maverick 88 single slide arm pump

[ripsaw]

lets face it that is a really weak design.
the question is there a fix or modification for it.
lately ive been searching for a newer 2 arm reciever to remedy it, but finding a used bare reciever is a quest in itself and mossberg will not sell a bare reciever.
is there a stronger better designed single arm pump slide, will the newer dual slide work if the unused slide arm is removed and would it be strong enough and if so which one.
personaly i believe that if i can find a newer dual arm reciever that would be the best permanent fix.

 

[kalboy]

Hello and welcome to Ingo! Most pump shotguns have evolved to include double bars but many successful designs and very slick guns of the past had only one .
If you have a one bar older Mav you may wish to make sure the single bar is what's causing your issues before proceeding. Perhaps it's possible that something else is the culprit?
Best of luck as you proceed and again, a hearty welcome!

 

[davidc912]

Might end up costing you more in time and money than just going out and buying a used 500 and keep the Mav. for a knock around/nightstand gun.

My dad had a Jennings 22 that would slam fire. He wanted it fixed, but to make it safe, it would have been a complete reinventing of the wheel. (the diecast crap frame deformed around the steel barrel crimping the rim and discharging the round.) So you're machining down the frame, fitting in hardened steel where the Hot Wheels metal was breaking down, and spending tons of time on a gun that was manufactured with a couple of truly dangerous design flaws. (and books for like $30)

Sorry, to make a short story long, save your hard earned money for the important stuff like lasers and bayonets. Don't try to get more out of it than was engineered into it (in this case)... You run the risk of creating a device that's dangerous in two directions.

I run on sometimes. Good luck.

 

[ripsaw]

im thinking if i can find a newer style dual arm reciever i can just swap the parts over i am going to upgrade the forend any way so it may not be a lost cause just yet.
i read an article the other day about one of those lasting 8 years before the plastic forend broke that sounds nice but if it breaks when you need it to work....
i cant see the newer dual arm style giving that kinda grief.
in any event if it works out cool if not i will just put it back together and blast the crap out of it till it fails

 

[davidc912]

I definitely understand. And don't get me wrong. Back when I worked out of town a lot, I once spent a whole week of evenings in a hotel room in Blue Ridge, Georgia stripping an old IAC Coach12 down to the last bushing and refinished the furniture on it and cold blued the whole thing in the bathtub of my room... much to the dismay of housekeeping.

Furniture, sights, shell carriers, slings, finish... these are all relatively easy undertakings and personalize your firearm.

The things that affect how your firearm functions, also affect its safety and reliability. You can grab an old Mossberg and shake it and it sounds like a paint can full of nails. It would seem loose and inelegant, but there are a handful of things that are going on every time that gun cycles.

Everything could go without a hitch. The headspacing just matches up. The timing has enough play that the tiny new changes don't affect anything. In which case, I seem like a blowhard. But 'drop-in' parts are rarely just dropped in unless the gun is designed to be modular. And even then sometimes.

That's the scenario I worry about. After filing, deburring, dremelling, rebluing, handfitting, you find that it's now 'temperamental'. It won't take certain loads, doesn't want to eject, fires out of battery (that's a scary one) and for all of your work, money, time, and effort, you inadvertently decrease its reliability.

If you find the parts, change them out, and it all seems good, I would still seek out an old gunsmith to put it through its paces.. just a thorough once over to make sure that it does what it's supposed to and most importantly ONLY when it's supposed to.

Best luck