Sorry for the newbie question. I just got a Benelli and have been lurking for more info and have come across this term... 7+1+1??  I understand 7 in the magazine tube and 1 in the chamber but what's the other +1?  Thanks for the help.

7 + 1 + 1
7 in the mag tube
1 in the chamber
1 on the carrier

Thanks,
Lee

how do you get a round on the carrier?

so then one could theoretically have a 7+1+6?  Why only one on the carrier I wonder...

Thanks!

Quoted: so then one could theoretically have a 7+1+6?  Why only one on the carrier I wonder... Thanks!

The carrier can only hold one shell at a time (the carrier is the lever that lifts the next tartridge up to be fed into the chamber.)  Many Benellis have the ability to be "ghost loaded" where the carrier can have a shell on it and not cause a jam.  I know of no other shotgun that allows this.  Some newer Benellis need to be modified to allow this extra, "double secret" round to be loaded.

To do this, follow this procedure:  Open the bolt and press the slide release to allow it to close.  Load up the magazine tube to capacity (usually 7.)  Now, open the bolt and while holding it, allow it to close slightly.  The carrier will lift up.  Push the carrier down, and drop a round on to the carrier.  The base of the round should be under the bolt.  Now, place another round into the chamber and close the bolt.  Voila!  You now have 7+1+1!

Quoted: The carrier can only hold one shell at a time (the carrier is the lever that lifts the next tartridge up to be fed into the chamber.)  Many Benellis have the ability to be "ghost loaded" where the carrier can have a shell on it and not cause a jam.  I know of no other shotgun that allows this.  Some newer Benellis need to be modified to allow this extra, "double secret" round to be loaded.

I have an older Beretta AL2 20 gauge that allows the "secret" +1 shell on the carrier.  It's kinda a pain to load it (rack bolt & release, fill mag tube, pull bolt back far enuff to clear chamber, drop round into chamber while still holding bolt back, drop the +1 round into action, ease bolt forward allowing it to push the +1 shell partially into mag tube & then reach finger into action & push back part of shell under the bolt, release bolt handle).  I wouldn't want to do it under duress but it does increase the capacity to 5 total shells (3 in mag tube<plug removed>, 1 chamber, 1 carrier).

Thanks for the help guys.  I've tried doing this with my Benelli and it doesn't want to take the extra round (but it is a new one, so maybe they "fixed" it?) Oh well, 5+1 is still pretty good.  

Could you point me towards the mod for newer guns to allow the shell to be carried on the carrier.  FWIW, this is for a mid 2002 SBE

Thanks

The SPAS-12 will allow a shell on the carrier. I don't know if you can do a 7+1+1 though.

Benelli M1 bolts that allow the extra shell on the carrier have one groove cut across the bottom of the bolt, perpendicular to the forward/back movement of the bolt in the receiver.  My pre-ban M1 Field is this way: gets me 3+1+1=5.

Bolts that don't allow this, have two cross-cut grooves.  My post-ban M1 Tactical with +4 mag extension is this way: gets me 7+1=8.

Have not tried swapping bolts yet, to see if the post-ban can go to 7+1+1=9.

Somewhere out there on the Internet, I have seen pictures of the bottom of the bolts that highlight the "cross-cuts" I mentioned.  I read about someone who had the second cut permanently filled, so his post-ban would do "the trick."  I think one place was www.thehighroad.org.

My Benelli M3 allows for "7+1+1" loading, which is great for 3-gun matches where the max. capacity for a limited-class shotgun in 9 rounds.