Building A Budget Battle Shotgun
Getting the Biggest Bang for Your Buck
I think it started when I was about 16 years old. I was pretty involved in the cutthroat world of showing and training paint and quarter horses. I routinely was sharing the arena with people who paid more for their horses than I eventually did for my first house.
I held my own all across the Midwest with a mare we got out of an auction barn for less than $3,000. No paltry sum of its own, but a fraction of the cost of many of my competitors.
I’ll never forget, after a particularly successful morning in the show ring, the guy I was training with at the time was riding by and saying, “I wouldn’t tell them what you paid for that mare if I were you.”
Dollars & Sense
From that point forward, I’ve always taken particular pride in doing more with less. Part of it is my contrarian nature, and part of it is the drive to develop skill rather than using gear as a crutch.
We’ve all heard the old chestnut, “it’s a poor craftsman that blames his tools.” In recent years, I’ve modified it slightly to include, “and it’s a poorer craftsman that relies on the tools to impart skill.”
Still, ours is a pursuit of equal parts art and science. As such, there will always be those who correlate price tags to capabilities. Often, this mindset discounts entirely the biggest weakness in the entire outfit — the joker behind the trigger.
And here lies the challenge I set not only for myself: How serious of a fighting shotgun could I build for the least amount of money?
While shotguns are falling out of favor with internet gurus, the shotgun still holds great value with the real-deal folks I know. It’s also true for me as someone who built his early firearms skills over beagles with a single-shot .410.
The Build
The build itself is easy. Anyone can stack up some receipts and show you what you can get for a certain amount of dollars, then shoot a few rounds in the backyard to show it “runs.”
This wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to do a budget build then put it through a rigorous 3-day gear check at an off-site Gunsite Shotgun Class to answer the question, “Can a budget-minded shotgun build make it through a top-tier 72-hour intensive shooting class?”
I knew exactly the bones I wanted to anchor this build around. The Mossberg Maverick 88 Security is a workhorse design, a formative fighting arm without any frills. My preference for shotguns has always been a pump action. While semi-auto can take some of the bite out of the recoil and allow for faster follow-up shots, I’ve always liked the reliability of a pump action. The Mossberg Maverick 88 Security has a list price of $262, checking off my first few requirements.
The list of upgrades and accessories I wanted was pretty simple. I wanted to upgrade to an adjustable stock and needed a side saddle for ammo management. I wanted to add a rugged dot-style optic and would need a weapon-mounted light and a sling.
The first thing to resolve was the stock and side saddle. I opted for the ATI Outdoors T3 Gen2 adjustable stock and the Gen2 Halo aluminum side saddle. At $129.99 and $74.99 respectively, they fit my build perfectly.
The side saddle quickly bolts on most drilled-and-tapped shotguns. The Maverick was neither, but I was able to remedy that.
The side saddle also delivered a Picatinny rail to allow for mounting optics. I wanted to keep a low profile and while open-emitter optics have been popular with turkey hunters for years, I wanted something a little more robust. The Riton 3 Tactix EED fit nicely after pairing it with an adapter to mate the pic rail with the ACRO footprint of the optic. The added height of the adapter proved useful as I don’t think I would want it any lower. At $349.99, the sight cost more than the shotgun itself but we’ve said for years to “spend at least as much on the optic as the gun,” right?
The weapon-mounted light is the Inforce WMLx. Because I’m using a pump shotgun, I didn’t want a corded light with a pressure pad because the cords tend to get tangled in the action. The rear of the WMLx is tapered and features a recessed activation button that is easy to manipulate, while a throw lever allows for continuous on or momentary function. Two 123a batteries deliver a powerful 900-lumen beam, making a slick little package for $179.99.
For the sling, I went with the Shield Arms Mountain Partisan. The oversized adjustment loop is easy to manipulate and the integrated elastic in the sling provides additional comfort. Sure, there are cheaper options than the $79.99 Mountain Partisan but the sling is the holster of the long gun and this is not a spot to skimp.
With some miscellaneous hardware mixed in, the build came together at just under $1,100. While this may seem like we skipped the “budget” part, some of the popular fighting shotguns on the market right now can’t be had for this price tag — and still require all the accessories I just ran through to reach the same level of build-out.
The Challenge
Now, putting together a build is all well and good, but what if it can’t perform? Talking to friends, a few questioned if an entry-level shotgun like the Maverick would hold up to the Gunsite Shotgun 160 class. This course, offered at various offsite locations, is an abridged version of the full Gunsite 260 but still present the modern technique as it applies to the shotgun — and you will shoot! In three days, I went through about 325 rounds of bird shot, 50 or so slugs, and another 50 or so buckshot. A fair test, I’d say.
Test Results
Without a doubt, the most underrated benefit of formal training is the spotlight it puts on your gear. If you’re going to have problems, you’ll find it on the firing line of a multi-day class.
I arrived at the range having only fired about 10 rounds, in order to get the red dot sight on the mark. Over the course of the next 425 rounds I had exactly two issues with the Mossberg Maverick 88 Security and both were my fault.
In my rush to execute a clean, fast bump drill in an attempt to earn a challenge coin, I double fed the gun and left a round dangling in the elevator.
I also had a problem with the magazine feeding properly. The Inforce light was mounted with a clamp-style pic rail section bolted between the magazine tube and barrel, clamping onto both. When sufficiently tight to prevent walking under recoil, this clamp put enough pressure on the magazine tube to cause misfeeds.
For the purpose of the class, I simply loosened the clamp enough to let the magazine function and dealt with the small amount of walk. In truth, if not for the sheer volume of rounds during the class, I’m not sure I would have even found this little hiccup. I’m still looking for a better solution for mounting the light.
All told, the gun ran incredibly well. I had good luck patterning a couple buckshot loads though slugs were not, quote, “as successful.” Worth noting, aside from some borrowed Flight Control rounds for pattern comparisons, I was throwing the cheapest shotgun ammo the internet could provide at the Maverick. It ran all of it well.
I know my shoulder appreciated the added padding and comfort of the ATI stock, and more than a few members of the class remarked about the 9-round capacity of the side saddle.
Admittedly, I was unsure if I would be happy with this many rounds onboard and I did a fair bit of experimentation to see if they were all needed. As it happens, the optic and the right-side shell holders actually created a nice little slot from which to drop in an over-the-top speed load. It took a bit to find the stroke, but once I discovered I could run my hand right up to the back of the optic and drop the round in, my speed got faster and the runs got cleaner.
I also found the three-round strong-side location to be the best place to run slugs and plan to stage it, cruiser-ready, as such — six rounds of buckshot on the support side, three slugs strong side and seven rounds of buck in the magazine. No wondering under stress what I just reached for in the dark. If it came from the strong side, it was a slug, otherwise it’s buckshot.
Takeaways
I’ll drag out my soapbox while you all go searching for week-old tomatoes to make ready for a viscous volley.
First, I’m sick of hearing from the “all-you-need-is-an-AR-and-a-poly-nine” crowd. I’m no operator. I never wore a badge. But I know more than a handful of both. To a man or woman, they all acknowledge the value of a shotgun in a fight. A real fight, not the internet food fights where this discussion always seems to appear. Forgive me, anonymous internet operator, I’ll go with what the real ones are telling me.
Moreover, I know my skill with the platform. For me, excluding the shotgun from a home defense plan would just be silly. It would be like telling Tiger he can’t have his Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Putter, or telling Caitlin Clark she can’t shoot the three.
It’s a platform where I have above-average skill. Why would I willingly take it out of my hands?
Secondly, there exist a large number of folks in our little niche industry who need to separate the concepts of price and performance. One does not ensure the other. No product is so good it can overcome a shooter who lacks skill. Spending more money on gear than the person in the next shooting lane doesn’t put rounds in the 10-ring. It comes from time, sore shoulders, blistered trigger fingers — and improving skills.
As for me, I’ll put my shoulder and the little Mossberg Maverick 88 Security up against just about anyone.