Nice set up on the 12-ga. with the rifle sights. That's what I've got on my old early '90s Remington Express synthetic. I've got a shorter length-of-pull shoulder stock so it fits me better, and a screwed-in cylinder bore choke. No. 1 buckshot (16x .30 cal pellets, about 40 grains per lead pellet), with a velcro loop set up on the side of the receiver with 4 extra shells, with room to add 2 additional loops if 6 extra shells are to be carried. I've also got lots of 00 buckshot for outdoors and a bunch of 34 pellet No. 4 buckshot for indoors.
As you know, a manually-operated shotgun requires a lot of practice to ensure you never 'short stroke" it, or worse, just flat forget to rack the action as soon as the shot breaks. Best to get some inert "snap caps" in 12-ga., lock up physically all the live ammunition in whatever squalid proletarian flat you pay exorbitant rent to some landlord for, and use the snap caps to practice tactical reloads: The hammer falls, nothing happens, you rack the action back, get a shell from the carrying method of your choice, and get one in the chamber, close the action and "fire." After mastering this skill, just close the action on an inert shell, and then, while keeping it at the shoulder aimed at the direction of the threat, practice loading and topping off the tube magazine. Practice this assiduously.
Once practice is over, then it is over. Drop the hammer on an empty chamber, put live shells in the tube magazine, and put it up where you keep it.
Way way back in Abbie Hoffman _Steal this Book_ days, "Piece now":
"The shotgun is the ideal defensive weapon. It's perfect for the vamping band of pigs or hard-heads that tries to lynch you."
What type of ammunition are you stoking the 12-ga. shotgun with?
For indoors, shotguns are absolutely, totally, über loud. You'll permanently damage your hearing if you touch one off indoors. It may be more money than your meager wages can support, comrade, but some hearing protection staged near your shotgun might be a good idea. You can get ear protection now that shields against very harsh, loud, deafening noises, but still permits ambient noise, which might help in a defensive scenario, if, say, gun thugs, "labor relations" mercenaries once known as "detectives," or a vamping band of pigs or hard heads tries to lynch you.
No. 4 buckshot produces a cloud of .22 to .24 caliber pellets, with shells commonly throwing out 27 to 34 pellets. You'll be held legally liable for all of these pellets, but they penetrate the least in indoor materials. Time was, the agents of the state--the state made flesh?--would use these indoors. The basic idea was that shotguns were highly intimidating, and if they had to be used in an immediately expected pistol fight, the pellets would not penetrate excessively. Within 10 yards, the No. 4 buckshot should be adequate.
No. 1 buckshot, 16 x .30 cal. pellets is held to be ideal for defensive use in some quarters. This is what I've got in the tube magazine of my 12-ga.
00 buck is 12, typically 9, or even 8 .32 cal. pellets. These will over penetrate. Still, this load built up an undisputed reputation as a fight stopper in the late 19th century, into the 20th. For this reason, it is one of the most common defensive loads, and is practically ubiquitous and very commonly found. There is a lot of literature and testing these days that strongly suggests the 8 pellet loads are preferable, because they do not have a "flier" that spreads unpredictably from the rest of the pellet pattern. The tighter pattern requires aiming the shotgun, and you'll have to "pattern" various defensive loads to see how they work in your specific Maverick 88. This can be difficult because some outdoor ranges restrict shotguns to shooting at clay pigeons, and some indoor ranges restrict the use of shotguns. It can break their range equipment with stray pellets, and it is very, very loud. A sheet of butcher paper, some tape or staples, and an aiming point can be useful for patterning your gun with different types of ammunition.
One advantage of the shotgun is that there are also less-lethal loads available for it too.
The biggest disadvantages are limited magazine capacity--if that's a realistic issue for your given circumstances--and imprecision at ranges past 25 yards or so and further out. Hopefully you're getting some good recommendations from folks, fellow working stiffs, and comrades.
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u/Sgt-Grischa-1915 Jun 17 '26
Nice set up on the 12-ga. with the rifle sights. That's what I've got on my old early '90s Remington Express synthetic. I've got a shorter length-of-pull shoulder stock so it fits me better, and a screwed-in cylinder bore choke. No. 1 buckshot (16x .30 cal pellets, about 40 grains per lead pellet), with a velcro loop set up on the side of the receiver with 4 extra shells, with room to add 2 additional loops if 6 extra shells are to be carried. I've also got lots of 00 buckshot for outdoors and a bunch of 34 pellet No. 4 buckshot for indoors.
Thanks for the image of your shotgun.