mossberg maverick 88

I had one as my first shotgun 18 years ago, or so. It was an inexpensive, reliable firearm. You aren't going to get a better gun for the money.
 
I own both a Maverick 88 and a Mossberg 500. the Mav has twin slide rails, as does the Mossberg. Only difference is the way the foregrip mounts to the rails. I actually have the Mossberg rails and foregrip installed on my Maverick. The synthetic stock on the Mav is not cheap, although I did replace it with a pistol grip and 6 point stock. Of the two, I use the Mav 88 more. Why? The Mossberg broke. The Mossberg has become the canibalization gun, really just a place to store my extra parts and barrel.

I use my Mav 88 for hunting with the long barrel and HD with the 18" barrel. Mossberg barrels, and virtually every other part, are interchangeable. Other than the foregrip difference, the only other recognizable difference is the safety. Mav 88 has a crossbar safety on the trigger guard, Mossberg has theirs on the top of the body. While virtually the same, and price difference can be negligible, I've had absolutely no issues with my Mav 88 since the day I bought it. My Mossberg, on the other hand, bought used for $40, sits unused. I sometimes regret spending what little I did for it.
 
"if they consider Turkey to be upper end"

I was stationed in Turkey for 2.5 years, and it seems to me you don't know much about Turkish made shotguns. They are works of art, and a source of national pride. Craftsmanship is top notch, and it is quite common to see these magnificent shotguns with thousands of dollars price tags. Like the famed rugs, Turkish shotguns are high quality, but just as you are going to find mass produced machine made rugs that are inexpensive for the average joe tourist trade (not to mention average Turk home use) you'll find mass produced shotguns. But to say a mass produced shotgun is any more or less a quality product as compared to a mass produced USA made shotgun is just foolish. See my previous post regarding my Mossberg 500.

One of my biggest regrets from being stationed in Turkey was my failure to pick up one of those shotguns.
 
Vet, I have also visited the Turkish gun shops when my ship pulled into Turkey. While I agree that they make some beautiful hand crafted shotguns, the ones contracted by the American importers are not even close to that level of quality. And yes, I too kick myself for not trying to sneak some back with me.
 
Doyle, I'm not surprised that the contract/ export guns aren't top quality, but to say a shotgun was inferior because it was Turkish just showed ignorance. Sometimes, the off brand 'economy' weapons function better than their brand name counterparts, like my Mav 88 compared to my Moss 500.

I wouldn't expect the Turkish contract/ exports to be top of the line, but they aren't exactly junk, either.
 
Current Huglu guns made for CZ and others are the main culprit of the "Turkish guns are junk" sayings. UTAS made the Kimber and S&W Elite Gold (I have one) and their machining and quality is the steal of the century right now; whereas Huglu has been hit and miss.......(sort of like the old stories about GM and Ford and cars made on Mondays and Fridays versus the other days of the week).

It's not that they CAN'T make excellent stuff, they have the CNC machines, etc....it's just that their folks are building to certain price points and sometimes they don't always come out as planned. DeHaan would take the Huglus and completely go through and fine tune/tweak everything they didn't do at the factory - that's why his cost more and lasted longer.

Belgium had their period in the early 20th century, Spain did in the 50's and 60's, Japan did post WWII also. They all got better with time; Turkey will as well, I am sure. IMO, they just aren't there YET......
 
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