Shotgun Advise.

**yaas** · 15-07-2015, 12:05

Good day all,

I am looking to purchase a shotgun, what is it that I need to look for when purchasing a shotgun.
I have been looking at the maverick m88 shotguns.

any advise welcome.

**SSP** · 15-07-2015, 12:22

What do you want it for?

**Springer** · 15-07-2015, 13:02

Originally Posted by yaas

Good day all,I am looking to purchase a shotgun, what is it that I need to look for when purchasing a shotgun. I have been looking at the maverick m88 shotguns. any advise welcome.

A shotgun to do what with exactly?

**PeaceOfficer** · 15-07-2015, 13:27

And what's your budget?

**cyberpuppy** · 15-07-2015, 14:02

If you want a pump action that does everything but costs less than R5000, the Maverick is a good choice. Just ask whether it has a fixed choke or whether you could install different chokes. If you want to shoot clay targets or go hunting with it, you'd want to be able to tighten or loosen the grouping at a specific distance. Aside from that, It must feel like it was built to last. Ask to handle a Mossberg 500 or 590 or basically any pump action that costs a bit more, then compare the feeling to the 88 or whichever model you decide on.

You'd want to test fire it obviously. The #1 thing to look out for is extraction problems. If you've fired a round and you can't pump it, you have a problem. New guns shouldn't fail to extract. It can be fixed, but why should you have to fix a brand new gun? I've found that it's usually birdshot that occasionally gives extraction problems. Some people reckon it's because the brass is shorter. I don't know why that's a problem, but that's what they say and that's what I've seen.

For me the most important things are whether the gun is reliable and whether I'd be able to get replacement parts if something broke. I bought the same gun City Guns uses as a demo in their indoor shooting range because it was the only one where I had solid real-world proof that it can take the abuse of being fired by complete idiots like myself day after day and with minimal maintenance and still keep firing (their's had about 1000 rounds through the barrel back then). Is it the best? Probably not. But I KNOW it works and I KNOW where to get spares if needed.