kcwise1

Yes, that is exactly what needs to be done if they don't fix the slop in the carrier. I initially considered doing exactly what you've suggested, but didn't. With it being a brand new gun I figured they should correct the problem when I sent it in, and with my luck I would've fixed the loading problem and created a feed problem. My retailer (Bass Pro) ended up replacing the shotgun with a brand new one out of their inventory because somewhere in the replacement process with Benelli some wires got crossed on one side or the other. The new one works fine so all is good.

Yes, I know it has to do with friction....and if you had read my overly long original post, you would've seen that friction is a problem. The carrier not being square is causing it to not line up properly with the cut in the bottom of the bolt body which is preventing the carrier from seating far enough to allow the shell the room it needs to enter the magazine tube. I have 3 other shotguns, a Benelli, a Browning, and a Remington....none of them have sloppy and/or off center carriers, and they all function flawlessly.I'll reserve my opinon on whether or not CS is the best after I see if the 3rd time is a charm, because there's 2 strikes on the board. Hopefully I'll be able to agree with you.

Thanks for the reply. Well, it looks like this problem is only specific to me. I'm just a little surprised that I saw the same problem on 2 new shotguns on the shelf and noboby else has experienced this problem. Hopefully the replacement will work right and this will be the end of it. I do love this shotgun and hope my next hunt will go much smoother.

I have an SBEII left hand. I have a problem with it not loading shells, and my problem is very clear. If you look at the carrier from the bottom you can see that its positioned slightly to the right, and there is a small amount of play in the carrier from side to side. What happens is, because the carrier isn't square in the receiver it doesn't fully seat into the bottom of the bolt body, thus causing the problem of the shell hanging up just before it fully enters the magazine. So, if you push the carrier slightly to the left as your loading the shell, it will load the shell. I called Benelli Support about this as it surfaced my 1st time out. On top of the constant loading problem it caused a jam 1 time that was difficult to clear the live shell from between the carrier and the magazine tube. Benelli Support told me to remove the trigger group and reinstall it and usually the problem goes away. I wasn't very pleased with this response but I tried it anyway and of course it changed nothing. I took the shotgun back to my retailer and they sent it back to Benelli for repairs. I also called Benelli to make sure the description of the problem was clear. Well, when it came back, it still had the problem to a slightly lesser degree. The repair description stated they had "deepened extractor cut and adjusted carrier". The retailer stated they were going to order a new model and replace my SBEII LH. This turned into Benelli stating that they would take the repsonsibility of replacing it, and it would be 30 to 90 days to complete. This weekend I stopped into my retailer to check on the progress to find a new model on the shelf available for sale. They told me it was regular stock and mine had to be replaced with the one on special order (which leaves me with a certain amount of concern, but maybe its just the process) I asked to see the new model on the shelf only to find, yep...you guessed it, the exact same problem! I also looked at a Vinci RH model that had the same issue. Now I'm really concerned that this is going to turn into a huge waste of time. Even in my non professional gunsmith mind it's clear that the problem is either the holes drilled into the trigger group that hold the pin for the carrier are off center, or the holes for the pin that are drilled into the carrier itself are off center, or both,thus causing the off center alignment of the carrier in the receiver. And it's clear that the problem exists on a broad scale. I have a Montefeltro LH that has a properly centered carrier that has NO play in it, and no shell loading problems. I think Benelli might have a large quantity of trigger group frames or carriers (or both) that weren't produced to spec. I hope this can get resolved because I really do like the features and feel of this shotgun, but I'm not willing to spend almost $1700 and have to jump through hoops to make it work. Anybody else experiencing this problem?