Hi everyone,

I’m new to owning a shotgun and have recently purchased a Mossberg maverick 88. I bought it at a pawn shop and it looked very clean and functioned well. Except I didn’t check to see if the trigger worked.

When I pump the gun it doesn’t “click” when I pull the trigger. Yes it’s off of safety. The slide lock works and I didn’t short stroke it. I have another of the same model that works fine.

I took it apart and reassembled 4 or so times. The trigger works outside of the gun just fine. On one reassembly the trigger actually worked but only if you pulled back and left. Now it’s not doing anything at all. Any suggestions?? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

After you pump it, before you pull the trigger, do you know if it is cocked? Maybe something in the mechanism keeping it from setting the hammer to cocked. youtube.com is your friend, lots of troubleshooting videos there on the mossbergs. Also lots of triggers for sale on ebay cheap. Also you got that extra mossberg model. You can exchange triggers and see how the triggers act in other guns. You will figure it out pretty soon.

That’s a good idea, I’ll try the other trigger in it. You tell if it’s cocked by the trigger extending more, correct?

Once upon a time I had a 16 gauge Remington Model 11 that had about the same mysterious trigger problem.

On close examination exactly one piece of shot, had worked down in the trigger mechanism.

It’s worth checking. A stray piece of lead can cause a lot of strange problems.