Hello everyone,
I made this post a while back on Mossberg’s Reddit, and I thought it might be worth posting this information here. I’ve cleaned it up a bit to be better formatted for this site. While this was centered around Mossberg, other shotgun manufacturers tend to have the same lengths, or at the very least, they are all fairly similar. With that said, the end of the post will explain the true purpose of this information!
I am not an expert whatsoever, but
“Shockwave vs 18.5 vs 20” is something I’ve stumbled on quite often online, and I see a lot of opinions about which barrel length is best for home defense, so I’m going to try to avoid that here because it’s not my place to tell you what is best for you personally. The general rule of thumb most people follow is the shorter the better, but many will agree that this is only ONE part of the equation of choosing a HD shotgun.
Instead of focusing on barrel length, focus will be centered around overall length. The focus of this post is on the security model options that are offered with 18.5” barrels and 5+1 (sometimes 6+1), as well as the 20” with 7+1 (sometimes 8+1), and we will compare their weights.
With the 5+1’s there are generally multiple barrel lengths available. With the 7+1’s, you’re generally limited to 20” in barrel length exclusively.
The Shockwave is not classified as a shotgun, so when you buy one it comes with a letter from the BATF. It is classified as an “all other firearms/weapons” and the short and sweet version is that you cannot put a stock on this weapon without a tax stamp. You cannot put a vertical pistol grip on it without a stamp, but braces similar to what you’d find on an AR-pistol do exist for it. It has the shortest barrel of all the shotguns discussed here.
Now, let’s get to the point!
overall lengths (in inches):
Shockwave - 26.37”
Maverick 88/500 “Cruiser” PGO 5+1 with 18.5” barrel- 28.125”
Maverick 88/500 7+1 with 20” barrel “Persuader with PGO” - 30.375”
Between the three, there’s roughly a four inch difference between the Persuader and the Shockwave, and close to a two inch difference between the Cruiser and the Shockwave. That’s a two and a quarter inch difference between the two pistol gripped shotguns. Their weights are 5.25, 5.75, and 6 pounds respectfully.
Now, we already got the stock problem out of the way with the shockwave, so if you are looking for a stock, here are the differences between the 2 with stocks:
overall length (in inches):
Maverick 88/500 “Security” 5+1 with 18.5” barrel - 39.5”
Maverick 88/500 “Persuader” 7+1 with 20” barrel (also add the 590 8+1 here as they are the same length) - 41”
That’s an inch and a half difference overall. The weights are 6.5 and 7 respectively.
Bonus:
Let’s say you want to make it shorter but keep a stock instead of using PGO. That’s where shortening the LOP (length of pull) comes into play. This is done by shortening the overall length of your stock. While you can do this yourself by cutting down the stock, if you are not sure you can do that then you are better off purchasing a “youth” stock and replacing the stock that came with your gun with the replacement stock.
overall length (in inches):
Standard stock - 14.5” LOP
Youth stock - 12” LOP
That’s a two and a half inch difference!
Let’s take a look here:
overall length (in inches):
The 5+1 with the standard stock was 39.5”, and with the youth stock it would be: 37”!
The 7+1/8+1 with the standard stock was 41”, and with the youth stock it would be: 38.5”!
When the 7+1 has a 12” LOP it makes the 7+1 an inch shorter than the standard stocked 5+1, but the 5+1 becomes the shortest stocked option overall with the shorter LOP.
Conclusion:
So, if you are in the market for a shotgun currently, chances are you can’t be all that picky with everything going on right now. To me, forget about the minor differences in length and capacity and get the one you can find right NOW. You can always change the gun to be more to your liking later when things get back to normal.
I made this post a while back on Mossberg’s Reddit, and I thought it might be worth posting this information here. I’ve cleaned it up a bit to be better formatted for this site. While this was centered around Mossberg, other shotgun manufacturers tend to have the same lengths, or at the very least, they are all fairly similar. With that said, the end of the post will explain the true purpose of this information!
I am not an expert whatsoever, but
“Shockwave vs 18.5 vs 20” is something I’ve stumbled on quite often online, and I see a lot of opinions about which barrel length is best for home defense, so I’m going to try to avoid that here because it’s not my place to tell you what is best for you personally. The general rule of thumb most people follow is the shorter the better, but many will agree that this is only ONE part of the equation of choosing a HD shotgun.
Instead of focusing on barrel length, focus will be centered around overall length. The focus of this post is on the security model options that are offered with 18.5” barrels and 5+1 (sometimes 6+1), as well as the 20” with 7+1 (sometimes 8+1), and we will compare their weights.
With the 5+1’s there are generally multiple barrel lengths available. With the 7+1’s, you’re generally limited to 20” in barrel length exclusively.
The Shockwave is not classified as a shotgun, so when you buy one it comes with a letter from the BATF. It is classified as an “all other firearms/weapons” and the short and sweet version is that you cannot put a stock on this weapon without a tax stamp. You cannot put a vertical pistol grip on it without a stamp, but braces similar to what you’d find on an AR-pistol do exist for it. It has the shortest barrel of all the shotguns discussed here.
Now, let’s get to the point!
overall lengths (in inches):
Shockwave - 26.37”
Maverick 88/500 “Cruiser” PGO 5+1 with 18.5” barrel- 28.125”
Maverick 88/500 7+1 with 20” barrel “Persuader with PGO” - 30.375”
Between the three, there’s roughly a four inch difference between the Persuader and the Shockwave, and close to a two inch difference between the Cruiser and the Shockwave. That’s a two and a quarter inch difference between the two pistol gripped shotguns. Their weights are 5.25, 5.75, and 6 pounds respectfully.
Now, we already got the stock problem out of the way with the shockwave, so if you are looking for a stock, here are the differences between the 2 with stocks:
overall length (in inches):
Maverick 88/500 “Security” 5+1 with 18.5” barrel - 39.5”
Maverick 88/500 “Persuader” 7+1 with 20” barrel (also add the 590 8+1 here as they are the same length) - 41”
That’s an inch and a half difference overall. The weights are 6.5 and 7 respectively.
Bonus:
Let’s say you want to make it shorter but keep a stock instead of using PGO. That’s where shortening the LOP (length of pull) comes into play. This is done by shortening the overall length of your stock. While you can do this yourself by cutting down the stock, if you are not sure you can do that then you are better off purchasing a “youth” stock and replacing the stock that came with your gun with the replacement stock.
overall length (in inches):
Standard stock - 14.5” LOP
Youth stock - 12” LOP
That’s a two and a half inch difference!
Let’s take a look here:
overall length (in inches):
The 5+1 with the standard stock was 39.5”, and with the youth stock it would be: 37”!
The 7+1/8+1 with the standard stock was 41”, and with the youth stock it would be: 38.5”!
When the 7+1 has a 12” LOP it makes the 7+1 an inch shorter than the standard stocked 5+1, but the 5+1 becomes the shortest stocked option overall with the shorter LOP.
Conclusion:
So, if you are in the market for a shotgun currently, chances are you can’t be all that picky with everything going on right now. To me, forget about the minor differences in length and capacity and get the one you can find right NOW. You can always change the gun to be more to your liking later when things get back to normal.
