Trying to install a Hogue Stock Set on a Maverick 88

So my buddy Justin is trying to install the Hogue Stock kit with the foreend, 12in LOP onto his Maverick 88.  Up until now, we've been hearing that the Mav 88 is almost a virtual clone to the Mossberg 500 and most parts are interchangeable. 

Well, we got he stock kit and started with the forend and immediately ran into our first roadblock.  Looks like the forgrip on the Maverick 88 is a bit different than the Mossberg 500.  On the Mosserg 500, the forend is actually two seperate peices.  The grip itself slides overtop of what is called an actional slide tube assembly.  Apparently, some of the newer Mossberg 500s come with this solid plastic forend with the pinned-on action bars which many people get rid of all together because they allow no options for aftermarket forends. 

Most posts we've read all recommend replacing the Maverick 88 unit with the 7 5/8 in action slide tube assembly (retails for $54.99 from Midway USA) but we've also seen the 6 3/4 in action slide tube (retails for $25.99 from Midway USA) so we'll have to do a bit more research.  We've also read that some action slide tube assemblies don't come with the Mossberg action tube nut (retails for $9.99 on Midway USA) for 7 3/4in action tubes (retails for , and other posts say we need to get Hogue forend adapter nut (retails for $12.99 on Midway USA) that's required for the 6 3/4 in.  Looks to me like you will only need the Hogue adapter nut (which looks longer than the Mossberg nut ) if you have the shorter 6 3/4 in unit, but looking at some prices, it might be cheaper than buying the longer 7 5/8 unit plus the tube nut from Mossberg.

I'll post some pictures of our mess as soon as I get a chance.

Possible Gas Tube Issues With My AR

Well, my AR crapped out on me the other day.  I’ve had no issues shooting .22lr with the CMMG bolt conversion and probably put about 2000 rounds through it at the indoor range. No issues until I broke the CMMG bolt (It's still away on warrantee, see post here) The CMMG .22lr bolt was broken near the rear of the BCG, nowhere near the gas key.  So anyway, I haven’t shot any 5.56/.223 out of it for months, but I clean the gun pretty religiously (after every range night).  I even take the .22lr BCG out and store it in the container it came in, well oiled up.  What I neglected to do was to clean the gas tube by shooting 5.56/.223 out of it after shooting .22lr as recommended. 


Anyway, I've been itching to shoot my AR for a while since I broke the CMMG way back in early June so I took my Norc  up to PoCo outdoor range to shoot a little .223 Federal. It shot like a bolt action. The round would go out, however the bolt would stay in the forward position, spent casing not ejected. At first I thought maybe it was my extractor, but that wasn't the case because when I racked the charging handle, the spent casing came out no problems.  So I swapped bolts with my buddy and same thing, it just stayed forward. lug is dirty.

So I took it home detailed stripped the rifle, and gave all parts, including the stripped down BCG a good cleaning.  I’ll try cleaning the outside of the gas tube at the rear end a bit more, just to make sure there is a proper seal between that and the gas key.  


I even put some pipe cleaners that I got at Michaels through the gas tube.....there were no obstructions or anything, white colored pipe cleaner came out relatively clean. 

So my guess is there’s not enough gas coming out of the gas tube because I’ve gunked it up, or maybe I need to clean the gas key some more, or the bolt lugs need a more thurough, or there's a leak in the gas block, or maybe I just need to shoot some more .223 out of it.


I found a really good read here:

http://m14forum.com/m16-ar15/82977-cleaning-inside-m16-ar-15-gas-tubes.html

Cleaning inside M16/ AR 15 gas tubes
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Folks, I don't often post on this forum as I'm one of the Instructors who help teach the Armalite Police Armorer's Course. I don't work directly for Armalite, but I am a contract worker for them for this and working AR's, M1 Garands, M14's, M1 Carbines, M 1903's and O3's and other military rifles at Camp Perry. Just want to make that clear before I begin.


OK, quite frankly I'm sick and tired of the CRAP that is put out on the open market about the many gizmo's for cleaning out the insides of gas tubes on AR's and M16's. Those very long pipe cleaners are nothing but an expensive waste of time. Other cleaning devices are even more useless. You do need to keep the outside of the gas tube clean at the rear end so it will form a good seal to the bolt carrier, but cleaning out the inside of the gas tube is virtually hopeless.


First of all, there is between 9,000 and 12,000 Pounds per Square Inch of gas pressure going through the gas tube depending on what length it is. That is going to blow out almost anything stuck or blocking the gas tube on one shot. However, it won't blow out stuck pieces of those long pipe cleaners and I wish I had a dollar for every gas tube I've replaced long before it needed to be done because a piece of those pipe cleaners was stuck in a gas tube.


What usually causes a gas tube to become unserviceable is wear in the area where the gas tube enters the bolt carrier key. When that happens, replace the gas tube as you can't fix it. The other thing that calls for replacement of the gas tube is when the gas tube has had so many rounds fired in the rifle that the tube clogs with carbon residue.


I don't believe anyone has solid figures on how often you should change a gas tube to keep optimum performance in an M16/AR rifle. From my experience, I would GUESS they are good for around 6,000 to 8,000 rounds at optimum performance, depending on how dirty the ammo is that you are using. Some foreign surplus ammo is real dirty and clogs the gas tube faster than G.I. or commercial ammo.


On real M16A1's and M16A2's I've worked on over the years, the gas tubes are usually good for the life of the barrel as long as they don't get worn in the area that goes into the bolt carrier key. On active duty, we replaced them more often for that than for crud inside the gas tubes.


What I recommend is that you have the correct spare gas tube AND gas tube pin for every barreled AR upper receiver you own. Then when the rifle becomes a bit sluggish, you put in the new gas tube and pin. Also, when you put a new barrel in your upper receiver - use a new gas tube and pin for it. Doesn't make sense to use a used gas tube with a new barrel.


Gas tubes aren't very expensive. The normally run under $ 20.00 and are cheap insurance to keep a spare on hand. You will spend much, MUCH more than that on the useless gimmicks to clean out the insides of them.


Anyway, I'll keep you posted....if anyone's reading this, haha!

PoCo Outdoor Range

My pal Regala took me out to PoCo Outdoor Range and we did some shooting up there.  I didn't take a lot of pictures, but instead, just focused on shooting.  I had some issues with my AR.  I guess I've been shooting so much .22lr through it that it might have bunged up the gas tube.  The round comes out, but the bolt stays locked to the front without ejecting the empty casing.  Anyway, I'm gonna go to Michael's to grab some pipe cleaners and run it through the gas tube a few times, see if that helps.  Hope it's not leaking.

I managed to get a bullseye at 50 meters with my 1911.  I know, it was probably just a fluke, haha!

I spent most of my time playing with my 1911 and my M14.  These targets were set out at 200 meters.  I know, pretty bad groupings, but I'm pretty happy that that I got it printing at all, haha!  More to learn.

That's my kind of beach.

Shooting in Squamish, BC

My pal Jay and I went out to Squamish and did some shooting.  Since he helped me sort out my issues with my M14, I wanted to try it out and get some practice in some longer distance shooting than what I've sort of gotten used to.  I've been shooting at DVC Indoor Range mostly, which maxes out at 17 yards.  Jay also wanted to try out his Troy Modular Chassis mated to his M14. 

I also wanted to test out how the bipod and the sandbag adds to shooting.  I have to say, it definitely helped my shooting, but I still have a lot to learn.  I watched Magpul Precision Rifle recently and haven't felt that stupid in a very long time.  Let's just say that I was completely lost in the first 15 minutes.

Jay's Savage Arms .223 bolt action.

Jay bought a self-healing target.  The foam certainly works, but the metal parts don't, haha!  I nailed the stand with a 7.62 and it just seared right through it.  Unfortunately, this was not an aimed shot, just a fluke.

We found this steel plate that someone must have been shooting at.  Not sure what they were shooting, but whatever it was, it didn't penetrate.  My M14 punched a hole in it no problem.

Jay shooting his M14 with the Troy Modular Chassis installed.  He said that it was a little nose heavy, but shoots pretty straight.  That much is clear in this video.

There's all kinds of crap that people leave out there in this part of Squamish, and one particular item was this God forsaken empty milk carton.  We set it up on a log post and I was trying to nail this stupid thing.  I put two mags through it, but it just wouldn't fall.  It didn't even move.  I was a bit pissed with myself until we walked up to it and found it full of 7.62 holes.  The rounds must have blazed through it so fast that it didn't move.  Later on, I took my 870 to it with 7 1/2 bird/target load, and at least three shells didn't knock it down.  The pellets just went right through it.  I eventually vapourized it, dumping at least ten shells through it....damg you milk jug!

At Work

Cut out the Foam Insert for my Pelican 1750

Well, I finally got around to cutting out the foam that came with my Pelican 1750 to fit some of my hardware.  Even in such a large case, it was pretty hard to get everything I wanted in there.  I've been thinking about how to cut the foam out for weeks.  Ever since I got my Pelican from Cabela's, down in the states, I've been humming and hawing about how best to sort it out.  If I screwed up, it would probably cost me another $80 or so just for another foam insert.  I was searching around for ideas, and my favourite one so far was one I saw on Gun Cruzer:

Although I only have one AR and one pistol, it would have been nice to just leave my AR and my 870 in the bottom, and just my 1911 and all the mags in the lid, sort of like this picture above.  I don't know if maybe I could have fit the 1911 and my M14 in the lid, and my AR and my shotty below, but that means I would have to change the foam configuration to have one thin sheet at the bottom of the case, then a thick later to house the AR and the shotty, then a thin layer to separate the bottom of the case with the top.  Then have a thick thick layer of foam to house my pistol, all the mags and maybe even my M14, then another thin sheet to be put up against the inner surface of the lid.  Well, the foam is pretty price from Pelican so next time I go to Home Depot, I'll see if they have anything even remotely close.

Anyway, I ended up with this setup.  Just crammed my 1750 with as much stuff as possible.  I guess I could get another hard case for my M14, haha!  Well, I might also go down to Cabela's and grab one of their soft cases for $65:

Pretty amazing for $65.  I grabbed one for my buddy Jay, now I want one, haha!  It's pretty nice, should fit my AR, my shotty and my pistol in the one of the side pouches.  Less bulky too.  Anyway, I can alternate the hardcase (my Pelican 1750) between those three and my M14. 

Picked up some Federal Slugs for my 12 guage....

Haha, cigarette packs now have warning labels with really gory images on them.  Ammo packs have these sort of messages, haha!  Priceless:

Jay Fixed my M14

I was having a bit of an issue with my Norinco M14 where it would either not pass the function test after cleaning (sear wouldn't catch, therefore if shot, would go into full auto), or the trigger would hang up and get stuck.  I would squeeze the trigger, take up the slack just before it broke, but then if I left my finger off the trigger, it would just stay in position.  Other times, I would just squeeze, it would stay but not drop the hammer.  I'd then have to reef on it just to get it to break.

Anyway, my pal Jay fixed my M14 by installing a set-screw into the stock where the trigger group would sit on top of.  He got the idea from his Troy Industries Modular Chassis system and basically used the same idea to fix mine.  Once it was possible to adjust the fitment of the trigger group, he got the perfect tension and the M14 was able to operate normally again.  Thanks man!

One Of These Is Not A Real Firearm

I'm selling my Airsoft Tokyo Marui M4A1 R.I.S. to make room in the locker for some new toys, haha!  It's got all the original parts back on it so it's as good as new.  I took this chance to take some pictures of the real deal next to a pretty convincing toy.  I also mounted  my new Magpul MBUS sights in OD, as well as the VLTOR/BCM Gunfighter charging handle.