caveman,

mine is the older style sbe, it' s 5 years old. the manual said it would not cycle any loads lighter than 1 1/8 oz reliably, but i have no problem with 1 oz or even the 7/8 oz hi-speed promo loads. i first tried these light shells in year 3, the gun already had 5000+ 2.75, 3.0 and 3.5 inch shells through it though.

it can be fickle with 2.75" winchester shells, and it can be fickle if the top surface of the shell carrier (the forked thing under the bolt) is grimey or dirty.