Federal Trophy Copper Fail

[Beckjhong]

So I was out on my antelope hunt. Bought some of Federal’s Trophy Copper 130gr 270 rounds. I went through a box at the range no problem.

I was all lined up for my shot and....click. It is the loudest sound in the field. I automatically cycled the round and the next one fired. The dud had a good primer strike. I took apart my bolt at home, and had no fouling or abnormalities to slow down the firing pin.

How common is this in higher end ammo? I contacted Federal and their response was “well, that’s too bad.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JWP58]

Only time I've had a dud was with nosler trophy grade ammo (308 165gr accubond). I was lined up for a two for one on a couple of pigs...only got one on the run after the "CLICK".

It happens I guess....

 

[goodorbit]

The Fed. Trophy Copper has been GTG for me so far.
>knocks on wood<

 

[Kotaman]

It happens with factory ammo occasionally but not too often. I can count on one hand the number of times it has happened in my lifetime with thousands of rounds.

 

[Smithb9841]

Didn’t have this issue but last week had to call federal bcuz about 70% of the box of federal trophy copper I purchased for my 300wsm would not allow the bolt to close when a round was loaded. I would have to really force my bolt down to get he bolt to close tried the same ammo in another 300wsm and had the same issue.

The one difference I will say is when I contacted federal they worked really well with me to make sure they scheduled UPS to pick up the ammo and said they will Be sending me a rebate check as soon as they get the box I sent them.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I didn’t care for how mine fragmented on a whitetail last year but no issue with function.

Is it a modern gun?

I haven’t had a lot of issues with decent quality centerfire ammo that I can recall. I have had some cheap stuff with dud primers and a couple of case ruptures.

 

[OXN939]

I didn’t care for how mine fragmented on a whitetail last year but no issue with function.

Interesting to hear the perspectives on this. A friend and I both used Federal Trophy Copper on Blacktail a few weeks ago on Kodiak, and 3 out of 3 animals were quick, ethical kills with great expansion. 7mm-08 and 6.5 Creed.

Re: the OP, sorry to hear that happened to ya. Did you end up getting a shot off?

 

[WJS23]

That has only happened to me with Winchester ammo with my 45-70 and my 30-30. Then a bunch of times with 9mm

 

[Desk Jockey]

Interesting to hear the perspectives on this. A friend and I both used Federal Trophy Copper on Blacktail a few weeks ago on Kodiak, and 3 out of 3 animals were quick, ethical kills with great expansion. 7mm-08 and 6.5 Creed.

Re: the OP, sorry to hear that happened to ya. Did you end up getting a shot off?

I shot a fairly big bodied whitetail doe last fall. 6.5 Creedmoor. Quartering away shot at 75 yards. Good hit. Went in a bit higher than I might have liked by 2 inches or so above the heart. Hit a near side rib, both lungs and the shoulder blade on the far side. 2 small exit wounds. She staggered and dropped within 7 yards so no argument on effectiveness. I recovered one fairly big chunk of the bullet in the shoulder muscle that I would estimate was about 60-70% of total mass. Found other bits in a decently wide wound channel from the shoulder blade to just under the hide. I suspect the rib caused expansion and the second bone hit caused fragmentation.

Overall, it did what it was supposed to and it was a quick kill. I ended up cutting away what I thought was a good chunk of the far side shoulder that was damaged. I still found two fragments of the bullet in the meat - one when I was grinding and the other cooked in stew.

I would use them again but the mass retention feature failed me a bit on that one. I guess it could have been worse, it could have been lead.

 

[OXN939]

I guess it could have been worse, it could have been lead.

That's the big one for me. Federal TC is super accurate in my go to rifle, and every animal I've taken with it has been down for the count within 20 yards of POI. That in a copper mono = green light from me.

 

[Beckjhong]

Interesting to hear the perspectives on this. A friend and I both used Federal Trophy Copper on Blacktail a few weeks ago on Kodiak, and 3 out of 3 animals were quick, ethical kills with great expansion. 7mm-08 and 6.5 Creed.

Re: the OP, sorry to hear that happened to ya. Did you end up getting a shot off?

Yes, this antelope was very forgiving and I got a hit. It’s sounding like I’m going to chalk this one up to ol’ Murphy. I’d give the TC another shot, but man their customer service was terrible! And, it’s probably psychological, but i have a tough time trusting it after that experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OXN939]

Yes, this antelope was very forgiving and I got a hit. It’s sounding like I’m going to chalk this one up to ol’ Murphy. I’d give the TC another shot, but man their customer service was terrible! And, it’s probably psychological, but i have a tough time trusting it after that experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fair enough! If it helps, Nosler E Tips seem to have virtually identical ballistics, externally and terminally, to the Federal TC loads I've used.

 

[Beckjhong]

Right on, thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Northwinds308]

Can't say I have, I did have a Federal round fail but it was a light primer strike. I chalked that up to being -40, the firing pin was frozen up.

Barnes TTSX are another good bullet you could try. I had one case not cut the the right length- had an extra bit on the bottom of the cartridge. I called Barnes and they sent me two free boxes of ammo. They use Remington brass so my guess is it was a bad piece that just slipped through QC. With how many rounds these manufacturers produce the track record for failure and safety issue is remarkably clean.

 

[elkguide]

Just last week I had 3 out of a box of Barnes TTSX in .300 RUM that didn't fire. First time ever out of thousands of rounds fired