Federal fusion- the king of the budget friendly deer bullets?

[Erussell01]

Hey boys

With rifle season in MN rapidly approaching.... I was looking for something to help me help my father in law out. He has historically shot hornady American whitetail and remington core lokt bullets in the 165 grain flavor out of his 308 and while they have both resulted in dead deer when he actually hits the deer, they have left no exit hole and therefore no blood to follow. Had I not been with to see them go down, I doubt we would have found them as he is a poor historian and couldn't tell north from south even if he tried.

Neither bullet we previously tried out of his rifle shot terribly out of his gun but they left a little to be desired. He's not a great shot so it's not as if the accuracy of the bullet being marginally better is really going to change that.

I tried some federal fusion ammo in 165 from his rifle and they grouped great at 100 yards, just about an inch with 2 of the 3 shots touching.

I have heard nothing but good things about them so that leads me to think they might do ok. I hear they have excellent expansion, good weight retention and generally will make a second hole on deer sized game.


This year I might break out my grandpas rifle. It's a remington 742 in 30-06 and it seems to favor 150 grain bullets for some reason. I picked up some fusions for the 06 in 150 grain and have yet to test them out. I want to see how well they do and if given the chance I'll try one on a deer to see how it performs. My one and only deer I have shot with a rifle was with a 150 grain psp out of the 06 and it did just fine. Two holes, one broken leg and a really short track job, however I'm wanting to try the fusions and see how they do in that gun.

Does anybody have experience with the 150s in 30-06? It looks like the box posted velocity is 2900 which seems fast, but I'm hoping the bullet will hold together for me if I do end up using the rifle on a deer

Even though the rifle tends to favor 150, is there any reason I should consider getting 165s or 180s for it?

Its currently sited in at 100 as this rifle isn't my "long range" rifle. If the 150 fusions shoot well, is there any reason not to try them?

 

[bojangles808]

I've shot a bunch of deer and feral goats with the 150 grain 30 cal fusions. Great bullet. Seem to be reasonably priced and you get a better bc than your typical budget options.

 

[roosiebull]

I have shot them a fair amount, mostly in my 7 rem mag and they always shot well out of the rifles I’ve shot them with, and performed well on game out to 497yds

 

[Erussell01]

I was going to move him to a ttsx bullet this year but locally they are hard to find and darn expensive. At the distance he will Lyndhurst shoot- sub 100 yards do we feel the fusions will hold up?

 

[Mike D Texas]

They are a bonded bullet so they typically expand well, hold together and punch through.

Another excellent option would be Nosler Partitions.


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[TNKnoxville]

I have used them on deer and they worked great. So far bang flop!

 

[Big_wals]

I've shot a couple deer and one elk with 165 Fusions in the past, they work fine.

 

[Seeknelk]

I've used the 130 out of a 270 on a bull at 60 yards and another at 450. Didn't bounce off. Even on a "bulletproof" bull elk quartering to. Shoulder wasn't even titanium. Deer certainly died also.

 

[Erussell01]

Anybody ever used a hornady interlock?
That's what he had used previously and they just seemed to come apart inside the deer and I'm not entirely sure why. They have a mechanical retention ring that's supposed to maintain the integrity of the shank of the bullet but I'm my experience over the last 6 or so deer, they just come apart at close range. Was wondering if it was a bullet weight issue or if I'm expecting too much of them


Either way fusions it is I think. Going to the range now to see how they perform.

 

[Velecic]

They are a bonded bullet so they typically expand well, hold together and punch through.

I'll second this from personal experience. I've shot everything from smaller deer to large elk & moose with 175gr Fusions out of my 7mm Rem Mag and the terminal performance has not disappointed me a single time. Both 175gr & 150gr shot very well out of the same gun.

Maybe they would fall off at longer ranges (not sure on their BC value) but inside a few hundred yards, they are pretty hard to beat for value, accuracy, & terminal performance in my experience.

I have shot them a fair amount, mostly in my 7 rem mag and they always shot well out of the rifles I’ve shot them with, and performed well on game out to 497yds

Seconded.

At the distance he will Lyndhurst shoot- sub 100 yards do we feel the fusions will hold up?

From my experience, absolutely (assuming by "hold up" you mean hold together and penetrate). Most of my game has been shot inside 100 yards and I've never had issues. As Mike D said, they're a bonded bullet which are designed to do exactly that.

Even though the rifle tends to favor 150, is there any reason I should consider getting 165s or 180s for it?

Its currently sited in at 100 as this rifle isn't my "long range" rifle. If the 150 fusions shoot well, is there any reason not to try them?

I would absolutely try them if you already have a box. They should be a perfect deer bullet.

As for which size to use, that would likely depend on if you are planning on shooting anything larger than a deer with the same rifle/bullet combination.

 

[nettereo16]

Fusions are good to go. I’ve shot deer with them with 270 308 3006, most within 100 yards. They held up but left a big hole and all passed through.

Keep us updated on your father in laws success !

 

[VAHunter01]

you’re shooting deer sub 100 yards with a .30-06…I wouldn’t be afraid of any factory ammo. The fusions will work just fine.

 

[roosiebull]

Anybody ever used a hornady interlock?
That's what he had used previously and they just seemed to come apart inside the deer and I'm not entirely sure why. They have a mechanical retention ring that's supposed to maintain the integrity of the shank of the bullet but I'm my experience over the last 6 or so deer, they just come apart at close range. Was wondering if it was a bullet weight issue or if I'm expecting too much of them


Either way fusions it is I think. Going to the range now to see how they perform.

A lot of bullets come apart at close range, especially cup and core bullets. That’s not really a problem though, they do a lot of damage and critters can’t go far

I remember years ago I quit shooting sst’s from my 270 after sneaking up on this giant black bear and whacking him at 12 steps

Bullet hit a rib on entrance, and violently expanded and did not make it beyond the on side lung, bear ran straight at me at the shot and passed by me at smacking distance as I tried to work the bolt, luckily he was just running and ended up picking that direction, if he was coming after me, I wasn’t fast enough

Bear passes me, leaves my sight down below and I hear a couple muffled death moans (maybe 10 seconds total)

When I gut the bear, I couldn’t find any damage on the offside lung, but the whole lung was dark red and all completely damaged, but I couldn’t find any spot even a bullet fragment went

Offside rib cage was flawless.. even big bear are soft so I considered that a failure for a long time… was it a failure? Had one of the biggest bear I’ve ever seen dead in under 10 seconds, did massive damage, so it certainly didn’t fail, it did its job well, especially considering it’s a soft bullet impacting at very high velocity.

Shot a fair amount of stuff with them sub 100 yds and never saw that again, generally big exits at short range

The only bullet I remember getting more exits than not was Barnes, but I didn’t care for their performance at all (I know many love them)

The meat saving bullet wasn’t so to me, many needed follow up shots (or at least were alive long enough to offer one) 2 years in a row I made good shots and they were still alive when I got to them… not getting away alive, but trying… at that point I just want to finish it and depending on the situation, that takes away the meat friendliness

Shot a buck in the shoulder and it was as messy as any bullet… mono are not for me

I like a bullet that comes apart, because stuff is always dead when I get to it. The fusion will come apart too, at close range high impact speed… if they do, they will cause a lot of damage and you won’t need that exit hole for tracking

I would rather have the whole vital cavity wrecked and damaged with no exit vs a neat wound channel and exit.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Fusions are a great bullet and you shouldn’t have any issues.

If you went with the 180s assuming you have the twist for it you would see more past throughs is my guess. Even the the 150-165 fusions you should see the performance you want.

 

[Rich M]

Real late to this party. I hope you used 150s. Not much reason to use 165 or 180gr 3006 on deer.

 

[Erussell01]

you’re shooting deer sub 100 yards with a .30-06…I wouldn’t be afraid of any factory ammo. The fusions will work just fine.

You know, I thought the same thing but we have had cup and core bullets come apart wildly and not leave a second hole to help find blood. Crazy to me to think about not being able to find blood from a rifle

 

[Erussell01]

A lot of bullets come apart at close range, especially cup and core bullets. That’s not really a problem though, they do a lot of damage and critters can’t go far

I remember years ago I quit shooting sst’s from my 270 after sneaking up on this giant black bear and whacking him at 12 steps

Bullet hit a rib on entrance, and violently expanded and did not make it beyond the on side lung, bear ran straight at me at the shot and passed by me at smacking distance as I tried to work the bolt, luckily he was just running and ended up picking that direction, if he was coming after me, I wasn’t fast enough

Bear passes me, leaves my sight down below and I hear a couple muffled death moans (maybe 10 seconds total)

When I gut the bear, I couldn’t find any damage on the offside lung, but the whole lung was dark red and all completely damaged, but I couldn’t find any spot even a bullet fragment went

Offside rib cage was flawless.. even big bear are soft so I considered that a failure for a long time… was it a failure? Had one of the biggest bear I’ve ever seen dead in under 10 seconds, did massive damage, so it certainly didn’t fail, it did its job well, especially considering it’s a soft bullet impacting at very high velocity.

Shot a fair amount of stuff with them sub 100 yds and never saw that again, generally big exits at short range

The only bullet I remember getting more exits than not was Barnes, but I didn’t care for their performance at all (I know many love them)

The meat saving bullet wasn’t so to me, many needed follow up shots (or at least were alive long enough to offer one) 2 years in a row I made good shots and they were still alive when I got to them… not getting away alive, but trying… at that point I just want to finish it and depending on the situation, that takes away the meat friendliness

Shot a buck in the shoulder and it was as messy as any bullet… mono are not for me

I like a bullet that comes apart, because stuff is always dead when I get to it. The fusion will come apart too, at close range high impact speed… if they do, they will cause a lot of damage and you won’t need that exit hole for tracking

I would rather have the whole vital cavity wrecked and damaged with no exit vs a neat wound channel and exit.

Cool experience with the bear! I shot a hog once running right at me.... never moved so fast in my life

My big issue with bullets that come apart is the ability to find blood. I find myself hunting the thick stuff and often you'll lose sight of a deer within 25 or so yards, and that's not even taking into account that FIL is a bad bad historian when it comes to shot angle and v distance lol

 

[Erussell01]

Update on the situation:

My father in law did not get to use his new fusion ammo, however it was not for lack of trying. He actually hunted very hard and did a good job for himself. I even got him to hunt by himself!

As far as the fusion 150s. Wow they worked better than I could have even hoped for. I was able to take a big doe at a very short distance with them from my grandpas rifle and she didn't go 30 yards and left a massive easy to follow blood trail. She was bleeding from nose, mouth and both holes in the chest cavity.

Sadly I didn't get to take the one buck I saw during rifle season, so I'm back to bow hunting. I made a rookie rifle hunter mistake and tried to quietly shut the action on the old 742 so when a decent buck presented a short range shot, I began to squeeze the trigger and nothing happened. After continuing to work through my shot process and still nothing happened, I checked realized the gun was out of battery, had to eject the shell to feed a new one and the buck decided to head to greener pastures and I chose not to take a moving shot as he was leaving. Lesson learned the hard way I guess!

The big doe that I took gave me plenty of opportunity to test my fitness. It was almost a 4 hour drag to get her out of the big public tract of land that I was in, and I was thankful for the opportunity.

We didn't get the buck pole picture of the whole crew I was hoping for so I'll have to get them back and try again next year.

And

I'll be running fusions till I can't

 

[roosiebull]

Cool experience with the bear! I shot a hog once running right at me.... never moved so fast in my life

My big issue with bullets that come apart is the ability to find blood. I find myself hunting the thick stuff and often you'll lose sight of a deer within 25 or so yards, and that's not even taking into account that FIL is a bad bad historian when it comes to shot angle and v distance lol

Yeah, it was exciting for a minute, haha. It was a bear I was trying to kill all spring, in the last few minutes of daylight on the last evening I could hunt… biggest bodied bear I have personally seen dead too, he was a tank… if he was coming to get me, he wouldn’t have had any trouble

 

[Erussell01]

Yeah, it was exciting for a minute, haha. It was a bear I was trying to kill all spring, in the last few minutes of daylight on the last evening I could hunt… biggest bodied bear I have personally seen dead too, he was a tank… if he was coming to get me, he wouldn’t have had any trouble

Wow that is a big bear! I suck at judging bears when they're alive since all of them look tasty to me and I kill every one I can lol