Federal Fusion Ammo.

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Can anyone tell me who's bullet Federal uses in their Fusion (gold box) line of ammo?
I was just told yesterday of yet another absolute and total bullet/cartridge failure from a 338 WM on a bull elk. Factory Fusion ammo, 225 gn and about a 350 yd shot........according to the hunter........first shot on the front shoulder broadside, big bull, nice 6X6 saw the animal, full rut. Didn't go down so gave him another through the ribs and he finally succumbed. First bullet found on the outside of the shoulder, completely flattened, smashed the shoulder but did NOT enter the cavity. Second bullet through the ribs being the kill shot, this bullet also did not exit......... a rib shot and no exit. Bullet recovered and shows classic mushroom.
The gentleman in question thought all went perfectly...........didn't realize he could easily have lost that bull after the first shot, if he hadn't been in full rut, never to be found. This is extremely anemic performance from what is supposed to be a heavy game cartridge, and not using cheapo ammo. Can't be blamed on poor reloads either..........Just another case of why I have such disdain for the 338 WM. I also suspect the animal was not 350 yds either, as I have seen this guy shoot and he is the typical 10 rds a year guy which I doubt could even hit an elk at 350 yds. I suspect he was probably close to 200 or so but regardless, even if the elk was in fact 350 yds..........extremely poor performance. Bullets held together well so this factor of the performance is not in question, just the cartridge behind the bullet that was obviously lacking.
 
Yeah it was my understanding the fusion was a rapid expanding type round? They sound popular on the cgn threads but 2 local shops I've been in this year has had them at huge discounts. I would tend to say smaller deer or equivalent size animal.
 
The have thin jackets and nothing to control expansion which is why they pancake. They are also not boat tail as shown on the fusion website. I pulled a 165gr from 300 wsm and it's a flat base with a little bump in the middle of the base. When I emailed federal a picture they said they accidentally loaded deep curl bullets instead of fusions. True story.
 
Well federal advertises their Fusion as being ideal for Whitetails. No mention of tough animals like Elk. 338 at those distances, look elsewhere for tough penetrators. Sounds like fusion did exactly what it was designed to do. Poor choice.
 
Fusion is actually budget line from Federal, not a premium but entry level equivalent to blue box is my understanding, with a purportedly bonded bullet. I actually like the stuff and have taken a bunch of critters up to big bull moose with it. Has worked very well for us, and usually the cheapest not bad ammo on the shelf.
 
It's a deer bullet with a soft core and a jacket that is actually plated to the lead core instead of swaged like a typical cup and core bullet. I would still expect more coming out of a .338 Win Mag but not really the bullets fault.
 
Well. it all depends... I don't have any particular affinity for Fusions, or the .338. But wonder about the first shots exact placement. If the bullet hit the head of the humerus, just where the scapula joins, all bets are off except perhaps for solid metal bullets like the TSX. A couple years ago I shot a bull elk in the "front" shoulder (LOL) with my .375 H&H. It was quartering towards me and I hit that joint. Bullet veered off 45° and ran along the ribs instead of penetrating. A quick second shot put him down. I was shooting a well regarded 260gr. Nosler Partition. I have seen a couple of cup and core 150 gr. .308" bullets stopped dead in that exact joint in elk, penetration was about 2". The bone in that joint is very hard and dense. So I wouldn't be too critical of the .338 or the Fusion bullet, sometimes a bullet just hits a really hard spot. As far as not exiting on a rib shot, that is also typical of all wide opening bullets like the fusion. I prefer an exit hole, so shoot mostly "premium" bullets that will give an exit. Nosler partitions, Grand Slams, TSX, Bear Claws, etc. Fusions are among the cheapest bullets out there, and are designed for wide expansion, expecting more is not realistic.
 
For a "budget" round, Fusion has impressed me with the 165 grain loading in .308 on deer at least.

Though at around $2 a pop, budget ain't what it used to be (wish you could buy the bullets as components).



Kills fast too.

 
Like I said in the beginning, my issue is not with the bullet per say. Both bullets stayed together and gave the kind of performance I'd expect from a 270 or 7-08 or 308 or any other marginally adequate cartridge........but this is a 338 Winchester magnum, this is a cartridge that some people trust their lives on when chasing grizzlies around. My point is the bullet stayed intact and did not exit on a rib shot...........a 225 gn bullet supposedly starting out at 2850 fps and it did not exit through the ribs of an elk. Remember the bullet did not break up or fracture or even pancake.........it just did a nice classic mushroom, and then failed to exit the other side. This is not a thread about bullet failure in my opinion, it is a thread about a cartridge supposedly being something it's not.........a true medium bore. Meaning it should do more on bigger game than a 300 or 30-06 or 7mm RM, when in fact it did not do as good a job as any one of these three.
Now of course, he wants me to load some cartridges for him, and "soup them up" as he put it..........think I'll load him some 210 Parts and soup them up a little, bearing in mind of course that all his brass is FC. That will severely limit any great "souping", but they should give better performance with a little higher velocity.............but then it is just a 338.............
 
I can only speak of using the 140gr fusion in 7-08 for myself and my son. We have harvested a half a dozen deer with this offering

Worked well and never recovered any. Significant damage internally, enough to not have any concerns. (If memory serves me correct there were never any heavy shoulder/bone shots) Certainly performed better than our first reloads of SST's last season but I don't want to put this thread into the weeds.

My understanding, from the reloading forum, a poster once advised me that the fusion bullets were Speer Grand slams. I never researched it after that. It wouldn't surprise me if the bullets used in the fusion round were indeed something other than advertised. I've got a few around and now I want to see if the bullets are flat base and would like to determine if they are just cup and core after all.

Regards
Ronr
 
I never saw my 338 WM do anything remarkably different than my 300WM which is why I went to 375s- first HH and now the NEW KING.

The 338-06 and 338 Fed impress me by putting a bigger bullet in standard size cases, the 338 Lapua impresses me as a long range cartridge but the WM leaves me flat. :)
 
Maybe a stouter bonded bullet with a thicker jacket for elk, such as trophy bonded? As has been said before, despire being a bonded bullet, Fusions have relatively thin jackets.
 
inthehizzy said:
Maybe a stouter bonded bullet with a thicker jacket for elk, such as trophy bonded? As has been said before, despire being a bonded bullet, Fusions have relatively thin jackets.
Click to expand...

The bullet DID NOT FAIL what I find totally unimpressive is that it did not penetrate the shoulder nor did it exit on a broadside rib shot. There seem to be a lot of guys here who aren't reading what I'm writing down...........The bullets did not fail, they just did not penetrate, and what is the most distressing is that it was a 225 gn bullet from a 338. We're not talking a 130 from a 270 or a 140 from a 7-08 or a 150/165 from a 308.............we're talking a 225 gn bullet from a 338 Win Mag............and we're not talking point blank nor stupid long range, it should be well within the range where one should expect optimum performance.
 
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