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Category: All About Guns
Every year I get together with some college friends to shoot and hog hunt. It is always fun to catch up with them and check out the new gear they have acquired since our last trip. This year, I got to try out a couple of shotguns. A Benelli M4 and a Beretta 1301. These were both a ton of fun and they made me want a compact shotgun of my own.
I didn’t want to drop the type of cash needed to get a Benelli or Beretta, so I searched for cheaper options. I came across the Mossberg Maverick 88 Security and, with a $230 price tag, it seemed like the perfect way to have some scattergun fun without breaking the bank.
Mossberg has many offerings in their Maverick series of shotguns including two security models. One with an 18.5″ barrel and the other with a 20″ barrel. I chose the 20″ option because I prefer its 7-round tubular magazine capacity over the 5-round capacity offered by the 18.5″ model.
The manual of arms does not change much from one pump-action shotgun to another. If you know how one works, you will be able to shoot most of them with just two primary considerations.
First, you need to locate the safety. On the Maverick 88, the cross-bolt safety is located in front of the trigger guard. I prefer a cross-bolt safety to be behind the trigger but it was not hard to get used to this one.
Second, locate the action release. This button is pressed if the action needs to be opened after the action has become locked (when unloading the gun for example). This lever is located behind the trigger guard on the left side. I believe this is the perfect location. Unlike other shotguns that put the action release in front of the trigger guard, you do not have to completely change the grip of your right hand to manipulate it.
The recoil of this 12ga is heavy but manageable. With this gun weighing only 6.5 pounds, I expected it to beat me up a bit more but I was pleasantly surprised. The generous rubber butt pad is probably what helped the most.
This shotgun features dual action bars which are believed to prevent the bolt from binding in the receiver. Plenty of shotguns use only a single action bar without issue but the 88’s action is fairly smooth so there may be something to using two.
I shot a variety of 2 ¾” and 3” ammunition without issue. Birdshot, buckshot, turkey loads, and slugs all ran reliably. It shot well enough that I decided to load up some slugs and use it to fill an antlerless tag.
Even though I’ve made good shots with slugs out to 60 yards at the range, I feel more comfortable with shots under 40 yards in the field. To give myself the best chance at a close shot, I headed to a stand in the middle of thick timber where does will regularly be within 30 yards.
But, before I reached the stand, I spotted a deer in the woods to my left. I froze and crouched down where I stood. I watched as the deer made its way through the thicket moving from my left to right. After only a few moments it cleared the underbrush and saw me crouching completely exposed in the middle of the path only thirty yards away. The deer froze, but it was too late. I had already raised my gun and lined up the shot. The 12ga slug hit hard and dropped the deer where it stood.
A shotgun will not soon replace any of my rifles as my go-to deer gun but it was a rewarding experience to take a deer with a shotgun at least once. If for no other reason than to experience the type of 1970s hunting depicted in my uncle’s stories.
The trigger is a bit heavy at 7 pounds. It has a few millimeters of take-up before hitting a soft wall that gives just a little before it breaks. The reset is relatively short.
The black synthetic stock has a solid feel. This is appreciated especially when many cheap synthetic stocks are on the flimsy side. The stock also features a recess for a screw-in sling stud so one can be easily added if desired.
I can’t speak to the long-term reliability of this gun but my experience up to this point has been nothing but good. It is well-balanced, cycles reliably and, for only $230, the build quality is exceptional. So, If you are looking for a cheap pump-action shotgun, the Maverick 88 Security may be right for you. Head over to Mossberg’s website to learn more and find a dealer near you.
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Some serious firepower!
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Sharps 45/70 (I.A.B.)
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Smith & Wesson Model 350
U.S.A. — “Democratic LA city councilman charged with embezzlement, conflict of interest in latest political scandal,” Fox News reported Thursday. “Curren Price is the latest member of the Los Angeles City Council to be arrested in recent years.”
Price is accused of voting to approve projects “in which he had a direct financial interest,” with his wife receiving more than $150,000 in undisclosed payments from developers, and of “having the city pay for medical benefits for his now wife while he was still married to another woman,” the story elaborates. All in all, he’s “facing five counts of embezzlement, three counts of perjury, and two counts of conflict of interest.”
So naturally, he doesn’t trust his constituents with guns, exploiting a so-called “buyback” with the Los Angeles Police Department to gain himself some free publicity while not making a bit of difference in the violent crime Angelenos live under (and bafflingly, vote for with their choice of “leaders”). It wasn’t his first.
“Certainly in South L.A. I feel that gun violence is the No. 1 public health issue,” Price said at a press conference for a 2017 event. “Buyback programs like this really underscore the importance of getting guns off the street. It’s just amazing the number of weapons that are turned in.”
Not that they do anything but fraudulently make it look like city “leaders” are taking charge. No less an “authority” than the National Institute of Justice has admitted:
“Buybacks are ineffective unless massive and coupled with a ban… 1. The buybacks are too small to have an impact. 2. The guns turned in are at low risk of ever being used in a crime. 3. Replacement guns are easily acquired. Unless these three points are overcome, a gun buyback cannot be effective.”
“Price is fighting to ensure our justice system works for everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected,” his campaign website advertised, hitting on all the right “progressive” buzzwords to gin up resentment and stir up support for doing everything but address the real issues behind criminal violence.
“He has fought to bring more accountability reforms at LAPD to stop racial profiling and police misconduct, especially against young Black and Latino men. He’s led efforts to crack down on guns and successfully secured funding for at-risk youth and foster programs, gang intervention, and crime prevention. And he’s fought for investment in mental health, addiction treatment, job training, and education – not more jails and incarceration.”
“I am a firm believer in the control of guns, the restraint of guns, and the federal government’s proposal for the regulation of guns,” Curren told Our Weekly in 2013 in a report on the “Gun Culture on South L.A.”
But what about the other council members? The story says he’s “the latest” to be arrested:
“Mark Ridley-Thomas was found guilty of conspiracy, bribery, and fraud in March of this year… José Huizar pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and one count of tax evasion [and] Mitchell Englander was convicted in 2021 of scheming to falsify material facts after he attempted to cover up lavish gifts and services he received from business interests.”
Are you ready to not be surprised?
“Ridley-Thomas also wants the group to explore options to better enforce existing and/or adopt stricter gun control restrictions and penalties… ‘especially related to sale or possession of semiautomatic guns and military-style assault weapons,’” The Daily Breeze reported. “He gave several examples of possible regulations, such as deeper background checks for gun sales, requirements for those who purchase guns to buy insurance to cover any taxpayer expenses incurred from the ‘injurious use of a gun’ or taxes on ammunition and firearms.”
This is what Huizar and the rest of the council didn’t trust Angelenos with, per Gunsandammo.com:
“L.A. bans the POSSESSION of mags holding more than 10 rds. in city limits… People who currently possess such magazines, many for collectible firearms registered decades ago, have a 60-day window to remove them from the city, sell them to a legal gun dealer, or turn them into the Los Angeles Police Department.”
And let’s not forget phony Mitchell Englander lending his support to banning phony guns, pulling the phony “even one gun surrendered” BS at a phony “buyback” event, and trying to outlaw 3D printed weapon files and block citizens who were against it from seeing what he was up to.
These lawbreaking “lawmakers” join a long line of others, starting with Mike Bloomberg’s Criminal Mayors Against Your Guns, and extending up the political food chain to “anti-gun” gun-running racketeer Leland Yee and beyond.
It’s really no wonder that such political predators don’t trust citizens with guns. Knowing you can’t be trusted means no one can be: It’s called “projection.” And it’s also called “survival instinct” when wolves demand “commonsense horn safety” laws.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
