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Maverick 88 Pump Action Troubleshooting

Went today and didn't think to look at the bolt or extractor arms, but it racked about the same as mine. Might go to Walmart this week and see if I can checkout one of theirs. If that does not work, will just post some pics of what all my parts look like so y'all can see what i am talking about. Gonna try to put some more rounds through her this week as well and see what happens. I am gonna start with the Remington stuff instead of the Winchester, just for kicks and giggles.

Had a chance to put another 19 rounds through Miss Dixie yesterday. I think I may have found an issue with the way I was loading the first round. My theory is that I was not closing the breach firm enough. I tried it this time by well closing it more firmly. 19 rounds with no issue. Mixed with Remington Express #4 and the remainder of my Winchester #8. Verdict is still out. Looks like I need to buy more ammo and shoot a bunch more.
 
Maverick 88 problem, light primer strikes/misfires.

I've had the 88 for around 10 months now, and the problem has been ongoing but intermittent. I e-mailed Mossberg customer support and haven't received a response yet, so I may end up calling them tomorrow.

Basically, the primer of shells are being struck but not firing. When it's bad, it's 1-8 shells out of a box of 25, and sometimes they'll fire with a second attempt. Not always though.

I've read/watched a video that stated the problem is a "half cock notch" not allowing the hammer to fall fully. I"m not sure if that's the case here, but the symptoms people are reporting are nearly identical.

I like the gun, and I hope Mossberg will fix it but if not I can see if a gunsmith will or last resort, I can if that half cock notch is truly the problem.

Has anyone here had this issue or had it resolved? I'll take a look through the forums and see as well.
 
I posted a stand alone thread, but basically my Maverick 88 is striking primers of shells but not firing them, from anywhere from 1-8 times per box of 25 shells (generally cheap Remington gun club stuff). I've tested several types of ammo, they have the problems as well, so I've ruled out the ammo.

Others online report the problem as the "half cock notch" so I e-mailed Mossberg and haven't received a response yet. I'll try calling them tomorrow.

I like the gun, and I need to check if it's still in warranty, but if not I'll simply have a gunsmith fix the problem if I figure out what it is.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Re: Maverick 88 problem, light primer strikes/misfires.

I had a problem with one of my Mavericks doing the same thing. Sent it back to Mossberg. They replaced the trigger assembly. No problems since then. Once in a very great while (one out of 200) I'll have a S&B primer do it. Take care. Tom Worthington
 
Re: Maverick 88 problem, light primer strikes/misfires.

Tom396 said:
I had a problem with one of my Mavericks doing the same thing. Sent it back to Mossberg. They replaced the trigger assembly. No problems since then. Once in a very great while (one out of 200) I'll have a S&B primer do it. Take care. Tom Worthington
Click to expand...

Good to know! I checked my date of purchase, I bought it on 11/19/2012 so I've got under a month to get this back under the warranty. I probably should've sent it in earlier but I put it off.

Did they have you send back the entire gun or just the trigger assembly?
 
It's hard to tell exactly what's going on with your gun from here, but I would be checking the bolt and firering pin and spring. Have you given the bolt a good cleaning? Just another thought.
Keep us posted what Mossberg say's.
 
old mossy said:
It's hard to tell exactly what's going on with your gun from here, but I would be checking the bolt and firering pin and spring. Have you given the bolt a good cleaning? Just another thought.
Keep us posted what Mossberg say's.
Click to expand...

I did, cleaned it inside and out and took the entire thing apart (it's a pain to get certain parts back in!) so I'm relatively sure it's not lack of cleaning in this case.
 
The firering pin ,spring and washer look ok?
We have a contact at Mossberg, send him an email and see what he says. Mav 88 has a 1 year warranty.

Joe Zakher
jzakher@maverickarms.com

Keep us posted.
 
Re: Maverick 88 problem, light primer strikes/misfires.

MercyfulFate said:
Did they have you send back the entire gun or just the trigger assembly?
Click to expand...

Entire gun. Take care. Tom Worthington
 
old mossy said:
The firering pin ,spring and washer look ok?
We have a contact at Mossberg, send him an email and see what he says. Mav 88 has a 1 year warranty.

Joe Zakher
jzakher@maverickarms.com

Keep us posted.
Click to expand...

Everything looked okay to my eyes, but I'm not an expert so I can't say for sure.

I purchased the 88 on 11/19/2012, and my worry is with how long it takes to ship, that it will be "out of warranty" once they begin working on it.

Do you think it's worth it to go through the trouble, or would it be better to just bring it to a local gun smith?
 
Re: Maverick 88 problem, light primer strikes/misfires.

Tom396 said:
MercyfulFate said:
Did they have you send back the entire gun or just the trigger assembly?
Click to expand...

Entire gun. Take care. Tom Worthington
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm debating sending it, because the warranty is technically only valid for 20 more days, I'm worried it won't be covered by the time they get to it.
 
So I just talked to UPS, the shipping alone would cost me over $100 estimated to get it to Eagle Pass, TX...that's over half of the cost of the gun. It's not worth it since I paid about $175 to get it in the first place.

Either I'm going to find a gunsmith that can fix the issue for cheap or I'll file off the notch myself (if that's the issue). Otherwise I guess I can sell it off to someone for cheap, I don't really want to do that though. I should've acted on fixing it sooner, but I kept putting it off and giving the gun the benefit of the doubt, but it's only gotten worse.

From reading different posts on the internet, is there anyway for them to just agree to sending only the trigger assembly in? It wouldn't cost me 3/4 of what the gun cost, and is likely the issue causing the light strikes.

I hope so, otherwise I'm left with no option but to try and fix it myself, if it is truly the half cock notch issue.
 
A call tag means FREE shipping back to the factory for repair.
It is actually the shipping label they will send you.
 
LTB45 said:
A call tag means FREE shipping back to the factory for repair.
It is actually the shipping label they will send you.
Click to expand...

Oh okay. That'd be nice considering how costly it is to send the thing!

We'll see if I can get this resolved before my warranty runs out. :oops:

It's making me think I'm not skimping on long guns in the future. My friend bought a Savage Arms Stevens 320, it was almost identical in price to the 88, and the thing fell to pieces the first day he shot it. Sights fell off, magazine tube spring shot out...it was a mess. Took him nearly 6 months to get it back, and the first time he shoots it, the plastic husk from a 20 gauge shell gets lodged in the barrel!

Talk about bad luck.
 
First thing I would do if I were getting light strikes is strip the gun and clean it very thoroughly, paying special attention to the bolt assembly.

Secondly I would drift out the retention pin in the bolt and remove the firing pin and spring.

Cut HALF A COIL no more off the spring and reassemble. Try the gun again. I'll bet that solves the problem ?
 
Malagamarksman said:
First thing I would do if I were getting light strikes is strip the gun and clean it very thoroughly, paying special attention to the bolt assembly.

Secondly I would drift out the retention pin in the bolt and remove the firing pin and spring.

Cut HALF A COIL no more off the spring and reassemble. Try the gun again. I'll bet that solves the problem ?
Click to expand...

I may do that after, Joe got back to me and said I can send him just the trigger assembly which I will, and I hope it's the problem. If not, nothing will change and I'll simply have eliminated the assembly as the issue.
 
I can't decide if I should just send in the trigger assembly, or also the bolt just in case the firing pin is the cause. It would just be two pieces instead of one, I'm just worried if I send in only the trigger assembly and it's not the problem, I'm back at square one and my warranty is now out of date.
 
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