I keep mine downloaded by one to preserve spring life. Total magazine capacity in my Benelli is seven shells, so I have six in the tube and one on the shell lifter.
Justin
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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Justin: "....and one on the shell lifter" -Does that mean the position of the shell when the fore-end is in the rearward position and the receiver is open?
I keep mine completely unloaded and will do so till my kids are older. In the future I will load the tube full and the chamber empty. Until you get a DAO shotgun I would never store the gun with one in the chamber (never trust the safety). One on the lifter sounds OK but not in the chamber IMO.
Shok
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"In 1789, when used without any qualifying adjective, 'the militia' referred to all citizens capable of bearing arms."
Akhil Reed Amar, Yale University
Having "one on the shell lifter" with a Benelli means that the bolt is closed on an empty chamber with a shell on the shell lifter. There is no slide with a Benelli M1S90, as it is a semi-auto shotgun.
Here's an informative article (however, I disagree with some of its points on the relative merits of semi-autos and pumps) which you may want to peruse:
Also, I load the magazine completely but leave the chamber empty, hammer back and safety on. It's a simple matter of flipping the safety off and cycling the action. That noise will solve most problems. Hell, I'd buy 20 new shotgun springs and swap them out once a week if I thought loading the gun up would make a difference. My opinion, Stuff it full. (btw, I only use 2 3/4" Magnum 12 pellet buck so that might give me a smidge more spring space if I cared)
Empty chamber, mag downloaded by one. If the sound of me racking the slide, whether it be a pistol or a shotgun, doesn't scare the BG away, the next sound sure will.