Maverick 88 or NEF Pardner Protector?

[Big D]

Hey yall. I really wanna treat myself to another HD shotgun, and am on a budget. I'm really torn though..... I love the smooth action and light weight of the Maverick 88, but admire the PP for its heft and 870-esque characteristics. Does anyone have any guidance for me?

 

[evan price]

Buy whichever one fits you the best. The Mav 88 is 90% of a M500. The NEF is an NEF.
I have several Mossbergs, inculding a Mav88.

 

[jmortimer]

The Pardner Protector is a clone of a Remington 870 - all parts are interchangeable. It has a well deserved reputation for quality and reliability. It is worth every penny. Remington is doing us a favor by importing the Pardner Protector. Bought one on the recommendation of my gun shop and love the gun. He said they have sold hundreds and have never had one returned for any reason.

 

[DaleCooper51]

The Pardner Protector is a clone of a Remington 870 - all parts are interchangeable.

I thought they had a different length magazine tube making the barrels not fit.

 

[shooter870]

I have an Mav. 88 and its a great gun, been shot alot over the last few years, and never had any problem with it.

It aint a Remington 870, but for the price ya cant go wrong.

 

[ImARugerFan]

What do these run $200? I'd get a used remington express if it were me. But in the end any of them will work just fine.

 

[gmhamilton3]

I went thru the same exercise, looked at all the $200 12gauges for HD. Just didn't like the hollow feel, ended up buying an 18" for my old 870 WingMaster for $100, added a new Limbsaver pad for $30 more, I would not trade it for anything now. A new 870 WM goes for about $600 so that kinda tells you how good the old ones are.

 

[broken]

i almost traded my winchester 1200 riot in on a used but almost new mossberg riot 18" barrell they wanted 175.00 for they would only allow me 100.00 for my winchester which i was thinking about till i compared them,it held a few more rounds but the winchester just felt right and was slick as butter so i brought her home and redid her wood again,shes home for good.i did find some closeout speer lawman slugs 2.99 a box jumped on it..

 

[jlv08]

I have the 20 gauge NEF Compact pump and she's a dandy. I've taken a lot of heat about these guns but I still stand by the quality specs NEF has manufactured in the gun.

The Maverick is a nice gun but not near as nice, IMHO, than the NEF in any form.

 

[Sicari]

25 years ago the Mossberg pump had better features than the Remington design:

Held one more cartridge
Standard 3" chamber
Ajustable choke system
Inexpensive extra barrels
Etc.

Plus some arguably better characteristics:

Lighter weight
safety location
slide release location
Etc.

Nowadays, the question is whether you want a great utility gun (Maverick) or a great utility gun that is also, by todays standards magnificent (the Chinese Pardner).

Btw, I wonder how much the Chinese would charge if they ever decided to a sell Mossberg knock-off!

 

[jlv08]

The Pardner is a good field grade shotgun. I wouldn't call it magnificent but I would say that it is very well made.

They use real walnut and apply a very decent matte bluing on the metal.

I had the 12 ga. Pardner Pump in walnut and blue and it was a hoss of a shotgun.

Just a little too heavy for me.

My Higgins probably weighs as much as the Pardner 12 did but the Higgins model 20 is a very well made shotgun that harkens back to a time when machined parts were the rule and not the exception.

My model 20 is a keeper and it will be passed down to my kids.

If my Pardner 20 ga. lasts as long as this Higgins, then I might say its somewhere near magnificent.

The Higgins is at least 48 years old and it's in very good to excellent condition and that ought to say something of the quality of the era it was made.

 

[Sicari]

Jlv, you're right.
Magnificent was a little strong; and yeah it's too heavy.
But for the price it's the cat's meow

 

[jlv08]

When I was referring to the "Higgins" I meant my recently aquired J.C.Higgins shotgun for comparison. That being the model 20 12 gauge pump.

I had a Norinco pump a while back and let it go to a friend who still has it today.

I dismissed it as being a cheap 870 knockoff,whichfor the money spent,it was.

It was not cheaply made though and I wished now I kept it.

Same outfit is making the pardner pump today.

 

[cshaum]

I keep a Pardner Pump Protector as my bedside gun, and it's a great multipurpose shotgun--even let a buddy shoot clays with it once (Informally, of course) Looks can be a bit decieving...looks like an 870, built like a tank. I've never regretted mine, but it is HEAVY and yes Dale, the barrels do not fit, however, you can kit it out with just about any other 870 accessory you want.

 

[INMY01TA]

Maverick.

 

[frankiestoys]

Bought this a couple of years ago, shot it alot when i first got it, mounted a cheap L E D light on it makes a great HD gun.

 

[jlv08]

The one feature on the Maverick that I do not like is the way the forearm is pinned to to the slide subassembly. I've heard, but can't confirm that the pins can break through the plastic and then you are looking at repair issues.

I've held the Mavericks and they seem to be nice guns.

The NEF forearm assy. is a brazed unit where the slide arms are joined to the forward area of the subassy. tube that the wood sildes over and is locked with a large round nut.

It doesn't get any stronger than that.

There are differences in the constuction of the Maverick and then NEF that I would lean to the NEF for build strength with the added plus of an all steel reciever.

Not knocking the Maverick, But compare the two too see the difference.

Heck . the NEF would even be a good club in a pinch if you run out of ammo!

I doubt you could break it.

 

[wnycollector]

I have had a 7+1 round maverick 88 w/ 20" barrel for several years. I think it is one of the best deals on the market for a new shotgun. After I crossed the thousand round mark, I have lost count. It goes bang every time I pull the trigger. It eats everything I load into it, from the cheapo wally world bulk pack bird shot to Brenneke 3" black magic slugs.

My soon to be mother-in-law has a youth pardner 20". I agree with the other posters, its a soild shotgun. She loves shooting it. Its accurate and not ammo sensitive in the least. I have been toying with picking up a youth 20ga for my oldest son or an extra shotgun for my wife to use.

In all honesty, I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

 

[jlv08]

Six of one, half a dozen the another.

They are both very good choices.

I have never fire a maverick but have, many times, fired the Mossberg shotguns and,what the hey, we have choices and either one would be good.

With most anything in life,it's preference.

 

[winchester '97]

The maverick can be had for well under 200 dollars used, i would go that route.

 

[Dave McCracken]

88....

 

[nelson133]

Had them both and passed the Maverick on to a relative who lives in an interesting area and had no gun. I kept the Partner because I have several HD shotguns about and they all have 870 type controls, In the dark of night I don't want to be trying to figure out where the safety is. That said both worked fine for me, I wouldn't have given it to Matt if I didn't think it was a good gun.

 

[MAX100]

They are both good guns but the NEF Protector offers more for the money. If both guns were made in the USA the Protector would cost more to manufacture.


GC

 

[seanie!]

I had the same dilemma and went with the Maverick 88, because for the same price, I got the 8 shot model. If it were the same capacity, I would've gone with the NEF.

 

[evan price]

The one feature on the Maverick that I do not like is the way the forearm is pinned to to the slide subassembly. I've heard, but can't confirm that the pins can break through the plastic and then you are looking at repair issues.

I've owned a Maverick 88 since 1996 and worked the heck out if it.
The action bars are pinned to the forearm.
On an M500 the action bars are pinned/rivited/welded (depends on age) to the action slide.
I've seen ONE m500 have a bar come off the slide tube.
I've never seen a Mav88 have a pin pull through the plastic.
These are large pins, and thick plastic.
I'm not saying it's impossible to wear one out or break it-
but the one M500 I saw broke an action bar off came about because the guy was using one-hand to rack the slide on the shotgun by slingshotting the whole gun up and down like they do in the movies.

Let's say on some crazy occasion it did pull through-
Replace the forearm and you are good to go.
Or, change over to an M500 action slide & forearm, and again, good to go. Simple, almost tool-less fix. Should be able to get her running again for about $20 worth of easy-to-find parts.

I would seriously doubt the ability to break an action bar on a Maverick 88 in a normal shooting lifetime.