Federal Fusion

[Bwana Barry]

So much has been discussed on FEDERAL FUSION - both very good and also very bad.
Federal marketed as "The Best Deer Bullet", but this seems to have now changed - look at the advert in ManMagnum Magazine...I have loaded, but not hunted yet, 180gr in my 30-06. I have shot six medium to large E Cape kudu in the past two seasons with 140gr Fusions in my 6.5x55 - with great success. PLus, approx 12 springbok, 2 x warthog ad a Fallow Deer - Virtually drop-dead and all with +- 95 % bullet-retention @ 2650fps - double lung and neck shots not exceeding 180mtrs.
Do the 180's perform worse? Should I be concerned using them?

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

So much has been discussed on FEDERAL FUSION - both very good and also very bad.
Federal marketed as "The Best Deer Bullet", but this seems to have now changed - look at the advert in ManMagnum Magazine...I have loaded, but not hunted yet, 180gr in my 30-06. I have shot six medium to large E Cape kudu in the past two seasons with 140gr Fusions in my 6.5x55 - with great success. PLus, approx 12 springbok, 2 x warthog ad a Fallow Deer - Virtually drop-dead and all with +- 95 % bullet-retention @ 2650fps - double lung and neck shots not exceeding 180mtrs.
Do the 180's perform worse? Should I be concerned using them?

I think the velocity has a lot to do with it.

 

[Bwana Barry]

I think the velocity has a lot to do with it.

The "bad" reports are probably too fast.
The 140gr and 180gr are travelling at very close to the same speed in my two rifles, with 30-06 loaded for 2700fps

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

The "bad" reports are probably too fast.
The 140gr and 180gr are travelling at very close to the same speed in my two rifles, with 30-06 loaded for 2700fps

I agree

 

[Andrew Short]

I use 180s in all of 300 WSMs for 10+ years and haven’t had a single issue.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I use 180s in all of 300 WSMs for 10+ years and haven’t had a single issue.

Used them for a season out of my 300 Win. They were very accurate out of my rifle. Never had an issue with a failure, but some of the ones that I recovered did not look great.

 

[PerH]

A buddy who has a O/U .30-06 Merkel double rifle ,he dtopped reloading for it ,the Fusion 180 shot better than what he could crank up for it. He report few bullets recovered on various game,and good performance.

Another guy have shot 50-60 moose and recovered 2 Fusions,and those had hit something he did not see in scope and did not look frontpage fine,but they did their job.

( i havent tried Fusion yet,since i recently got calibers which they load for ,but to the spring )

 

[kesha]

I have had great success on 308 150 gr Fusions. Great penetration weight retention used on game from Baboon to Giraffe. Ammo out performed Hornady by a mile. 308 had better weight retention that 375 H&H.

 

[Ray B]

A sectioned bullet will tell you a lot about how it will perform. With lead core bullets there are two things to check. The shank needs to be sufficient to maintain bullet integrity and the ogive needs to have taper to allow for the bullet to expand from the point back. If the middle portion of the ogive is insufficient the point of the bullet will push back causing a rupture and separation of the front and back portions of the bullet. this will happen more at higher impact velocities so is more common with magnums than standards. i don't have a Fusion bullet so do not know how it would compare.

 

[buck wild]

I have shot a PILE of whitetail deer with the 150 grain 300 WSM. They are very accurate out of my Tikka and Sako

 

[Doug3006]

They’ve always worked well for me. Super accurate in all of the rifles I’ve tried them with. Whitetails aren’t an extreme test for a bullet, but I‘ve never had a bullet failure. All were pass throughs.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

I've shot hundreds of pigs using 180grn fusions in my 30-06, I've never seen anything but awesome performance with fusions. I love the fusion line from Federal.

 

[Bwana Barry]

I've shot hundreds of pigs using 180grn fusions in my 30-06, I've never seen anything but awesome performance with fusions. I love the fusion line from Federal.

Well, that is very reassuring......
I have had stellar performance with the 140gr in my Swede on kudu, springbok, warthog and fallow deer.
Perfect mushroom with 95% retention

 

[Andrew Short]

I killed this cull buck Tuesday evening with 180 grain fusions from one of my 300 WSMs. Took the high shoulder shot and he was DRT.