fusion bullets - performance?

[popcan]

Anyone have first-hand knowledge on the performance of 140gr Fusion bullets on deer and moose?

 

[Jeff/1911]

Anyone have first-hand knowledge on the performance of 140gr Fusion bullets on deer and moose?

No personal experience yet, but I have heard over and over from others who say they are excellent, better than they deserve to be for their price.

 

[Logan_Lamothe]

Have not used 140 grains, but 175 grains 7mm rem mags have droped 3 deer and some bear for me with the longest track job of 15 yards. 140 grains seems light for moose though, what caliber are you using?

 

[pinkmoon]

They are good. They are intended to be the ideal bullet for deer sized game. For moose or even black bear you could do better with a partition type bullet( nosler partition ) or with a solid type bullet ( Barnes tsx).

this thread is a great resource on bullet composition
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162814

 

[westcoaster]

Anyone have first-hand knowledge on the performance of 140gr Fusion bullets on deer and moose?

Not 140's, but I have used larger fusions on deer and moose with good results. I severed a moose spine a few years ago with a fusion, I found the bullet nestled against the hide on the far side of the moose. I did not weigh it but it appeared to be largely intact.

 

[prosper]

180's from a 30-06 drop deer reliably with no failures to exit. Then again, 180 grain anythings out of a 30-06 should do the same

 

[heavyBullet]

I had a nice bang flop on a deer using 150's in my 308. That said, I stopped using them because I could not get very good groupings on paper with them with my rifle.

 

[heavyBullet]

I had a nice bang flop on a deer using 150's in my 308. That said, I stopped using them because I could not get very good groupings on paper with that particular rifle.

 

[sir_springer]

As I understand it, Fusion bullets are manufactured by Speer, and marketed by Federal...both companies owned by same parent corp.

The process is proprietary, in which the jacket is applied to the lead core chemically, literally "one molecule at a time". This bonds the jacket to the core extremely well, making separation virtually impossible.

The other advantage in this is that thickness of the jacket is consistent, to within plus or minus .0003" or better. This factors into potential accuracy, as demonstrated by Sierra Matchkings which also run extremely close tolerances in this regard.

So far I've found Fusion ammo to be exceptionally accurate in my 25.06 and .300 WMs, as well as in several .300 WSMs with which I've had range experience.

In the bang for the buck dept., probably one of the best deals available for quality ammo.

IMHO and FWIW.

 

[444shooter]

Are they available for handloaders? Seems similar to Deep Curl.

 

[sir_springer]

Are they available for handloaders? Seems similar to Deep Curl.

Fusion are boattails, Deep Curls are flat base. Both made by Speer, and both are made by the same process.

http://www.fusionammo.com/technology.aspx

http://www.speer-bullets.com/products/rifle/hunting/deepcurl.aspx

I thought Fusion were available for reloading, but I can't seem to find any info on this, even on their website...???

More searching on the net turned up nothing, not even Midway USA. Did find mention that Fusion had plans to offer their bullets for reloading, but nothing indicating so far that they've gotten around to it.

 

[saskcop]

My experience with Fusion bullets is that they perform better than expected. I know that they were designed as a deer bullet, but they retain very high percentage of their weight, expand approx. 2x and penetrate well, which should make them great for everything up to moose and elk with no problems. I know that they consistently exit elk (180 grain .30-06) from reasonable angles.

 

[sir_springer]

I wouldn't hesitate for a second to use Fusion on elk or moose.

 

[popcan]

how about in 7mm-08? 140gr for moose, or go heavier?

 

[Republic of Alberta]

I would go heavier. I have never tried these particular Federal bonded bullets but from what I have seen with the Hornady interbonds (very similar construction) is that they can open really wide really fast when something hard is hit, even at 2500fps. This leaves them much wider then they are long and penetration comes to a stop pretty fast. When this happens I would bet a plain interlock would have out penetrated them.

For this reason I am sure that is why they are marketed as deer bullets, though obviously they would kill moose.

 

[350tracker]

I used the 150 gr. in my 270 WSM a few years back and did very well as for accuracy and performance on a doe...

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Used the 160s in my 308 and the 140s in my 280. All shots on whitetails were clean broadside hits on the heart. In all cases, the bullets left a 1" hole blasting apart the ribs on both sides of the entry, and a huge gaping 2-4" hole on the exiting side. Every animal was anchored on the spot but I was amazed at the amount of damage.

I went back to the plain Jane Powershocks as the group well, kill animals quickly, and do not seem to cause nearly the same amount of excessive damage nor loss of edibles.

 

[8mmpeter]

fwiw. I had a federal blue box 150gr. .308 completely disintegrate on a whitetail shoulder at 40 yards last year. Not quite the same, but it opened my eyes. My two cents.

 

[jjohnwm]

I used three 180gr Fusions out of my .300WinMag a couple of years ago to take two caribou in Quebec, very effective with complete penetration. One animal was at about 100 yards, the other lasered at 427 yards. The same trip I was fortunate enough to also take a big black bear with the same load at about 60 yards, broadside. The bullet broke one shoulder and came to rest just under the skin on the other side, looking like a photo from an ammunition ad...perfect mushroom, with one tiny piece missing.

Very impressive performance for any bullet, and especially amazing when you consider the low price of this stuff. I'm a fan.

John