Hi, I am no expert but I am a Mossberg owner and I have a few tips for people who may be looking to buy a Maverick 88 or maybe already own a Maverick 88 and are looking at ways to upgrade it. I posted a version of this on the Mossberg Reddit, but thought it may be helpful to share it here as well.
If you were to order an M500 action slide assembly and a forend, you can replace the 88 forend with the M500 action slide assembly, allowing you to use any 500/590/835 forend of your choice, BUT THERE IS A CATCH, and this is my main reason for writing this post because it seems like it isn't all that well known and I think more people need to be aware and let other owners know too.
Here's something to consider before ordering your parts - There are 2 sizes of action slide assemblies:
6 3/4" - Commonly found on the Mossberg 500 hunting models. this is a smaller sized one commonly found on models with the "squared" looking wooden forend as well as some of the other hunting models with similar forends. If you want the type of wooden forend Mossberg has on their online store, you will need this size of action slide assembly. If you want any sort of wood stock, there are much more options for this size than the option below, but there are much less tactical or synthetic options to choose from for this size. I do NOT recommend ordering this size and then getting an adapter to make the forends for the other length to fit... this is not a safe practice and you'd be better off replacing the action slide assembly again. This does not support the retrograde wood stock, but there are several types of wood stocks available for this size so I recommend this one mainly for those that prefer wood but can live without the 590 retrograde wood.
7 3/4”- Commonly found on tactical models, or security models, as well as on the 590 series. This is the one you will want if you are planning on using synthetic, tactical forends, or if you plan to get the RETROGRADE wood. A lot of aftermarket options are made for this size, including the Magpul option. You will have to do some fitting work to get the Magpul to fit properly on the 88, however, but it’s fairly simple to accomplish. This action slide assembly size is probably the one to get if you plan on changing the forend out more than once in your lifetime or are not interested in wood furniture.
I have two 88s. One with the 6 3/4” and one with the 7 3/4”. I used my experience with changing the forends on both of the firearms to write this post. There is no advantage over one or the other outside of the types of forends available.
With that said, I do feel that these cycle much smoother than the stock 88 forend, so if you own an 88 and find it to be too stiff and it has the pinned forend, you may want to try this upgrade to see if it makes any difference for you. It will only increase the value of the gun if you decide you don’t like it at all.
I hope this helps someone in their purchasing decision or upgrade route.
If you were to order an M500 action slide assembly and a forend, you can replace the 88 forend with the M500 action slide assembly, allowing you to use any 500/590/835 forend of your choice, BUT THERE IS A CATCH, and this is my main reason for writing this post because it seems like it isn't all that well known and I think more people need to be aware and let other owners know too.
Here's something to consider before ordering your parts - There are 2 sizes of action slide assemblies:
6 3/4" - Commonly found on the Mossberg 500 hunting models. this is a smaller sized one commonly found on models with the "squared" looking wooden forend as well as some of the other hunting models with similar forends. If you want the type of wooden forend Mossberg has on their online store, you will need this size of action slide assembly. If you want any sort of wood stock, there are much more options for this size than the option below, but there are much less tactical or synthetic options to choose from for this size. I do NOT recommend ordering this size and then getting an adapter to make the forends for the other length to fit... this is not a safe practice and you'd be better off replacing the action slide assembly again. This does not support the retrograde wood stock, but there are several types of wood stocks available for this size so I recommend this one mainly for those that prefer wood but can live without the 590 retrograde wood.
7 3/4”- Commonly found on tactical models, or security models, as well as on the 590 series. This is the one you will want if you are planning on using synthetic, tactical forends, or if you plan to get the RETROGRADE wood. A lot of aftermarket options are made for this size, including the Magpul option. You will have to do some fitting work to get the Magpul to fit properly on the 88, however, but it’s fairly simple to accomplish. This action slide assembly size is probably the one to get if you plan on changing the forend out more than once in your lifetime or are not interested in wood furniture.
I have two 88s. One with the 6 3/4” and one with the 7 3/4”. I used my experience with changing the forends on both of the firearms to write this post. There is no advantage over one or the other outside of the types of forends available.
With that said, I do feel that these cycle much smoother than the stock 88 forend, so if you own an 88 and find it to be too stiff and it has the pinned forend, you may want to try this upgrade to see if it makes any difference for you. It will only increase the value of the gun if you decide you don’t like it at all.
I hope this helps someone in their purchasing decision or upgrade route.
