How good is current production Federal Fusion ammo?

farmer44mag

farmer44mag

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Thinking of switching to this in my .30-06 next year for deer hunting. Last 2 years I've used Winchester deer season XP. Love the accuracy and flatter trajectory but have had the XP bullets completely disintegrate when hitting bone. Worried I might hit a shoulder and not get penetration at some point. Accuracy of the fusion appears to be similar in my rifle so far. Any of you're experiences are appreciated.
 
I don't have an answer but do have a question. What were the results of finding the deer with the XP bullets? I ask because I used the same bullets this year in my 6.5 Creed. DRT at 190 quartering away over a slope. Entered through the 2nd to last rib-ish and destroyed the right lung. Didn't go 10 feet. That said, I'm aware this ammo is made to fragment. I have the same thoughts as you. A shoulder shot may be a problem.
 
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My son and wife have killed 7 or 8 whitetail with the 95 gr. .243 Winchester. All deer died very quickly and all but one bullet has exited. That was a quartering on shot on the point of the on side shoulder that ranged back and left a bloodshot area just in front of the offside rear ham. None of those deer were big bruisers but we are happy with the bullet in their .243 rifles. Very accurate also!
 
So a friend of mine might have just gotten a bad batch. But he was using it in the blaser r8 .308 and it was string them up every shot was 2-4 inches. I gave him some hand loads and all three were touching. I've normally always had good luck with federal but I won't buy the fusions
 
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Originally Posted By: OrezonaI don't have an answer but do have a question. What were the results of finding the deer with the XP bullets? I ask because I used the same bullets this year in my 6.5 Creed. DRT at 190 quartering away over a slope. Entered through the 2nd to last rib-ish and destroyed the right lung. Didn't go 10 feet. That said, I'm aware this ammo is made to fragment. I have the same thoughts as you. A shoulder shot may be a problem.

The buck I shot busted me and started walking strait away with his tail up so I quickly stood up in my stand and shot down into his spine at 75 yards. Dropped him but didn't penetrate the spine. Bullet not found. The doe I shot at 230 yards. Bullet went in low and back, ripped open stomach and apparently hit edge of leg bone. The plastic tip was lodged in the meat and rest of bullet was gone.
 
Maybe I'm odd, but WHY do people insist on shoulder shots? It usually ruins the meat in the shoulder area. If the meat is all blood shot, the butcher is going to throw it away or at least mine will. I like a well placed shot in the breather box. No meat worth saving on the ribs anyway and yes, they may run, but not very far. JMO!! Bullets do weird things when they hit bone, I try to avoid it. If a plastic tip bullet bothers you,you might try a good soft point. They do a good job and usually shoot good.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogMaybe I'm odd, but WHY do people insist on shoulder shots? It usually ruins the meat in the shoulder area. If the meat is all blood shot, the butcher is going to throw it away or at least mine will. I like a well placed shot in the breather box. No meat worth saving on the ribs anyway and yes, they may run, but not very far. JMO!! Bullets do weird things when they hit bone, I try to avoid it. If a plastic tip bullet bothers you,you might try a good soft point. They do a good job and usually shoot good.

The area I hunt, you're lucky to see 1 or 2 deer a season. I take whatever shot I am given. Sometimes that means hitting bone. I've had the cheap soft points fall apart on bone as well. The best performing bullet I used was hornady SST's custom. They went through both shoulders on large deer several times. That load is no longer made and have seen very poor reviews of the SST superformance .30-06 loads. That's why I tried the XPs.
 
I have had 180grn sierras not go through the neck bones of deer when shot from my 300wea. Like was said above, bullets act strange when they hit bone.
 
Originally Posted By: farmer44magOriginally Posted By: pyscodogMaybe I'm odd, but WHY do people insist on shoulder shots? It usually ruins the meat in the shoulder area. If the meat is all blood shot, the butcher is going to throw it away or at least mine will. I like a well placed shot in the breather box. No meat worth saving on the ribs anyway and yes, they may run, but not very far. JMO!! Bullets do weird things when they hit bone, I try to avoid it. If a plastic tip bullet bothers you,you might try a good soft point. They do a good job and usually shoot good.

The area I hunt, you're lucky to see 1 or 2 deer a season. I take whatever shot I am given. Sometimes that means hitting bone. I've had the cheap soft points fall apart on bone as well. The best performing bullet I used was hornady SST's custom. They went through both shoulders on large deer several times. That load is no longer made and have seen very poor reviews of the SST superformance .30-06 loads. That's why I tried the XPs.

How much are you willing to pay for ammo? After reading this I kind of get a feel for your situation and the way you approach it. Something with a Nosler Partition or Barnes TSX might work better for you than a standard cup n core type bullet.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogMaybe I'm odd, but WHY do people insist on shoulder shots? It usually ruins the meat in the shoulder area.
Try hunting in Michigan where there may be a dozen differant landowners per section and twice that many hunters. Chasing after a deer across the property line is not permitted by some. Then add few jealous hunters who will quickly claim a deer they did not shoot. Then you will see the value of an anchoring shoulder shot. Much easier to toss a front shoulder than ,not recover your animal.
 
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^^^ Same for WI.

My brother and I own 320 acres in NE WI, and even on a parcel that sized, a high shoulder shot is preferred. This last weekend, I wanted to try a 95 gr. Barnes TTSX load, in one of my 6.8 SPC chambered AR-15s. So on a doe, at about 60 yards, I did a vitals shot, just catching the back edge of the on-side front shoulder. On the shot, she took off running, with the on-side front shoulder hanging stiff and straight. She was dead, and didn't know it. But the issue arose, when she started heading to the thickest cedar swamp morass on our property. One doesn't walk through that, one crawls. So not wanting to drag the doe out of that, I pulled ahead, and went for a running spine shot. Should have done the high shoulder shot on the first one! On the second shot report, the deer disappeared, and the woods was quiet... So even if one is not near a property line, there may be good reason to do a high shoulder shot. That few inches of meat loss, won't be missed.

Oh for anyone interested, that 95 gr. Barnes TTSX is a hammer on deer! On the spine shot, I had about 4" of ground meat and bone, come out of the exit hole, when I skinned the doe. And the most I could find was a small grapefruit sized chunk of lungs...the rest was pulp. This carbine AR-15, is now my most favorite box blind gun, where quarters are tight.

Squeeze
 
The only gun I don't reload for is my browning BAR in 308. They are the best bullets I have ever used. 24 down and counting using 165 gr fusion in a 308. Killed 2 last week, high shoulder, not even a twitch.
 
Well, in the past week over a few nights, I've put 50 rounds through my .30-06 in question, and my old half a box of Fusion from 2012 shot great. 30 rounds of current production- not so great. Had one really good 5 shot group but couldn't replicate it. May have been shooter error but I'd get 2 to 3 shots where they should be and then wide flyers. Each night I switched to my Winchester XPs at end of session and got better groups. I did get some flyers with them as well though, so might all be me. I shoot off a large bench bag, no lead sled, so takes perfection to get good groups with a .30-06. Let the barrel cool down between shots so no issue there either.
 
Has anyone tried the Speer Grand-Slam? That is what I shoot in my 300 Win Mag and a hit on bone or thru the ribs is devastating, never recovered a slug always complete pass thru. Never had one run anywhere when shot in the chest.
 


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