If you had the bolt out of the rifle, the baffle could have rotated around the bolt body and then fallen off. If you can go back with a magnet you could search the ground around where you were shooting.
I once dropped a teeny-tiny-eensy-weensy scope ring screw outside because I was stripping paint off the rings with brake cleaner. I looked and looked, and finally gave up as it was getting dark. The next day, I went back with a magnet and found it in about 2 minutes.
(I was using a very strong magnet salvaged from a computer disc drive. Interestingly enough, it also picked up a lot of dirt because we have a lot of iron in our soil...but I digress).)
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