Federal Fusion

[Jordan]

Just wondering what you guys think of the Federal Fusion rifle shells? I bought my son a new Savage 243 that is in a youth model and the guys at wholesale sports reccommended the 95 grain soft point Fusion for deer hunting. Do any of you have any experience with this ammo and if so what do you think of it? I know that it isn't as good as reloads but I haven't got that far yet.
Thanks
Jordan

 

[olek_Z_bc]

I would try to find a federal load with barnes-x bullets in it.

I had the fusion in my 300 win mag and the performance is the same as the "walmart special" speer hot-cor ammo. I.e. the bullet still did a lot of damage on the deer.

Mind you it was a 180 grain bullet. Anyhow, i have seen the performance of the barnes-x and this is what i will be using, it does not damage meat.

Just my 2 cents. In other words Fusion ammo comes packaged in a nice box but it is a regular soft point, nothing fancy.

 

[prosper]

^bonded core softpoint, actually. It's probably fine for most applications, but it's not a 'real' premium bullet

 

[ben hunchak]

They originally named it con-fusion, to try and fool the tsx, failsafe, crowd!

 

[StoneHorse]

The Fusion rounds are very accurate in my .243 Tikka M595. I have not used them on deer....yet. That will come later this fall.

 

[Scott_N]

From the reports I've read, it's a good load for deer, but not designed for bigger critters.

 

[Jordan]

That's what the fella at wholesale said as well deer size game only. I'm jusr wondering because that's what I got them to throw in when I bought the rifle. They seem to shoot good as well. I like to use better quality bullets as a rule when I'm hunting but I just thought I would ask to see what others had to say.
Thanks
Jordan

 

[crazy_davey]

Mind you it was a 180 grain bullet. Anyhow, i have seen the performance of the barnes-x and this is what i will be using, it does not damage meat.

Interesting, a bullet that does not damage meat

 

[prosper]

^ hehehe, yeah, if it does no damage, how does it manage to kill?

 

[ben hunchak]

I told you..its con-fusion...and you fell for it!!

 

[Scott_N]

That's what the fella at wholesale said as well deer size game only. I'm jusr wondering because that's what I got them to throw in when I bought the rifle. They seem to shoot good as well. I like to use better quality bullets as a rule when I'm hunting but I just thought I would ask to see what others had to say.
Thanks
Jordan

Jordon, there was an article in "Rifle" magazine about Fusion ammo when it first came out. They tested it with some of the designers of the bullets, and they indicated that the bullet would work on larger game such as elk, but was made to perform on deer sized game. Fusion bullets are a little "softer" than other bullets such as the Nosler AccuBond and will open up a little quicker, which makes them work well on deer, but maybe not so well on a moose.

If they shoot good out of your rifle, I'd be interested to hear from you how they work on deer. It sounds like they are a great deer bullet at a reasonable price.

 

[MadAxe]

Dunno about performance on game, but they seem pretty accurate. I shot a box of 180gr .30-06 last week through my factory CZ-550 and got two 7/8" 3-shot groups at 100 yards from a cold barrel. The biggest group was 1.5" at 100 yards from a hot barrel.

 

[mistahmojoryan]

I've never used Fusions on game but I shot a box of 7mm Rem Mag/ 150gr and it was very accurate and had a great trajectory (that was w/ a 26" barrel). I also shot off a box 165gr in 300WM. Accuracy was terrible and I'm not sure why but it kicked like a mule. I've fired dozens of different loads (factory and handloads) out of that rifle from 150gr to 200gr and nothing has kicked like that. It was odd.

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

Trigger time!! Stop obsessing about bullets and the minute details of expansion or jacket retention. If the bullet hits the wrong part of the deer, it won't matter.

So, when I was learning to hunt (which came mostly as an adult) I started with a 30-06 and missed a whole lot of times. I switched to a .300 WM and things got a lot better. Not that the rifle was the problem, but I needed more confidence in my field shooting. With the 300, if I can hold on the crosshairs on the body, the shot goes in.

I would suggest taking the young hunter to a safe shooting area and practising field shooting at various distances. Give him the opportunity to get some muscle memory and visual sight pictures of what different sized targets look like at "deer" ranges. Shoot up a hundred rounds if that is what it takes, but give him the trigger time to be a good field shooter. A holdover diagram taped on the butt has always been a good reminder.

For what it's worth, most of my Saskatchewan deer have been killed between 50 and 200yds, with the longest at 450yds (by GPS). I try to shoot a standing deer who show their full ribcage. Aim for the slats, and they'll go down, or run a bit and then go down.