Is there a material difference?

[Miles2014]

i’m sure there are YouTube vids on this, but I wanted to get this community’s first hand take ...aside from tang safety position and pinned forend, is there a material difference between the 88 and the 500? I guess my question is the age old question; is one light years better than the other?

Thanks!

 

[LTB45]

I only own 4 500's, but I have shot with friends who own 88's.
Since many parts are interchangeable, I would bet most all the parts come off the same assembly line.

Edit:
Being a fan of the safety location on the 500, YES the 500 is better than the 88.

 

[RichardL]

Same gun. Literally. Same parts, same receiver castings, same machines and same people. All are made at the factory in Eagle Pass, Texas. Some parts come from Mexico, some folks will tell you. But there is no diff between the guns. They are simply diff models of the same gun. The price diff is the cost of the parts and machining diff between the models.

The 500, the ONLY better between the two, is the tang safety slot. With that, you can have either a trigger guard cross bolt safety or a tang mount. The 88 is a cross bolt only.

 

[DDDWho]

Being a fan of the safety location on the 500, YES the 500 is better than the 88.

Being a life long user of the Model 12 Winchester (the safety is in front of the trigger guard like the 88) I've grown so use to it I do it automatically. With that in mind the 88 IS better than the 500