Any Experience With Federal Fusion Ammunition For Plains Game?

[LivingTheDream]

I completely disagree, I used this for 3 solid season in my 300wsm. At first I loved it and it grouped great on paper up to maybe 200, but it falls apart after that. I had 3 failures with the ammo when hunting, one box where the brass would expand and crack, this was causing groupings that looked like buckshot. And caused me 2 misses! The other on a high shoulder shot where it hit the shoulder blade and slide along the top and over. I know this because I killed that buck the next season with my crossbow. I threw the rest in the trash and will never use again. Now I will say I killed 2 nice bucks that were DRT (neither bullet exited), and quite a few does. But honestly, I can not in good conscience let someone buy this for actual hunting of game, if you want to shoot on paper at 100 yards it is perfect.

 

[low budget hunter]

Well I am sorry to here about your trouble.

The brass expanding and cracking , is caused 99 % of time by improper chamber clearances, or improper reloading and not the cartridge.
I had one gun that would do that and it was chambering, I could use different brass and some times it was ok and some times not, so I sold it .

Second, the bullet running along the shoulder blade , and not penetrating is the angle you shot the deer on, or it would never have lived until the next year , for you to shoot him with your cross bow. Especially with a 300 mag. and like I said in the first post, I have broken and punched through moose shoulder with the 165gr no problem.

Three, I have shot and killed beyond 300 yards, with this ammo.

So I will leave you , and others reading this to think about what you said and what I said , and let them determine for them selves.

This is just my opinion from all my years of experience, and thousands of rounds shot..... it does not make me a authority by any means.

 

[LivingTheDream]

So I don't reload, these were loads right from the factory out of the box and it was from a Browning A bolt which has never had any problems and did not have any problems with any other fusion ammo out of the box. It was a bad lot. Never had this issue with Federal or Nosler or even Remington.

I might be able to agree with you on angle, I was 8 ft high in a box stand and it was 115 yard shot. Still the bullet slide off the shoulder blade I have never seen anything like it. Heard from someone who said they had the same issue, but I can't verify it.

As far as my experience, I killed more then probably 20 deer with the fusion bullets. I have since switch to nosler and federal premium, no bad brass, no bad lots of ammo, and exit holes the size of a softball. Fusion will do the job 95% of the time, maybe 99% of the time but I am not going to chance the trophy of a lifetime that I could potentially have a bullet, penetration or some other failure out of the factor. I respect that in your experience you have had good luck and breaking the shoulder on a moose is impressive, but I can't recommend it based on my experience.

 

[Ragman]

I started hunting with them about six years ago. Shot a few deer and a cow elk with them and loved them. All out of the same box. Then my 2013 whitetail came in to my rattling. Quartering to me at about 100 yards I shot, heard the thump and the deer takes off into the bush. I figure he's dead, but find him standing there like he's annoyed but not hurt bad. He took off before I could get another shot off. I tracked him until dark then had to give it up. Next morning and 5 miles later I finally found him and finished him off. Recovered the bullet and found it had not expanded at all. Would not risk the trophy fee in African PG with them.

 

[ack]

I have used Scirroco n Nosler Partitions on different trips ..Next time taking Trophy Bonded Tip..They shot very well in both rifles today..The two I have used both did the job but not as quick as I would have liked..

 

[curtism1234]

I have kept a close eye on the Fusion bullet since it hit the market and so far I have no reason to buy it. I would like to, I think there is certainly a market for a more economic Partition factory load and more available than the GameKing factory load when hunting medium sized game that are on the larger side.

It seems all the new bullets like this (Hornady, Winchester, etc) have reviews that are all over the place. All over the place does not work for me. Partitions and GameKings work all the time on 300-500 pound animals.

 

[Ernie Shipman]

We have sold a good bit of it & I have shot a bit (off season). NO complaints & I found it very accurate. It was, to my understanding, designed around deer hunters needs so I imaging it would be fine... Just my .02 cents!

 

[curtism1234]

It was, to my understanding, designed around deer hunters needs so I imaging it would be fine... Just my .02 cents!

I think it is certainly mass marketed for deer hunters because it is the only way to make money at that price point. I can see the need for this bullet with a 243 or 150gr 300 win mag, but it's not needed for deer for just about every other cartridge in between those imo

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I know this is an old thread, but used the Federal Fusions in 180gr out of my .300 Win Mag for most of last year. Worked on everything, and I was very impressed with their performance. With them being imported from the USA and the Rand going down the pipe end of last year , the price per box became an issue. I would not hesitate recommending them on your plains game hunt.

 

[Shawn.54]

My youngest son uses 150gr fusion for deer in a 30-06 he has taken 4 deer so far all quick clean kills but as we clean the deer I notice that the bullets are expanding rapidly to the point that I think there would not be an exit hole on larger game and a lot of lead scattered in the meat.
At 30-06 speed it is totally violent at short range his last deer peaked around a tree at less than 10 yards he shot it I won't post pics of damage that was done it is that bad. I wonder if there are different companies making the bullets for Federal and not making them the same. Some exploding some not opening and some working great.

After I looked this thread it is 5 years old that ammo may have been changed a couple of times since then.

 

[whitetail]

I know some may disagree, however, for PG, I'm a fan of the Fusion 165grain in my .308. I was in ZA this past summer- shot blue and black wildebeest, zebra, greater kudu, gemsbok, blesbok, impala and warthog all with the .308 Browning X-Bolt and the Fusion 165 gr. This ammo is cost-effective (I know some may say to use high dollar stuff- but a friend on the trip even used his Barnes TTSX that didn't do the job on a blesbok but it was a far out shot).... The Cape Buffalo had to go down with the .375 H&H and 300 grainers ... Now I'm headed to Zimbabwe in Feb carrying my .375 H&H with better loads for leopard. Happy hunting!

 

[Shawn.54]

A lot of the varied bullet performance could be due to being bullets being made for caliber not cartridge a 308 and a a 300 wm are not even close in performance but use same projectile.

 

[Capt1340]

I just come across this site by accident , I know I am more than late to the game, commenting on the federal fusion ammo.
But I was so put off by the, talking down about the ammo I had to throw my 2 cents in.

I have hunted for 46 years , In Canada's north. I started when I was 10.
With some of the biggest game in North America .
1200 lb moose, 800 lb elk, 600 lb bear, 200 lb deer, and they all dropped with one well placed shot, I never sprung for 100 per box ammo , or 1000 rifles, the average shooting ranged from 50 yards to over 300 yds.
I have shot with federal ammo, most my life , and only had one dud in all of those years .

I started shooting fusion with my new rifle 8 years ago, Approx. I think, it was when I first seen them, 165 grain , 300 win mag. Fusion
I can consistently shoot 1 inch groups at up to 200 yards on the bench.
I have shot 6 big game animals in that time , all with a 165 gr federal fusion, moose, deer, they all dropped like a bag of wet Landry with one shot , and I broke the moose's shoulder , and tore through all the vitals with the 165 grain!
This is my personal favorite ammo, and would recommend it to any one , no matter where they are hunting.
Spending buckets full of money on guns and ammo won`t guaranty , you will get your game. and frankly has never been a issue when hunting in the north, in 46 years.

What you saying is very interesting, thanks, would recommand these fusion 165 gr. on a 308 win also for moose, because for deer all agree that is good, for accuracy all agree that is good but for moose is like 50-50???

 

[CAustin]

I have used this for deer but not In Africa on plains game.

 

[Shootist43]

If my memory serves me correctly the Federal Fusion was designed to work on Deer size animals. They also work well on Hogs. Broadside shots on larger animals have been taken without issues. But for something other than a broadside shot I wouldn't use them on anything larger than an Impala or Blesbok. I think your decision to use Federal's Vital shock in Africa is a goo9d one. Use the Fusion for practice.

 

[Capt1340]

for moose I just bought some Federal premiun 180 gr. nosler partion and Hornady interlock spire point 180 gr also.................
All 165 gr like hornady interbond and barnes ttsx 168 gr. and vital shock TB tip 165gr are hard to find here in Quebec at this time of the year

 

[Jwg223]

I am a huge fan of fusion. It is extremely accurate in every gun I've used it in, the most impressive being a group measuring just under 1.1" ctc. 10 shots, 100 yards, using a 4x night force on my 16" chrome lined m4 type rifle with gov. Profile barrel.

Terminally, it's killed a lot of animals I know of personally with great success, terminally. Massive blood trails on deer even in .223.

Something to keep in mind is that SPEER/ATK spends a ton of money on R&D. This projectile, since 2011, has likely seen a revision or three. Further, the law enforcement lines get legitimate extra attention. I ONLY buy LE ammunition now days because of this. Fusion is no exception. I buy speer gold dot LE which is a very similar bullet (supposedly identical in all but weight, in some weights and calibers) I buy it in LE only weights so I know for a fact it's not just an internal component shuffle. In .308 that means 168gr, as the civilian version is 165gr (yes, I've weighed...they are honestly 3gr different...) and 75gr in .223. This way I know I'm for sure getting components that have had extra qa and qc.

 

[redassnavajo]

Yes I have Used the Fusion .308 in 150 gr took roughly 14 animals from Duiker up Giraffe all but 1 were 1 shot kills, Zebra took 2 shots 1st one a little high error on my part . Bullet perfomed well out performed my 375 H&H by far bullet weight retention on Hornady Interlocks were pathetic but at the time that is all the factory ammo available at the time.
Still have several boxes of the Fusion I would not hesitate to use again .
First and foremost is shot placement.

 

[redassnavajo]

Vortex ammo is the best that I have used so far but I do not reload. It uses the Barnes bullets with are phenominal performance on African game.

 

[Jwg223]

Keep in mind that the Fusion/Gold Dot line is only going to penetrate about 16-22" in tissue. It was designed for killing deer and people. Not big African animals.