Hello all! It's been a while but I'm finally back with more info!
I got myself a box of Hornady Dangerous Game Series 286gr SPs for $8.50! I just happened to stumble upon a deal on Brownells one morning; unfortunately they sold out before I could snag more than one box. Working with advice from earlier, I fired one cartridge in each chamber. The right chamber is the shorter of the two from the chamber cast.
The first shot is the one high to the left, the second is the one dead center; exactly where I aimed. I honestly can't remember which barrel I fired first and I'd put the high flier squarely on me; I had no idea what to expect recoil-wise so I flinched a little. Unfortunately I was limited to 50ft as I test fired at an indoor range. Everyone had to get a look at what I was shooting though
Now for the dirty details. The next pic shows the case heads after firing. The right cartridge is on the right, the left on the left. Both display very deep primer strikes with the right primer being pierced through. Both primers look as though they were flattened.
The next two pics are a more angled closeup of the case heads.
Left then right.
The next two pics I attempted to show what appears to be banding near the case head on both fired cartridges. I don't believe this is present on unfired ammo.
That's it for pics. As suggested by another user, a pulled bullet slips easily into the case mouth of the fired case, I believe indicating the case length is correct. I also did not observe any rings or any other abnormalities in the chamber/barrels after firing.
I have my theories about what is happening, but will defer to the experts first. I will probably slug the barrel(s) with a lead ball now as well just for good measure.
