Kiss of Death wrote:So I got to thinking about these as I was getting ready to pack my stuff up for hunting. I never really did check them for length change after dropping the bolt with them when chambering in my AR. Just did and was disappointed to see it did change. Started at 2.189 in the mag, drop the bolt, remove cartridge and length is now 2.010!
Should I be ok to lower the bolt slowly to hunt with? I have a taper crimp on these of .475 currently. When I get to the press I can try getting them down to .474/.473 and see if that solves the issue.
That's the first time i recall reading that a cartridge's OAL got shorter after "slam chambering" in an AR platform. Usually, they get longer from pulling (as in inertial puller). The only time I ever experienced shortening was with 300gr Hornady XTP Mags and that was because they were running into the rifling and getting pushed back a little. Not nearly as much are you are experiencing though. Since you didn't say otherwise, I assume that if you ease the bolt into locked, they don't get shorter?
Good Luck hunting!
Hoot