Maverick 88 Cruiser 12 Gauge Pump Shotgun 20 in. 7+1 Pistol Grip Black – Superb Home Defense Value

Description

The Maverick 88 Cruiser 12 Gauge is the shortest, plainest, least expensive way to put a 12 gauge pump gun beside the bed, and it does the job without pretending to be anything else. Model 31080 gives you a 20 inch blued barrel, a 3 inch chamber, seven rounds in the magazine plus one in the chamber, and a synthetic pistol grip in place of a shoulder stock. The whole thing weighs 6 pounds and measures 30.375 inches overall.

Underneath the price, this is Mossberg machinery. The Maverick 88 shares its action with the Mossberg 500, right down to the twin action bars, the dual extractors and the steel-to-steel lockup, and Mossberg says outright that 500 accessory stocks and barrels fit it within gauge and capacity. What you are giving up for the lower price is the 500 tang safety, some finish work and the choke threads.

Retailers usually list this gun as the 8-Shot, and that is the factory model name. The honest number is 7+1: seven in the tube and one in the chamber for eight total. We would rather you know that before it arrives than after.

Features of the Maverick 88 Cruiser 12 Gauge

• 20 inch blued barrel with a fixed cylinder bore, chambered for 2.75 and 3 inch shells
• 7+1 capacity, which is seven in the magazine tube and one in the chamber
• Synthetic pistol grip with a ribbed synthetic forearm, both in black
• Bead front sight
• Cross-bolt safety in the trigger guard, reachable with either hand
• Twin action bars, dual extractors and steel-to-steel lockup, straight from the Mossberg 500 design
• Anti jam elevator that keeps a shell from riding up into the works on a hard, fast stroke
• 6 pounds, 30.375 inches overall length

What a pistol grip pump shotgun is good for

• It is short. At 30.375 inches this clears doorframes, hallway corners and the space between a nightstand and a wall in a way a 40 inch bird gun does not
• It stores small, which matters if the gun lives in a safe under the bed or behind a seat
• It is cheap enough to buy as a dedicated tool rather than as a compromise between hunting and defense
• The pistol grip pump shotgun is a deliberate trade: you give up shouldered accuracy at distance in exchange for a package you can bring to bear in a tight space
• Because it takes Mossberg 500 furniture, you are not locked into that trade forever

Maverick 31080 specifications for the Maverick 88 Cruiser 12 Gauge

• Model number: 31080
• Gauge: 12
• Chamber: 3 inches, also handles 2.75 inch shells
• Capacity: 7+1
• Barrel: 20 inches, blued
• Choke: fixed cylinder bore, not threaded
• Sights: front bead
• Stock: synthetic pistol grip, black, with ribbed forearm
• Safety: cross-bolt
• Overall length: 30.375 inches
• Weight: 6 pounds
• UPC: 049533310804

Cylinder bore barrel and how it patterns

The cylinder bore barrel is the single most important thing to understand about this gun. There are no choke threads in the muzzle, so no choke tube of any kind will fit it, including the Mossberg 500 and 535 tubes we carry for other guns. Do not order one for this shotgun.

That is not a defect for the job this gun does. A cylinder bore barrel opens a buckshot pattern faster than a choked one, which is exactly what you want at across-the-room distances, and it handles slugs without complaint. What it will not do is hold a tight pattern at 40 yards, so this is not the gun for turkeys or for pass shooting. Pattern it on paper at seven, ten and fifteen yards with the load you intend to keep in it, because buckshot patterns vary far more between brands than most people expect.

Recoil deserves a straight word too. With no shoulder stock, all of the recoil from a 12 gauge goes into your wrist and forearm. Full-power buckshot out of a 6 pound gun with a pistol grip is genuinely unpleasant and slows your follow-up shot badly. We suggest starting with the Rio Royal Buck Low Recoil 00 buckshot, which gives up very little at defensive distance and is far easier to control. If you want full-power loads, the Barnes Defense 12 gauge 00 Buck is the better pattern.

Dual extractors and the anti jam elevator

The parts that matter on a pump gun are the ones that decide whether it cycles when you are not thinking about technique. Twin action bars keep the bolt from binding when you short-stroke it or drive it hard from an odd angle. Dual extractors grip the rim from both sides, so a swollen or dirty hull still comes out. The anti jam elevator is a shaped lifter that prevents the classic pump-gun stoppage where a shell rides up under the bolt and locks everything solid.

None of that is exotic. It is the Mossberg 500 action, which has been in production since 1960 and has been carried by more police departments and more duck hunters than almost any other pump gun made. The Maverick 88 Cruiser 12 Gauge inherits it wholesale.

Mossberg 500 parts fit this Maverick 88 Cruiser 12 Gauge

Mossberg states that 500 accessory stocks and barrels fit the 88 within gauge and capacity. That means a full shoulder stock is a bolt-on change if you decide the pistol grip is not for you, and with a 20 inch barrel already on the gun that is an ordinary shotgun configuration. A Hogue rubber pistol grip for the Mossberg 500 also fits and takes some of the sting out of the factory grip.

Two cautions. First, the safety on an 88 sits in the trigger guard rather than on the tang, so tang-mounted safety parts do not apply. Second, before you add a vertical foregrip to any pistol-grip-only shotgun, check current ATF guidance and your state and local law with your dealer, because that particular change is treated differently from adding a stock. MAG5 Firearms does not sell NFA items such as short-barreled shotguns or suppressors.

If you would rather have the same barrel with a shoulder stock, look at the Maverick 88 Security 12 gauge with the 20 inch barrel. If you want the Cruiser even shorter, the Maverick 88 Cruiser with the 18.5 inch barrel is the same gun with a five-round tube. Factory specifications are published on the Mossberg Maverick 88 Cruiser 31080 page.

Why this firearm earns its place

• The Mossberg 500 action at roughly half the price of a 500, with the same twin bars, dual extractors and anti jam elevator
• Seven plus one on tap, which is two more rounds than most 18.5 inch defensive pumps hold
• 6 pounds and 30.375 inches, so it stores and maneuvers where a full-size shotgun will not
• Parts compatibility with the 500 means the gun can change jobs later instead of being traded off
• Simple enough that a new owner can learn to run it in an afternoon, and rugged enough that it will take the neglect that defensive guns usually get

This suits the buyer who wants one dependable 12 gauge for the house and is not going to shoot it every weekend, the truck gun owner who needs something short and weatherproof, and the shooter building a first defensive shotgun on a budget. It is not the right choice for someone who wants to hunt with it, because the fixed cylinder bore and the missing shoulder stock work against you on birds.

Every firearm we ship goes to a licensed dealer in your state for the transfer and the background check. Pistol-grip-only shotguns are restricted in a few jurisdictions, so check your state and local rules before you order, and call us if you want help confirming.