Reload Animation Cancel was Removed: Bug or Not Bug?

Up until very recently, using a reload animation cancel has been consistent and useful across a handful of heroes, like Soldier 76.

Before, this is how long it would take Soldier to start shooting again:

  • Reload / Sprint = 1.150 seconds
  • Reload / Melee = 1.367 seconds
  • Regular Reload = 1.483 seconds

Now it seems that Blizzard has completely removed the cancel, as all methods now equally take 1.483 seconds before Soldier can start shooting again.

But why?
Was it a bug all along?
Or did they all of a sudden have a change of heart about it?
Or is it a bug that we aren’t able to do animation cancels currently?

I’m guessing this happened in patch 1.50 or 1.51.