88s) are great, reliable, easy to maintain shotguns. The 500s/88s typically come in a little cheaper with their alu receiver. I prefer the safety placement on the 500s to the 870/88s.

I had an 88 combo with 28” and 18.5” barrels, great and solid, never skipped a beat. I sold it and bought an immaculate 500 with walnut furniture and a handful of chokes for the same price. I’m a sucker for walnut.

Shop around - good shotguns last for years and you can often find great deals on used ones.

Have a think what features are best for your usage - barrel length, choke interchangeability, safety position, parts/aftermarket availability.
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I'm curious about the warning, too. I just watched a video where a guy bought a brand new 88, shot 505 rounds through it (buckshot, magnum, etc.) and it worked PERFECTLY at the end. No misfires, hang fires, shells not ejecting right...nothing. The one I was going to get, the Charles Daly 301, I watched someone buy it new, load one shell, shoot it...immediately it got stuck. He did the same thing 4 more times and stopped using it lol

The exact kit you're talking about, with the smaller and larger barrel, is exactly what I'm thinking of getting. The 500 with the walnut stock and forend is my future upgrade goal. Absolute beauty!
 
ServusDeiVivi said:
I'm curious about the warning, too. I just watched a video where a guy bought a brand new 88, shot 505 rounds through it (buckshot, magnum, etc.) and it worked PERFECTLY at the end. No misfires, hang fires, shells not ejecting right...nothing. The one I was going to get, the Charles Daly 301, I watched someone buy it new, load one shell, shoot it...immediately it got stuck. He did the same thing 4 more times and stopped using it lol

The exact kit you're talking about, with the smaller and larger barrel, is exactly what I'm thinking of getting. The 500 with the walnut stock and forend is my future upgrade goal. Absolute beauty!
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Between me and 3 friends we own 4 Maverick 88s and a 500. They have collectively seen thousands of rounds and while I haven't been present for every single one of those trigger pulls, the only issue I know of is one time one of the guns had light strikes on a cheap slug.

They're not fancy, but they work.


Bigcrigger said:
Maverick 88 for cheap. Mossberg 500 for customization. Mossberg 590A1 for your forever pump gun. Older Remington 870s ARE good, but save yourself the hunt and keep it simple. There’s a reason Mossbergs have the reputation that they do.
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The 500s have used the one-piece foreend design that the Maverick has for years at this point. You'll have to buy an action tube to change the forend on either model these days.
 
I will throw this out there, because I see it often, a new shooter purchases a short barrel shotgun, shoots some zombie targets of stationary clays or cans with it a few times, then they leave it in tbe safe, because they wanted to try wingshooting, and purchased another shotgun with a longer barrel.
 
Suther said:
Between me and 3 friends we own 4 Maverick 88s and a 500. They have collectively seen thousands of rounds and while I haven't been present for every single one of those trigger pulls, the only issue I know of is one time one of the guns had light strikes on a cheap slug.

They're not fancy, but they work.



The 500s have used the one-piece foreend design that the Maverick has for years at this point. You'll have to buy an action tube to change the forend on either model these days.
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What! That’s really fckin lame. Just go with a 590 or an 88 then i guess.
 
Bigcrigger said:
What! That’s really fckin lame. Just go with a 590 or an 88 then i guess.
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The 500 still has some things going for it - I shoot left hand so the tang safety is a big deal for me, plus they come drilled and tapped whereas the 88s don't, so if slug hunting with a scope or even turkey with a red dot is something you wanna do the 500 is the better option there too.
 
Suther said:
The 500 still has some things going for it - I shoot left hand so the tang safety is a big deal for me, plus they come drilled and tapped whereas the 88s don't, so if slug hunting with a scope or even turkey with a red dot is something you wanna do the 500 is the better option there too.
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Plenty of older 500s around with two piece foreends and better quality wood furniture than the current model 500s.
Some of the older older ones (pre mid 70s) had single action bars. After mid 70s all 500s had dual action bars (after Remingtons patent ran out). All have the same features and parts as a modern 500 but generally made better. They are very easy to take apart and get to know inside and out.

I’ve not had any failures of any kind with birdshot or slugs in either the 88 or 500. Probably my most reliable gun.
 
500 or 88 hands down, preferably 500. Get the 24" turkey barrel and the 24" rifled and you can hunt anything in north America. And get an 18" for defence and just fun. Most reliable tough shotgun i can really think of. Love mine so much
 
morp said:
Plenty of older 500s around with two piece foreends and better quality wood furniture than the current model 500s.
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Absolutely. I love used guns, and they've made over 10 million Mossberg 500s so they're widely available on the used market for good prices.

The only problem there is that for the same price as a used 500 you get a new 88 with a vent rib barrel and swappable chokes, and Mossberg says don't use steel shot in the fixed choke barrels. Some people prefer the older gun, some people prefer the modern features. Some people absolutely need to shoot steel shot, some people don't give a ####...

Neither answer is wrong. Just depends on the needs and wants of the buyer.
 
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