Mossberg Maverick 88 choke and Load combos

[djrcm7]

Hey guys, Im new to old Gobbler and Im shooting the walmart special Mossberg Maverick 88. Im in college and on a tight budget and I was hoping someone would have a good choke, shot combo with a good pattern. So far Ive patterned the undertaker choke tube diameter .665 with winchester supremes number 5s and was getting around 70 pellets in a 10 inch circle at 40 yards. Ive killed turkey at 40 yards but from what ive read 70 isnt a great number. any suggestions would be appreciated!

[allaboutshooting]

Hey guys, Im new to old Gobbler and Im shooting the walmart special Mossberg Maverick 88. Im in college and on a tight budget and I was hoping someone would have a good choke, shot combo with a good pattern. So far Ive patterned the undertaker choke tube diameter .665 with winchester supremes number 5s and was getting around 70 pellets in a 10 inch circle at 40 yards. Ive killed turkey at 40 yards but from what ive read 70 isnt a great number. any suggestions would be appreciated!

First of all, welcome to OG. We're glad you're here. The first thing I'd recommend is that you "deep clean" the bore of your gun. You can read the guidelines by clicking on the allaboutshooting banner below this post and then go to the article "Cleaning a Shotgun Barrel"  That process will help you regardless of the shell or choke that you you shoot.

Your gun uses Win-Choke/Invector/Accu-Choke threaded chokes so you have a great variety of choices. I find my best patterns with #6 shot (lead or tungsten-based) and the SSX works very well for me in Mossberg standard bore guns like yours.

Good even patterns are really more important than any particular number of hits. I like to see patterns in 10" that do not have large gaps, not over 1 1/2" and certainly none that exceed 2" from hit to hit. If you get that kind of pattern, the numbers are far less important.

I hope you enjoy your Maverick shotgun and have a great season. Please let us know if we can be of help.

Thanks,
Clark

[djrcm7]

Thank you very much! I will pattern the gun before this weekend and check the spread of the hits. Thanks for the tips.

[FttFttVroom!]

Clark has some great advice.  Don't get too caught up in the numbers game like most of us have, me included.  I am actually going with a more even "hunting" pattern giving up some pellets in the 10 inch ring for a better overall spread.  Cleaning the barrel effectively really does help the guns performance a lot.  If using lead is your goal, go back to Walmart and try some Federal turkey thug ammo in size 5 or 6 if you can get it.  Lots of guys here are getting great patterns with it.  Best of luck this season!

[djrcm7]

I am not dead set on lead. im not really sure the pros and cons of lead vs other shot. I am limited on money though. college is expensive. haha but Ive heard a lot about the turkey thugs. Ive only seen 5 shot in walmart and that's been running out lately. I have seen some SSX chokes for sale for around 40 bucks. If I can get a few extra hours in at work I might be able to buy one. If its really worth it.

[DirtNap647]

when i talked to a guy at pure gold choke tubes over the phone about a choke for my 835 he told me the best patterning gun for them was the maverick 88 so you may want to give him a call this was a year or two ago he can probably set you up tho

[Lucky Clucker]

Get a Tru glo gobbler stopper, choke,this combo is deadly,hevi.shot 7's,and or Remington mag, 5's.

[vt35mag]

Pure Gold .670 with Hevi 13 3" 2oz #6 or #7 or Winchester 3" High Velocity #6's for lead.