SON OF A...

Well, I just had my first failure with my Mossberg Maverick 88. First, some perspective. I've been on a mission to see what kind of abuse a cheap shotgun can take.

- This gun has over 12,000 rounds through it.

- I have cleaned the gun 3.5 times. The first 3 times were when I cleaned it roughly every 1000 rounds before going on my torture test mission. It has not been properly cleaned since around the 4000 rounds poiunt. The half clean was simply a rinse and wipe down of the exterior to remove mud and grime after a swamp test.

- I've fired it under a few feet of snow

- I've fired it with the action and barrel jammed with mud and debris

- I've fired it after dunking it in Alberta muskeg (hence the rinse treatment)

- I've tossed it out of a moving truck a few times

- I've fired it in temperatures from +35 down to -35

- I've fired it in freezing rain

- I've frozen the action shut and fired it

- I've drop kicked it down a mountainside

- In one test I loaded, fired, loaded and repeated so quickly and with so many rounds that the barrel began to change color from the heat. I believe the count was 200 ish shells with about 10 minutes give or take (didn't have a timer running) of constant firing and reloading

- It's been rudely exposed to dust, dirt, grime, mud, ice, snow, water (salt and fresh), swamps, you name it.

- I've probably abused it in ways I don't even remember.


Now, on to the failure. I was reorganizing some stuff in my gear room and had the shotgun leaning against the table while I pulled some other guns out of the cabinet. I bumped it and it fell over, landing on the concrete floor.

Now the action won't open more than half way. The trigger housing pin seems to be shifted out of position or loosened somehow and that's jamming up the action. Now I need to figure out how to disassemble this thing without opening the action...

 

Nevermind. IT LIVES!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Beat it on the ground to break the action loose. Tap the receiver pin with a drift punch. Smack it a couple times. Problem solved.

Mikhail Kalashnikov would have been proud to own this gun.

 

Some times you have beat things to make them function.....dirty minds chime in now...3.. 2...1...

 

Mossberg.... I own 3 of ‘em! But I treat them better.... lol

 

pictures of said gun ?

 

Ask and ye shall receieve. Took a few close up ones to show the wear in spots. Magpul SGA buttstock hasn't held up well. A few hard impacts caused the loss of the washer that holds the LOP spacer pin in hence electrical tape and the pop in cover that goes over the mounting bolt on the grip, hence the hockey tape (true Canadian fix eh?).

The gun is still in surprisingly good shape. No major dents. Just scratches, pockmarks, chips etc.

 

If beating it doesn't work, then try forcefully sticking it into some more dirty places. Get creative!

 

I too have beaten the shot out of this mossberg...just keeps on going bang...every frigging time.

 

My little brother received an 835 Ultramag for Christmas in the early 90s. Running out of ammo was never a concern because you could bludgeon a polar bear to death with it.

 

Sounds like someone was a little bored up there in the cold north!!

 

Between shooting polar bears, ice fishing for narwhal, managing sled dogs and preventing my igloo from melting due to global warming I'm far from bored.

 

@Pinay 's favorite giffy........just sharing for no particular reason.....and it's kuul.....

 

...and there's that one too........

 

Steve Smith would be proud......

 

You have big brass balls firing a shotgun with a barrel jammed with mud. I’ve cut shotgun barrels back and they’re NOT what I would consider “hard steel” by any measure.

Impressive that it still worked after all that.
Gives me high hopes that my 500 that sits by the bedside was a good choice!

 

Haha awesome test! I love my 500. Not nearly as abusive as your sir so I should be good for the rest of my life haha

 

I love my 88. Great shotgun for very little $. My 18.125" barrel use to be a 28". Kinda like the ribbed barrel on 18".

 

I only have one shotgun in my arsenal, a Remington 870 Express Magnum. If the sound of it cycling another round into the chamber doesn't scare you, then nothing will.

 

I admit, I pulled the trigger with a string. My balls aint that big. Lol

 

LOL - Glad you hear you don’t clank when you walk!