Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge 18.5 in. Cylinder Bore 5+1 Pump Shotgun – Superb Affordable Home Defense

Description

The Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge is the cheapest way to put a serious pump shotgun in a house, and it is cheap for reasons that are easy to explain rather than reasons that should worry you.

It is a five-plus-one 12 gauge with an 18.5 inch cylinder-bore barrel, twin action bars, dual extractors and a brass bead up front. It is built on the same family of action as the Mossberg 500, with cost taken out of the places where cost can be taken out.

What the Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge is

• 5+1 of 12 gauge, chambered for 3 inch shells.
• An 18.50 inch blued barrel, cylinder bore — no choke tubes, because a security gun does not need them.
• Twin action bars and dual extractors. Twin bars are why a pump does not bind when you work it hard from an awkward position, and they are not a given at this price.
• An anti-jam elevator.
• A brass front bead, a black synthetic stock with a ribbed forearm, a recoil pad, and a 14.5 inch fixed length of pull. Overall length 39.5 inches.

The Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge safety is the one thing to think about

• A Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge uses a cross-bolt safety in front of the trigger, not the tang safety a Mossberg 500 has.
• That is faster for some people and worse for others. A tang safety works the same for a right-handed and a left-handed shooter and falls under the firing-hand thumb; a cross-bolt does not.
• If you have shot a Mossberg 500 and liked where the safety was, know that this is not that. If you have never shot either, it will not bother you.
• Handle one if you can before you commit, because this is the single biggest ergonomic difference between the two guns.

Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge specifications

• Gauge: 12, 3 in. chamber
• Action: pump
• Capacity: 5+1
• Barrel: 18.50 in., blued, cylinder bore, no choke tubes
• Sights: brass front bead
• Stock: black synthetic with ribbed forearm, recoil pad, 14.5 in. fixed length of pull
• Overall length: 39.5 in.
• Safety: cross-bolt, in front of the trigger
• No swivel studs fitted
• Manufacturer part number: 31023. UPC: 049533310231

Shotshell dimensions and pressure standards are published by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute.

Why the Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge earns its place

• Price. There is no cheaper honest route to a 12 gauge pump that will work.
• Twin action bars and dual extractors, which are the two things that actually make a pump reliable, are both present.
• A cylinder bore 18.5 inch barrel throws a wide, useful pattern of buckshot at across-the-room distances, which is what the gun is for.
• Parts and accessories for this family of shotgun are everywhere, because the platform has been made in enormous numbers for decades.
• It is boring, and boring is the correct quality in a gun that sits in a cupboard for years.

The honest assessment. A Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge is a budget gun and it looks and feels like one in the hand. The finish is plain, the stock is hollow plastic rather than anything clever, and the trigger is a shotgun trigger. None of that affects whether it goes bang.

Twelve gauge out of a pump as light as a Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge recoils hard. That is physics, not a criticism of this gun, but it matters if the intended user is recoil-sensitive — a 20 gauge or a semi-automatic is kinder, and either costs more. The 14.5 inch fixed length of pull is also on the long side for smaller shooters and there is no adjustment.

Cylinder bore on a Maverick 88 Security 12 Gauge means no chokes, so this is not a bird gun or a clays gun. It is a defensive and slug gun. If you want one shotgun to do everything, the Maverick 88 Combo ships with a 28 inch field barrel as well as the 18.5 inch security barrel and is the sensible buy.

One thing we will not guess at for you: Maverick 88 and Mossberg 500 barrels are widely described as interchangeable, but neither distributor record states it for this part number. If you are buying a spare barrel, ask us and we will confirm fitment with the distributor before you order rather than after.

Feed it properly. Federal Flite Control 00 buckshot is the defensive load and patterns far tighter than ordinary buck; Sellier & Bellot 00 buck is the practice equivalent and Sellier & Bellot slugs are there if you need range. Pattern whatever you intend to keep loaded at the distance across your own hallway, on paper, before you trust it.

Other Maverick 88 configurations we carry: the 18.5 inch in FDE, the 20 inch and the top-folding stock version.