Original design of the Benelli did allow ghosting a round on top of the shell carrier. It is a great design that offered the tactical models many advantages in ready carry mode, quick changing of loads, and an additional shell in overall capacity. Both the M1 and the SBE had this feature. I have an M1 that will allow this.
Then there was a redesign and even in the older M1 and SBE were changed so they would not allow the ghosting of that extra hitchhiker shell on the carrier. This happened before the overall design change to the M2 and SBEII versions came out. I also have another later model M1 that will not allow the extra shell on the carrier.
It's all about an angle on the bottom of the bolt and can be changed with a dremel easily. The factory remodel actually occured before the release of the new M2/SBEII. So it is entirely possible to find an older Benelli that will not ghost a round. Generally, if the gun has a small round safety it has the older bolt design and will ghost an extra round. If the gun has a slightly larger triangular safety most likely it has the new design bolt.
